Difficulty initiating swallowing - Anxiety Support

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Difficulty initiating swallowing

Jstewy profile image
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I have been having difficulty initiating to swallow for 4 months now. I do not have acid reflux, I’ve had a modified Barium swallow test done and an endoscopy test done both showing that everything’s “normal” and yet I still struggle initiating to swallow. I hesitate when I do try to eat any solids and I have to wait for the “instinct” to kick in and then I can swallow. There have been times, when it’s really bad, that as I swallow the back of my throat stops/rejects my food from going down and it will sit there until I find the instinct to swallow. It’s not the sensation of food stuck in my throat, food is literally stuck in the back of my mouth/throat. It progressively got worse after 3 months to the point that I was on a liquid diet for 2 weeks and even liquids had become difficult. It was during this time that I had the endoscopy done and the GI doc was hopeful the procedure would help “open up” that area of my throat but couldn’t say for sure even though the test results were normal and showed no signs of any narrowing. Since then, about 2 weeks later, I’ve been able to eat solidness again but not very well but at least I can eat solids again. I am uncertain if the endoscopy helped this or not and I am still feel at a loss and have been desperately searching for answers. It seams as if anyone who posts on these forums, looking for answers and sharing their symptoms either never find answers or don’t come back to update their progress over the years.

Anyone out there find answers to similar symptoms as mine! I need some direction. :)

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Jstewy
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DeeM3 profile image
DeeM3

Had the same problem-all muscular. When my severe back and chest muscle tightness decreased with the use of anxiety meds, massage, chiropractic and some physical therapy, my swallowing issues and stomach problems went away. I also had a clear endoscopy. For me it goes hand in hand.

Jstewy profile image
Jstewy in reply to DeeM3

Hey...I don’t feel any tightness in my back or chest. No pain anywhere. When I first started showing signs/symptoms it came out of nowhere and was completely unexpected (as far as finding it difficult to initiate swallowing). It was hit or miss and only happened once every other week or so and it was at complete random when it would happen until it progressively got worse and eventually started happening at every meal.

How did your signs/symptoms start?

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