Choking

[JW50]

Hi all,I have MCAS and hypermobility and am also menopausal (yeh!). I usually plod along OK but recently I've started to struggle with eating.

I seem to lack control over chewing and swallowing sometimes and actually choked on a nectarine at work today. Luckily a colleague gave me back slaps and it shot out.

I don't know if this is just a weird and wonderful phase which will disappear as quickly as it arrived or something I'll have to learn to manage.

Has anyone else experienced this?

[JayCeon]

Hiya - I don't think it's the same, but maybe my workarounds can help a bit:

I have a Schatzki ring constricture above the sphincter of where my esophagus goes to the stomach. This has a similar effect to steakhouse syndrome. To not have to get it dilated, I now chew even more, small bites, taking time between bites, alternating what I eat, cos some types of food clot the bolus up together with sticky, praps too dry saliva more than others. There can still be problems with certain types of food, like carrots, tofu, but even too cold yogurt can cause a problem. Sometimes it's not the last "bite" that was the problem, but the one before. I've learnt to sense the slightest pressure and then immediately stop eating and wait for it to subside, occasionally I can continue, but usually not. Once it's down no problem.

I can well imagine that a nectarine can cause that problem even if it isn't as solid and hard as carrots.

Just I'm wondering how you mean "choking" - that sounds more like air pipe than food pipe, but I think you do mean the food pipe? When I get the esophagus blockage I wait if it goes down itself, but the pain got worse after a gastritis, so now I only wait 5 minutes and then stick my fingers in to get it out. If I've got enough out, I can eat fully normally again.

Whatever, I don't think it'll turn out to be a phase and I'd encourage you to get it checked. My Schatzki ring was not seen 2020, but very visible and an "impressive" constricture of a third in 2022, as the doc report says :-). There are also other conditions like eosinophilic esophagitis that would need checking. And while they're looking into you, they can check your mast cells in esophagus and stomach. The propofol can be a problem, but I had several other problems too, like getting too cold in the waking up room, which I told them about and they did what they could, like with extra blankets.

[JW50 in reply to JayCeon]

Thanks JayCeon.It was a windpipe obstruction and I think the issue is more to do with my swallowing reflex as I've had a few near misses recently.

Regarding being cold after anaesthesia it's usually due to a blood pressure drop and the start of an anaphylactic response.

My son also has MCAS and had surgery last month. The anaesthetist was brilliant and researched what to do. He then dosed him up with antihistamines preop,gave him low histamine anaesthetic and also put a canula in his other hand in case he needed to bring him straight out of the anaesthetic.

Whenever I had surgery pre diagnosis I always came to as I was being wheeled out of theatre due to blood pressure drop then wrapped in silver sheets to bring my body temperature up.

Last surgery I had they put me just under then nerve blocked the shoulder they were operating on in case they had to bring me out of the anaesthetic mid op.

Where there's a will there's a way!

[JayCeon in reply to JW50]

Ah, thanks for sharing those experiences!

I'm wondering if there can be any workarounds for that windpipe obstruction. Only thing I do that might be of a little use is when i take my tons of supps (about 80 big capsules a day...) I try to place each capsule at the back of my tongue and then take one big gulp to thrust it down as far as possible. Now if that'd go in the wrong pipe it'd be even worse I spose! But maybe it'd make the swallow reflex work better?

Or just playing around with how to swallow I'm wondering if using the mouth and throat muscles it can be steered better?

Hope you find a workaround, nothing we'd want to stay stuck with!