HELP - Trouble swallowing/Hesitation

Hey everyone,

I'm a 26 year old healthy(otherwise healthy?) female who's had symptoms of LPR/GERD since I was 17. I have no other past medical history. I've mostly been well controlled on protonix and ranitidine, both twice a day. I've had about 3 times in the last 4 1/2 years where I've had to have an endoscopy since my symptoms had gotten so bad (usually trouble breathing, chest pain). All 3 endoscopies (the most recent being 1 1/2 years ago) and they have all turned up completely normal. Every single time I've had an endoscopy, I've basically felt better and gone back to life as usual...

I had a CT scan in March which came back as normal. My symptoms began back in January as a sore throat, and this is the worst I've ever felt. I had sore throats upon wakening and realized it was probably due to stress and eating poorly at my job. I changed my diet a bit but was still experiencing terrible sore throats due to what I assume was LPR symptoms. I started drinking Essentia water and it helped a tiny bit.

Around March, I started having trouble swallowing solids. I switched to a mostly liquid diet at this point and saw the GI doctor (my doctor of 9 years was booked, so I saw the PA there). She gave me liquid ranitidine 300 twice a day to hopefully control my acid. I also couldn't swallow protonix anymore, so I switched to 2 OTC nexiums (i break open the capsules) in the morning and 2 at night. My swallowing got worse, and I was even unable to swallow water at one point, landing me in the ER for IV hydration. I saw an ENT 2 weeks later who did a laryngoscopy and noted everything looked fine except for some inflammation around my esophageal opening. He referred me back to the GI. My GI doctor will not give me an endoscopy again because my previous 3 were all normal. My diet has consisted of Boost drinks and yogurt. I'm down 25 pounds - I've never been overweight.. I exercise and eat healthy(I went from BMI 24.7 to BMI 21.5). I miss food so much.. I'm currently looking to book an appointment with a new GI doctor who maybe better understands my situation?

To describe my swallowing issues, it feels like I go to swallow and there's a kind of hesitation? When I do swallow some "solids" (ie. i've experimented with shredded parmesan) and it gets STUCK right in the pharyngeal area of my throat (which is terrifying). I have to grab water just to try to wash it down. The closest thing I could find online is something called "cervical dysphagia" and I don't see any cures besides awful surgeries with low success rates.

Has anyone else had this issue? I found some ancient posts from 2007 with people with similar problems, but no one ever followed up to say they got better.

Please help :(

I have trouble swallowing solids, but liquids are fine although sometimes they will move slowly as well. I have been diagnosed with gerd and have tested positive for h pylori. I have not had an endoscopy because my insurance is not the best and my doctor seemed not to want to refer me. I had to fight for a referral which is still three weeks away. I have been on mostly liquids for almost 3 months and lost about 20 pounds and it scares me.

I have had doctors suggest anxiety as the main cause for my swallowing issues. Sometimes I think how my swallowing problem is compared to someone with a physical problem and someone with an anxiety swallowing issue, to see where I am at.

Food gets stuck in my throat and feels like it travels up my nose. My nose gets stuffed at times and there is pressure in my chest and I feel full very quickly, ēven with liquids.

Sorry I don't have a solution but I understand what you are going through

@QiDoc

Thank you so much for the reply. When you say the probiotic fixed your vagus nerve, what do you mean? How did that work? I went on Amazon and I didn't see that particular probiotic in powder form. I definitely can't swallow pills right now. As for the Dropping Acid book, I will purchase it. I've heard of it but never did bother buying it. I also decided to see where Dr. Kaufman was located and luckily she isn't too far from where I live, so I plan to book an appointment with her soon. I'll also give those other alkaline waters a try. My GI doctor did prescribe a TCA (nortriptyline) but I haven't taken it yet. I'm really afraid to take a drug like that :( - and I've read it can cause swallowing issues, not exactly heal them (though if my issue is my vagus nerve, maybe it will help?!)

@Chespirito
Thanks for the reply, and it's comforting knowing I'm not the only one struggling with this. It's really making my dating life a wreck (Not drinking alcohol is one thing, but now I can't even go out to dinner, like what the hell..) I think everyone who suffers from LPR and GERD know it's not anxiety. I hope you can get your testing done soon.

@Bella01

I was thinking I might need to have manometry and pH study down, but I'm terrified of those tests! "During the manometry test, a thin, pressure-sensitive tube is passed through the nose, along the back of the throat, down the esophagus, and into the stomach." I have a gag reflex - there's no way in hell anything's going into my nose and down into my stomach while I'm awake. I had the laryngoscopy done and that was bad enough! :( I don't have a hiatal hernia.. Did you ever get your swallowing fixed?

Welcome to the forum Cats. Also to the other newbies, please start your own thread so we can talk to you separately!

Probiotics are just bacteria. They can't cure anything, especially not in your throat, although if you happen to be short of bacteria in your gut they can replace it, which might make the lower intestine work a bit better.

Your vagus nerve is not likely to be the problem. There are several branches of this nerve that innervate the GI tact. The vagus nerve (for one thing) carries signals from the esophagus to other parts of your body. I get tachycardia when I have certain reactions to foods I don't tolerate because of this nerve carrying messages to the heart. The signals can go the opposite direction too. It's called cardioesophageal reflex. I've had signals from an infected colonic diverticulum cause tachycardia also, and from allergic reaction to chemicals in an inhaler.

Swallowing difficulty needs to be investigated by a gastroenterologist. We're not doctors, and we can only tell you of our own experiences.

Personally, I have a really bad time swallowing because of polio as a child. There are many other diseases that are known to cause swallowing weakness. Frankly, endoscopy isn't going to show what's wrong with swallowing unless there's something stuck or another physical problem.

Manometry will show swallowing weakness, and it's not as bad as you imagine, since the tiny tube goes in the nose, not the mouth. You are not allowed anesthesia because you have to be awake to swallow. I had a problem because of a deviated septum and the tube curling and going down the trachea. I finally got the thing put in with a pediatric endoscope, then a wire and finally the tube over that. I have an awful gag too, but it had to be done, so I just sat there and thought of other things. If you haven't had a broken nose the test is tolerable.

A much nicer way to see the swallow is the barium swallow. Just swallow the milkshake-thick glop while they take video x-rays. No pain, no anesthesia, no gagging. It's great for showing hiatal hernias too! I've had this several times. I have to ask for no flavors, no sweeteners or else I have to take Benadryl before the barium. (I am sensitive to the sulfites in the additives.) Unless you are preparing for probably surgery, I'd ask for the barium instead of manometry. If your gastroenterologist refuses to listen to this suggestion I would get another gastroenterologist.

I've gone on long enough, but please look up the many threads on keeping a food journal! See the search box in the top of the page.

I had a number of gastroscopies that came back negative, but the manometry still showed a large hiatus hernia. My hernia is sliding, and didn't show up on the gastroscopy.

I too have a HORRIBLE gag reflex and a huge phobia of anything going in my throat. I can't even let doctors check my throat with a tongue depressor! But honestly, I did fine with the manometry. It was gross, I gagged a lot for a little while in the beginning, kinda threw up in my mouth a little, but once I got over the first 30 seconds it was fine. If I can get through it, anyone can. And when you're having such severe symptoms, sometimes you have to tough it out even if it's really hard and scary, in order to get better.

I still have trouble swallowing. I'm not sure it's something that can necessarily be fixed, to be honest, but I'm hoping to be able to see a speech-language pathologist to maybe learn some techniques to make it easier. I'm also going to have further tests to see if I could have a stricture, inflammation, something else going on in the esophagus that is causing this problem. So I'm not sure exactly what will be done or how it'll end up but I'm staying positive