I have a barrium swallow test I'd love for someone to look at. Can you help?

Hi All!

So I'm scared out of my mind with health anxiety but have had some real issues to deal with. That's why I'm here.

Here goes:

About 4.5 weeks ago I decided to try and lose weight and get in shape. Get healthy. Mind you I was feeling fine but looked...ehh. So I changed my diet drastically; reduced carbs significantly, tried to get rid of as much bad food as possible, ate less, added a lot of fruits, oatmeal...etc. I also started lifting and drinking tons of water. Within in about 2.5 weeks I lost 12 pounds. Also at 2.5 weeks I started having this urge to pee all the time and my stream was weak. Then I started with lots of gas, bloating and diarrhea. I started to freak and went to the doctors: Blood work was all normal, urinalysis found some ketones *15 in my urine which was probably due to not eating enough (Fasting). I then had a DRE which said my prostate was all good, FOBT was negative. Slowly my symptoms began to fade though the diarrhea which I've always had off and on was a little more persistent.

Then! This past Saturday I was eating a tortilla chip and it felt like it wouldn't go down. Then I tried some peanuts...same thing...Ever since then I feel like I can't eat crunchy things or they'll get stuck AND I feel like I have something stuck in my throat. So, I went to an ENT checked out my throat and pharynx and larynx and said he could see I have chronic post nasal drip and some irritation due to silent reflux. So I felt fine that there wasn't a mass of any kind until realized that thee lump I was feeling was lower down than what an ENT can see even with his laryngoscope. So then I panicked again, went back the next day to see if they could look down further but they couldn't. What they did do though was set me up for a barium swallow which they very nicely ordered stat for me.

Here are the results:

Impression

Mild mucosal nodularity throughout the esophagus but particularly in the lower esophagus. This can be seen with infectious and inflammatory etiologies particularly gastroesophageal reflux. No evidence of reflux documented during the exam, however.

As clinically warranted, swallow study utilizing solid foods could be obtained for better analysis of swallowing function solid foods.

The patient was told to follow up with referring clinician for further management and/or intervention.

Pottstown Hospital

Narrative

HISTORY: Difficulty swallowing solids for 3 days..

Comments: A double-contrast esophagram was performed in the of right oblique positions followed by a single-contrast esophagram in the prone position. Images of the cardia were also obtained. Prior to performance of the esophagram, the patient was given effervescent granules with water.

DOSE: 29.25 mGy-cm. 10 staticFluoroscopic images and 3 video fluoroscopic sequences during swallowing of high density barium were obtained..1.2 minutes of fluoroscopic time utilized.

COMMENT: There is mild mucosal nodularity throughout the esophagus but more pronounced in the lower esophagus.. There is no hiatal hernia. Gastroesophageal reflux was not able to be elicited. There was normal esophageal motility. No intraluminal masses are identified.

There was normal swallowing with high density barium without penetration or aspiration.

The gastric cardia was not well seen due to its position within the abdomen on prone right anterior oblique imaging.

I spoke with the radiologist afterwards and she said that it was basically mild inflammation most likely from reflux even though they couldn't elicit reflux on the exam. Now I know I definitely have the silent reflux so it must not have picked it up due to......whatever.... not having eaten within 15 hoursish or so.

My doctor called me afterwards and said ok so you can see there's nothing to worry about. i just want you to try the lifestyle modifications, raised head, keep eating better and let my body adjust.

My question is..........do the barium swallow results seem ok? Oh I should mention that I've had intestinal issues for a long time...35+ years. About 16 years ago I had a ct scan that showed bowel wall thickening. I had a colonoscopy done to look at the areas that said they were inflamed but nothing was there. (Every CT scan since then looks the same.) No inflammation, they biopsied all around the general area and it was all fine. So I wonder if this is a normal variant for me or maybe I just have chronic inflammation everywhere due to an autoimmune disease.

Thanks for reading this crazy story!

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