Have you ever had swallowing problems?

Yes, maybe 20 years ago. It was a particularly bad sore throat. Very inflamed. Ultimately they gave me antibiotics and said to drink warm tea. It took about 2 days to get back to normal.

Fortunately, it hasn’t happened since.

My stepfather’s mother used to have swallowing problems. She was a smoker and a drinker, so that probably didn’t help. I remember she used to keep a little shot glass of oil (just regular oil like you’d cook with) and she’d take a sip of oil before she took a bite of food.

I had mono when I was younger, sometimes allergies can irritate me as well.

@jca2 I’ve heard of olive oil shots, and health benefits.

YES! Serious problems! I had a lot of trouble swallowing liquid. It often just burbled out of my mouth.

When I finally got seen the doc did an upper GI – looking down the throat with a camera. She also did a colonoscopy. I had some ulcers in my stomach.

My esophagus had grade 4 esophagitis – the worst an inflammation can get…like, precancerous. Said my entire esophagus had ulcers. She put me on proton pump inhibitors which decrease the amount of acid my stomach produces. Haven’t had problems so far, but it’s a couple more years before I get another one done. I’m not a doctor, but I recommend seeing someone asap.

@KNOWITALL This wasn’t to gulp the whole shot for health benefits, it was just to lubricate her esophagus so the food would go down. She was also very thin, so the combo of smoking, drinking, being thin (and brittle) was a bad combo.

@smudges Wow! That is just horrible!
I had a barium swallow the other day. It showed nothing wrong other than the pill wouldn’t “readily go down into the stomach”. I have lots of problems with taking pills now.
I have an upper endoscopy on May 7th. I just wondered if I should see an ENT.
Once in awhile when I drink it comes out my nose. Like when you were laughing as a kid. Only I am not a kid. And I am not laughing.

@anniereborn Good, I’m glad to hear you’re seeing someone. But my doc was a gastroenterologist and she did both the colonoscopy and the upper GI during the same visit. I would find a GI and see if you can get in sooner because if you do have a problem, it’s only getting worse. I don’t think ENTs do that test. Your regular doc should be able to recommend someone.

Yes, I had liquids coming out of my nose, too and had trouble taking pills, which sucked cause I take 10–11 prescribed meds.

@smudges Yes, I am seeing a GI. Originally the test couldn’t be done till December just because they were booked out that far. May 7th was a lucky cancellation. Yes they are doing a colonoscopy too.

I just looked it up and apparently ENTs do upper GIs, but they wouldn’t do a colonoscopy and I’d bet a gastroenterologist would want to do that also. Yayyy! Glad you’re seeing a GI and May 7th isn’t too bad. You might want to call and see if they have a cancellation list so you might get in earlier. <<hugs>>

btw, my doc called it a “rotisserie” because they go in at both ends. :D

I had that “rotisserie” lol, done about 15 years ago. I did not have the “guts” to ask if they use the same scope. They never found anything except I was “mildly inflamed” I eventually figured out it was likely gluten and have not had problems since cutting it mostly out of my diet.

About 10 years ago I had pancreatitis. And about 3 months after that hospital stay, I had a condition where your body slows down with the processing of food so that eventually you can’t keep anything down. It’s most common in people with diabetes, which I have, and I think it’s called gastroparesis. So at some point down the line one of my doctors decided that I must have GERD, but to this day I’m not convinced I do. I haven’t had any other issues with swelling and I’ve had heartburn exactly once in the 10 years. But now I’m on a medication for GERD. Modern medicine is just so wonderful sometimes. (sarcasm)

Many moons ago, I had a frightening sudden onset of swallowing problems during a big holiday dinner with family and friends. I thought I would suffocate and had to leave.. It continued, waking me up at night with a scary choking sensation. I described eating and drinking as trying to yawn and swallow at the same time.

After lots of tests, someone determined my problem was acid reflux ‘a chronic upper gastrointestinal disease in which stomach content persistently and regularly flows up into the esophagus.’

The cause was a hiatal hernia where my throat muscles were unable to keep down the contents of my stomach.

Treatment was prescription antacid, sleeping with my head elevated, and slow and deliberate eating and drinking to avoid inhaling instead of swallowing. It took months to become easily manageable. The slight but routine fear of swallowing wrong lasted for twenty years.

My mom did a few years back and it was a growth in her throat. It wasn’t cancer but docs said it could come back but its been a few years now and it hasn’t come back.

Yes. I still can’t swallow pills well. I’ve been like that my whole life. I don’t take large bites of food, and I chew my food very well. Daily it’s not really a problem, but I just know most people have an easier time with eating and swallowing.

If it is someone older who has new swallowing problems they should mention it to their doctor. It can be the sign of some very serious diseases.

I major problems with swallowing pills just started like a year ago. The weird thing is that regular food is much less of a problem. Like I can take a pretty big bite of a banana and there is no problem.

^^ I was the same – no problems with food, but trouble with pills. I think it’s because we take pills with water, and liquids were what my problem was. It would literally dribble out of my mouth or nose.

@smudges wow! so strange. I just found if I take the pills with milk it is a ton better.
I have problems with hypersalivation. Did you?

I’m guessing bananas go down easier than pills because bananas are soft and liquefied after being chewed whereas pills are rigid.

@jca2 This is true, but some of the pills I take are round, coated and pretty small.

To chime in on the substances that make pills easier to swallow, I find applesauce really helps, although I only ever had that issue when I was in the hospital once 10 years ago. I had this absolutely huge pill that I had to take and even with cutting it in half I could barely deal with it. But a nurse put it in some applesauce and after that it was no problem. I don’t know how bananas would work, but I don’t think milk would work for me. And sometimes I find that my pills go down easier with soda than water, although I’m not quite sure why.

@anniereborn Do I have hypersalivation? Don’t know, never been told that. But I had trouble with pills or just taking a drink, which I think is like you’re experiencing, correct?

@smudges Yes, I have trouble with pills. Although last night I did try taking them with milk and it made a world of difference. No one has told me I have hypersalivation, I know I do. Sometimes my mouth is just full of saliva. Gross, I know.

A lot of pills need to be taken on an empty stomach so water is the only option.