I May Have Swallowed a Foreign Object - What Should I do?

S

Shelby R

New member
Life was going well for me until Friday afternoon when I suddenly a sensation of something stuck in my throat. It is possible that I could have swallowed a small bit of a cellophane wrapper at the time.

Unfortunately, I can't get rid of the sensation. I've tried drinking tons of water, vomiting, eating bread, crusty bread, crackers. It's also possible that my allergies or causing this, or maybe my throat got stratched. It's just that annoying feeling like you have a bit of food caught in your throat.


I tried telling myself that this is just a minor problem, I'm not going to die from it. I can sleep and eat just fine. I have to just wait it out and let my body deal with it. But my friend tells me I should get to a hospital asap. It could cause an infection.

Now that scares me. Would plastic wrap really do that? I have no insurance or job right now due to being laid off so this is a terrible time for some unknown problem to crop. I would give anything for this to go away and give me peace of mind again.
 
Thanks for the advice. THis is such a tough call because I am currently unemployed with no health insurance. I'd be looking at 60 bucks out of pocket just to see a family doc, or 200 bucks to run to the ER.

I've thought about the allergies possibly. Two years ago, I remember freaking out and feeling like something was caught in my throat. Then I discovered that my uvulva in my mouth was enlarged and sticking to my tongue and probably brushing my throat giving me the sensation. I stopped worrying, and felt normal again.

However, that problem only lasted a day. I'm now almost three days into this, and I was chewing on cellophane when the sensation hit me out of nowhere. I am just so miserable with this, and can't stop thinking about it 24/7. Any hope this stuff might dissolve in my throat?
 
It may burn a little bit to do this, but you can try what my Dad always did (we affectionally called it getting rid of marbles or sliders). You have probably known some older guys that sound like they are summoning up every bit of saliva in their mouth and then making a gargle type sound in their throat followed by spitting it out. I am pretty sure anything that could be stuck in there would be gone after doing that.

I, too, have had the swollen uvula sensation. Once I was out in a wind storm for quite a while when it hit me. Making sure you keep your mouth and throat hydrated will reverse any swelling that might be going on with that. I have found that sips of cold water works really well for getting your uvula to go back to normal feeling. Has someone tried looking in your throat with a flash light?

Let us know how it goes and hope it goes away soon. You may have nothing more than that long lasting scratchy feeling that comes with excess mucus or if you did swallow a small piece of cellophane.

Lindaru :)
 
if your not having trouble breathing, then i wouldnt worry.

it could definitely be post nasal drip causing inflammation and i would think a little anxiety. your throat muscles can tense up when your anxious, causing a horrible choking feeling.

i wouldnt waste your money on the doc's... have you looked down your throat? or had someone look at it? just on your own?
 
please don't worry. It will find it's way out. You did say it was small? You won't even realize that it's found its way out. It's not organic matter so I doubt it'll cause an infection.
Don't worry.
 
It's possible that what you feel is scraches on your throat made the original object(i did this years ago and ended up having a tiny camera stuck down there to check it out). Go to the emergency and they check it out for you ..better safe than sorry.....
 
I have post-nasal drip from allergies and often have to cough or clear my throat. Sometimes it will feel like there is a huge glob that is going to obstruct my breathing or choke me if I do not. It will stop me in my tracks.

I immediately after will drink warm (not hot) fluid to help push it down and out of the way. I was going to suggest trying this to see if it makes the feeling go away. If not, I agree with the others who say you should go get checked out to be safe.

Lindaru :)
 
Yea, Ive put a flashlight in my mouth, but I can't see anything. However, my uvulva appears to be a bit enlarged and sticking to my tongue. Last night was awful. It felt just like a leaf was stuck in my throat, but I forgot about it and started feeling normal again. I felt normal most of today so my anxiety has gone down. I'm pretty confident it is this uvulva sticking to my tongue and throat.
 
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