I haven’t been able to eat for a month.. Dysphagia

Hi everyone.

My symptoms started when I got braces put on earlier this year. I started to have difficulty eating certain foods like spinach, celery, melted cheese, etc. I started avoiding going to restaurants as it would take me forever to chew my food and even then- I feared I would choke on it.

Fast forward to a month ago. I was eating dinner when it started to feel like it was getting stuck in my throat and I thought I was going to choke. I went to emerg where they checked my vitals, did blood work, briefly looked at my mouth & checked my breathing with a stethoscope. They said everyone was normal and sent me home. I’ve since been to the hospital four times now and each time they just send me home and put in a referral to a specialist. Only one of the four doctors said they felt like the skin on the right side of my neck is “thicker”- so she made an appointment for an ultrasound of my neck and thyroid next week.

When I was able to eat food, my symptoms started out as:

-**difficulty swallowing**

-feels like esophagus is closing

-feels like food is getting stuck in the lower part of the esophagus

-slight trouble breathing

-excessive belching/fullness after drinking

-chest burning/tightness

(I felt like I was having a heart attack)

I’ve been on a liquid diet for almost a month now as I await to see a specialist for an endoscopy. I recently started to lose weight rapidly, 14lbs in the past month, due to not being able to eat- let alone drink “thicker” drinks like smoothies or milkshakes. The last Dr. suspected esophageal candidiasis but I’ve been taking nystatin suspension and fluconazole tablets and don’t notice an improvement of symptoms.

My current symptoms are:

-**trouble swallowing**

-tight throat

-intermittent nausea

-belching after drinking

-fatigue & weight loss due to not eating

-cold sensitivity/bluish fingernails

-thick/stringy saliva

-average temperature is 36

History: I’m a 22 year old female. I have an autoimmune disease and take corticosteroids. I eat a lot of spicy foods. I’ve never had any symptoms of GERD or anything. I’m a fit, active, young adult who has never smoked and I rarely drink alcohol. I have anxiety but food is my comfort lol and Ive never had any issues swallowing. I know there has to be something wrong.

Family history: Graves’ disease/hyperthyroidism, diabetes, heart attack, colon cancer, issues with kidneys, etc. 

I’m so paranoid & terrified as I’ve never had symptoms like this before... I’m scared it could be the C word... Can a regular panel of blood work indicae if I have cancer or something serious like that? 

Does anyone have any guesses at what it could be? Has anyone experienced something similar to this? Or can anyone give me advice to help me ease my mind? I feel like I’m going crazy.. I mean if it was something super serious they probably wouldn’t have sent me home right? I’m so stressed and anxious I can’t sleep at night and can’t focus during the day. Please help. 

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