Hi All,
Just wondering if anyone has any info that could help me with my situation. I was a vegetarian for 6 years. I recently decided to add meat to my diet. I did well eating meat daily - or twice daily - for around 6 weeks - though I did notice that the meat felt rough going down. I tried to chew it well. But when I swallowed, it just felt like it physically bothered my throat on the way down.
Well around 5 weeks ago, I ended up having trouble swallowing at all. It started with a piece of popcorn - it felt like it didn't want to go down. So I'd clear my throat and I could swallow as I ate. Then I noticed a problem with salad - raw veggies. And even with cooked veggies, I'd have to chew for like minutes to get it to the point where I could swallow. I eventually started eated mostly baked potatoes, soft fruit like bananas & boiled eggs. I started avoiding the meat again. & in 2 weeks, I was pretty much back to my normal diet - sans meat.
Fast forward to a week ago. I had just returned from a week of traveling where my neck muscles were tense for a total of 4 days of driving. And I was exposed to a cold virus when I got home. Of course, I came down with a cold. And I had a cough, mostly at night. This cough seemed to irritate my esophagus again - I guess it wasn't fully healed. And I immeditiately began to have trouble finishing my food. I'd eat half of it - then my throat muscles would get tired it seemed & my swallowing would become relunctant.
Over the course of the week - as the cough persisted, I deteriorated to the point where I began to not eat anything. I started doing liquids only. And that deteriorated to the point where I can now swallow nothing.
I usually try to avoid doctors. I choose holistic methods. I was doing sesame broth that was really nice - until I could no longer get it down.
Does anyone have any suggestions? I know I'll probably have to go the doc - but I severely wish to avoid having my esophagus widened or something like that. I know that my dysphagia was caused by my inflamed esophagus - which is pretty much down to size as of today - it doesn't feel swollen or inflamed at all, since the cough is gone.
Any help would be greatly appreciated...