trouble initiating swallowing, confused what's going on?

OP here,

also i am 21 yrs old,  5 foot 10 inches. and i weight 185 lbs. I don't think im fat, but i've had a bloated belly for pretty much my entire life that looks like it belongs on a pregnant lady (it started to get worse at age 19).

i haven't been physically active 2 months as this swallowing problem has my mood down. i usually go to the gym 4-5 times a week. I spend my time in the gym running on the treadmill for 1-2 miles, playing basketball, or lifting weights

I have no food allergies outside of being lactose intolerant. i eat around 2000-2600 calories a day. i don't think im eating enough fruit and vegetables, usually i only eat 1 apple or 1 banana a day, along with 1 serving of fresh spinach.

I have difficulty swallowing too.  It goes along with the silent reflux that I have.  My Dr. saids my problem is with my throat.  It's too small and it causes food to back up.  Maybe you should be checked for Silent reflux.  Just a thought. 

It could be inflamed are you watching what you eat no spicy foods or fatty foods caffeine and tomatoes should be avoided try adding some Gaviscon advanced after meals and let you food and drinks cool down before consuming them hope this is of help

Hello...I have been desperately searching for an answer to my difficulty to swallow and came across your forum...

I have also been having trouble initiating swallowing. It has randomly occurred 2-4 times since 2015 until just recently it started back up in october of 2017 and was happening more frequently but not every meal or even everyday. I spent a few months of dealing with it in this condition until the end of December (2017) it hit me hard. It’s been 3 months now and it has progressively gotten much worse. I have seen a doctor/ENT (back in feb. 2018) they saw some irritation in the back of my throat and proscribed Prilosec. They diagnosed me with “silent reflux” told me to take 2 pills a day and I should start feeling better within 3-4 days...nearly a month later of taking the pills and I saw no change. I then had a modified barium swallow done (beginning of March 2018) everything came back fine and next I’ll see a GI specialist for a scope to rule out any structures. 

I used to be able to eat certain foods but had difficulty with breads, meats. I have the same reaction as you described in that I have difficulty initiating swallowing and if I don’t wait for that “instinct” to kick in the back of my throat sort of “rejects” the food and it sits in the back of my throat until I can find the instinct to swallow. I don’t have any other symptoms besides a resent sinus infection and I still sound congested...not entirely sure if that has anything to do with it, tho.

My question to you is did you ever find an answers to your troubles? I am desperately looking for answers and I am now to the point where I can’t even eat ice cream or protein shakes...I’ve also lost 15 lbs within the last 3-4 weeks because I cannot eat as much. 

I hope you are well and can give me any advice or direction as to what I should do to help find some answers based off of your experience...I would greatly appreciate your help or input!

Thank you for your time!

Jenn

Hi,

I am also a GERD patient for 4-5 years I think and I always go back to my Gastro doctor many times in a year. I have experienced all the symptoms related to this disease and have taken different kinds of medicine such as Omeprazole, Pariet, Dexilant from once a day to 2x a day. That's on and off depending on the occurrence of my GERD. Sometimes I also experience panic attacks and tingling in my left arm or right arm. My gastro said that it's because of anxiety. It makes sense because whenever my GERD flares up, I panic and think of a lot of things like having a serious disease or if this doesn't have any cure at all, stuffs like that. I got tired actually and recently I realized that this disease is mainly triggered by STRESS!! I'll stress that out, it's all about Stress friends.  I realized that back last December 2017, when my GERD flared up for a couple of months and I was about to do a PH test  procedure (research it online )which will cost me a large amount of money. It was suggested by my Gastro since the medicines are not working for me. Since there was no available equipment yet that time, I had to wait and I had the opportunity to go out of town with some friends. We stayed there for 3 days and it was literally relaxing and enjoying. I got nothing to think about. My GERD did not flare up that time. Then when we went back home and got to work, my GERD flared up again. I have food restrictions and I follow it mind you. I do not eat spicy food, anything with tomato, dairy or with wheat. I noticed that the difference was that I was stressed at work. 

Whenever I feel stressed, symptoms of acid reflux and belching occurs. As I mentioned, GERD can also cause panic attacks due to anxiety. My gastro suggested to get a small brown bag, put the opening in front of your mouth while holding it and start breathing in and out. The air should not come out as you need to breathe in the carbon dioxide. After noticing a few days, I also decided to check for yoga exercises online to calm my body and do some breathing exercises together with it. And it was EFFECTIVE!  I noticed that when I calm myself and do some simple yoga and breathing exercises (deep breathe in and breath out a couple of times), the GERD symptoms go away.  It was amazing. Since then, I did not have GERD symptoms anymore and I'm not taking any medicine for it. Thank God!

Try it and notice the difference. Do some breathing exercise (you may use the brown bag exercise) until you are finally calm and your symptoms will go away.  

PS. Continue to avoid food restrictions like spicy food and milk and tomato. 

I hope that this helps you somehow. Let me know if it works for you too.