Food gets stuck

[lucidmom]

I have this too. It started this summer and I was eating some kind of meat. It felt like it got stuck in my chest, not my throat, I can breath, talk, and cough. I kinda stretched my neck out, swallowed a few times and it went down.

The next time it was pasta, and no amount of swallowing, or drinking or coughing could get it to go down. So up it came. Since then it happens a few times a month, bread, pasta, French fries, meat, cake. It doesn't matter what it is, how small the bites are or how much I chew them up. It gets stuck and the only thing I can do is force it up. The Dr said it is a symptom of MS, which he said I have, and we are waiting to go over the MRI results. Hopefully he can give me something to make this easier.

[Kimba22]

Hi lucidmom,

Sorry to hear you are experiencing this.

There are different "texture" levels of food. The foods you are describing ( bread, pasta, French fries, meat, cake) fall under the "advanced dysphagia" diet. You'd be best to avoid them altogether until you are further evaluated. And, drinking a "thin" liquid can be a problem all it's own for someone with dysphagia. (You can read more here: http://www.anfponline.org/Publicatio...8Dysphagia.pdf ) Once it's diagnosed (usually with a barium swallow test) , treatment begins with a modified diet.

I've had problems with dysphagia a handful of times since my diagnosis, and each time it was associated with an exacerbation. The good news for me was that it always resolved, but I did need to go on a modified diet for a little while.

Here is some additional info:

http://www.nationalmssociety.org/Sym...owing-Problems

http://www.msfocus.org/article-detai...x?articleID=47

Best of luck

[andi b]

same problem here ( from time to time)

I have had this issue come up in the past (not recently, thank goodness). The first major time was before I was diagnosed (around 2002) and I had the same knot feeling in my diaphragm that you describe. We had had barbecued ribs and salad, and although I ate small bites it just wouldn't go down. I ended up going to the ER and there was quite a wait while I felt like I couldn't even swallow my saliva. Finally after taking small sips of water the blockage went down and I left the ER without having to be seen.

It happened again a few times in around 2006-07 (Chinese food and pasta) and I was able to get it to go down by repositioning my abdominal area and drinking water. At that point I had an upper endoscopy, which was unremarkable. I still have moments when I think, "oh oh, here we go again." But I am able to get it to go away by moving around and drinking water (fingers crossed).

I actually had an appt with my gastroenterologist today (for a colonoscopy referral) and he said that it is possibly a symptom related to MS, but that since I have had no recent issues he wasn't going to order an upper endo. Good luck... I know it is a horrible feeling.

[Marco]

I am sorry you are going through this. It's disconcerting, unnerving and scary all at the same time.
I would quickly talk to your doctor, neurologist, ENT, gastroenterologist or speech therapist about having a swallow test w/food textures performed. I wish you well!

[dawlfin]

I have this too. It started this summer and I was eating some kind of meat. It felt like it got stuck in my chest, not my throat, I can breath, talk, and cough. I kinda stretched my neck out, swallowed a few times and it went down.

The next time it was pasta, and no amount of swallowing, or drinking or coughing could get it to go down. So up it came. Since then it happens a few times a month, bread, pasta, French fries, meat, cake. It doesn't matter what it is, how small the bites are or how much I chew them up. It gets stuck and the only thing I can do is force it up. The Dr said it is a symptom of MS, which he said I have, and we are waiting to go over the MRI results. Hopefully he can give me something to make this easier.

Hi,

I can give you some info on why food can get stuck (not just from MS).

I work in the GI department. We come in on call for food stuck or feeling like it is stuck in the esophagus on a regular basis.

Of course, the most obvious problem for an MS sufferer is that there is a change in you gut motility- usually a neurological one. You can have a monitor placed to record just what goes on in there.

Many people have mild food allergies that can change the surface cells of your "swallowing tube"- the esophagus. It makes ridges, which grab onto food. This can be treated, once properly diagnosed- by taking a steroid spray. This is called Eosinophilic Esophagitis.

People with GERD- gastroesophageal reflux- (stomach acid does not stay in the stomach- but rises into the esophagus) can have trouble swallowing. This acid in the wrong place, causes inflammation which can cause scarring and narrowing. It can also lead to cancer! This narrowing can be dilated by a balloon.

You can also have spacticity that can be treated with botox injections every few months.


So, your symptoms can be caused by different conditions and should be properly diagnosed by a gastroenterologist. I recommend you see one that is employed by a hospital that is attached to a medical school. The everyday GI doc does not do the advanced studies or treatments for these conditions. Do not assume it is only caused by MS.

Good luck! I am curious to learn what they find.

In the meantime, chew food very well (especially poultry- almost always what we find stuck!), and swallow water after each bite of food you swallow.

-Dawl