Swallowing

justlilolme

New member
History: I've always had acid reflux and IBS issues. I've also always been picky about what i eat - i can't swallow pills easily and strange tastes/textures make me gag.

But back in 2007 i had a bout with swallowing issues (stuff got stuck or wouldn't go down) where i literally felt like i couldn't eat. Doctors did a bunch of tests (swallow study, barium stuff, etc) but found nothing. Eventually i was so dehydrated and malnourished i was in the hospital for a few days (where they did an endoscopy and found nothing) - the doctor i had at the time said i had an "eating disorder" and left it at that.

Within a week of getting out i was feeling a lot better and was diagnosed by a new doctor (whom i saw for a second opinion on the eating thing) with a ton of allergies (horses, pollen, grass, ragweed, birds - all of which i had been in contact with on a daily basis at college) and my new doctor guessed that maybe i had allergy issues that affected my swallowing.

I'm on allergy medication now. It's been better (though i still have issues swallowing very dry stuff like bagels or slippery stuff like pasta) up until recently. Just randomly one night i was eating and it literally felt like i was swallowing just as something was trying to come up (nothing did.) For about two days i was unable to eat and nauseous and another day of bad diarrhea. Now i feel better but i'm again having issues swallowing where it feels like it won't go down (almost like somethings coming up at the same time and/or it feels like my throat doesn't register that food is there) - along with a new symptom of it actually feeling like a STRAIN or pain to swallow. My stomach also makes it feel as if i can't eat a lot at once and i have to eat a little bit over like, an hour.

I'm hesitant to go to the doctor because last time they had no luck. Obviously if it doesn't clear up soon i would go. Anybody have any idea? Anyone with similar issues?
 
You might want to check out this list of 'acid' and 'alkaline' foods:

http://www.healthboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=763999

I've had trouble swallowing in the past due to acid reflux, but am doing much better now that I'm eating mostly alkaline foods like watermelon, cantaloupe, and sweet potatoes.
 
"Did you have an esophageal manometry test?"

- nope, never even heard of that one.....

All of the tests i had done where in the weeks up to when i was in the hospital (except for the endoscopy IN the hospital)...

The first test i had done, i sat down with a speech pathologist (i think) and she watched me swallow different foods. Other than the obvious discomfort and difficulty, she couldn't find anything physically wrong.

After that i did a barium swallow with liquids and a pudding-like version they spread on a cracker - again, no one saw anything "wrong" on the films of that. Nothing was swollen or out of place, muscles seemed to be working okay, etc etc.

After that one, when i actually started gagging and vomiting, i went to an ENT who found a ton of "irritation" after sticking a camera up my nose and down my throat. He put me on a different acid reflux drug but that didn't help.

After that, when i was in the hospital (apparently the lack of food/water caused vomiting and then dehydration) they did an endoscopy and everything was fine (even this so called "irritation" the ENT found was "mysteriously" gone.)

I'm obviously going to go in if it doesn't resolve itself, but i'm leery. Last time they where of no help, found nothing actually, and my FIRST doctor actually had the nerve to say i had an eating disorder and that my folks needed to "monitor" me to make sure i didn't make myself sick.

The only conclusion my second opinion doctor (now my primary) came to was that i was over-exposed to things i was unknowingly very allergic to. Could something like this be an allergy related issue?

Either way, whatever it is, any advice for how to deal with it until i get to the doctor and/or (hopefully) get a diagnosis?
 
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