Does anyone else have swallowing problems?
Aljen Starnes
I am suffering a real problem with swallowing when I eat. It is like the
muscles do not want to work. It doesn`t happen every time I eat, but
often enough to be very bothersome. Thanks for any advice in advance.
just me
Hi Aljen,
You should not ignore this problem. Go
see your Dr. It is possible you are having a reflux. Your Dr. can
prescribe a medication to take for it. This has to do with your
esophagus. It can become inflamed from the gastric reflux caused by
(layman terms) a hole in the top part of your stomach which allows acid
to flow into your esophagus.
Good luck to you and hope you get better.
Just Me
Sherry Messick
I read your post on the fibromyalgia newsgroup. I don't know of a
connection between fms and reflux or Esophageal immobility. I'm not a
professional so it is possible their is. You should confer with a
professional. I do know that it is associated with other AutoImmune
diseases such as Scleroderma. You need to go to your doctor and the
sooner the better. I have severe immobility in my esophagus and also
have constrictures and when you let it continue you could end up having
to have it dilated. This may not be the problem for you but if it is
there are medications that can alleviate the symptoms and help prevent
any constrictures in your esophagus. I strongly suggest a doctor visit
and you telling him/her exactly what the symptoms feel like.
--
Sherry Messick, "Three Great Sites"
Surviving Scleroderma
Living With Lupus
Fighting with Fibromyalgia
http: http://ps.superb.net/smessick/survive
************************************
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Aris2chat
Who among us has not had a lump in their throat, burning from reflux,
throat infections, thyroid problems, larangitius or many other reason for
us to have trouble swallowing. I hate to say it comes with the territory
but it does seem to. Drink lots of fluids, warm fluids like herb tea,
Chicken soup, warm lemon and honey tea. try not to run for the
antibiotics as you can be come tolerant of them.
(\ ~ /) Liz "Dutchess"
( \O/ ) http://members.aol.com/Aris2chat/index.html
/, ,\ Aris2chat's Home Page
/ \ "Angels take themselves lightly,
~~~~~ that's why they have wings"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The deepest joy is felt by those
Who know what pain is, too~
And I belong in this large group
And so do most of you
_"Cheerful Cherub"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HAnder6197
Run, don't walk , to see your physician. FMS affects so many parts of our
bodies but it's best to make sure that is what it is. I also deal with acid
reflux but it's not too severe. However, I have a daughter who started out
having problems swallowing and then moved to her eyelids - keeping them open.
She was eventually diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, a serious connective
tissue disease. I don't mean to scare you but you should definitely see your
physician.
Hugs,
Harriette
RickMo3
Liz wrote:
<< hate to say it comes with the territory but it does seem to. Drink lots of
fluids, warm fluids like herb tea, Chicken soup, warm lemon and honey tea. >>
I ahte to say it too, but ditto, ditto, ditto!!!
******Half Full, Half M.T.******
Maureen
Colin Murray
I have that problem also.I have trigger points in my neck area.Do you
have MPS and FM.That causes allot of facial problems to.I don't no what
to do for it but I have the problems also.Yvonne
The Sanner Kids
I don't know what you can do about it but it is a part of FMS. I took care
of a lady with difficulty swallowing as being her chief FMS symptom. Check
with your doc because I thinkthere was a med she used that helped with
this! Good luck!! Jenn
Aljen Starnes <aljens...@webtv.net> wrote in article
<63e2p7$s27$1...@newsd-2.alma.webtv.net>...
Taffy46222
Harriette,
This really caught my eye. After years of being told there was nothing wrong
with me, it's anxiety and depression, a new doctor dx'ed me with Myasthenia
Gravis. I then went to an MG specialist, who confirmed the diagnosis, and was
put on Mestinon. But I kept having reactions to the meds, and after years of
trying to adjust the dosage, and the death of both doctors, another dr. told
me I did not have MG, and probably never did. More years of "it's all in your
head", etc. etc. Then this year, I was dx'ed with fibromyalgia.
Taffy
D. St. James
Gene:
The next time you have this pain in your esophagus ( or sternum) - try taking
BIG swallows of water. Works for me. This problem is very painful. I assume it's
a spasm of the esophagus. Swallowing the water "lumps" seem to help.
Diane
Gene Lyons wrote:
> About five years ago, B4 I was dx'ed with FMS, I was having trouble with
> esophageal reflux, and also an incredible searing pain in my sternum. Once I
> went to the emergency room and they were convinced it was a coronary event,
> until the EKG showed them otherwise. I was seeing a G/I doctor, and he sent
> me in for a test, I can't remember what it was called, but they shoved a
> large tube up my nose, down my throat and to my stomach. Then they gave me
> IV injections of a drug to stimulate the muscles in the esophagus to spaz,
> the tube was there to measure the strength of the contractions. They
> couldn't trigger a spasm!
> Now in hindsight I can see that the whole event was an FMS flare-up and it
> just happened to be affecting that particular area.
> To this day I still have trouble swallowing, particularly with taking
> successive gulps of liquids. It's like a coordination problem. "Chugging"
> anything is out of the question. I'm amazed when I see soda commercials, and
> these people are downing half a 20-oz bottle so smoothly. (Not to mention
> that they could be making better choices about what to chug!)
>
> You might consider seeing a G/I dr., both to rule out anything else, and to
> document what you're experiencing. I think on of the biggest risks for PWFMS
> is that something far more serious than FMS may go undetected until it's too
> late, because we and/or our doctors may falsely attribute the symptoms to
> "just another FMS thing".
Turf99
For those of you that have swallowing difficulties, there are some compensatory
swallow strategies that may help. If you're problem is reflux
(food/substances coming back into the pharyngeal area from the
esophagus):never lie flat, keep your upper body propped up at night. If
you're problem is aspiration(taking food/substances-even saliva- into your
airway), try the following: never eat/drink reclined, never chug, decrease
your use of straws, tuck your chin when swallowing liquids especially, swallow
several times per bite/sip, clear your throat gently and reswallow, remain
upright at least 30-60 minutes after a meal, if you're drinking/eating milk
products alternate with a water-based product like juice, coffee, tea,
kool-aid. And if you're having an acute period of difficulty you might want
to stick to thicker liquids such as buttermilk and tomato juice. Of course,
all of us have coughed with stuff going down the wrong way but if this happens
regularly, please go to your physician. Recurrent aspiration can cause
infections like pneumonia and can be serious. If anyone has any questions on
swallowing, I would be happy to help. Just E-mail!! Good luck, friendly
Fibros. From your fellow Fibro and Speech-Language Pathologist Kim@Turf99!
Susan Vargas
Hi folks:
I'm having such a hard day! Very ill/big flare. Swallowing has been such
a problem, especially lately. I was taking some meds the other day in
front of my grown daughter and gagged one pill after the other down -
swallowing the water was as much a trial as the meds. She was astounded at
the difficulty I was having. Asked me if it was a regular event - I
replied it was. The more I focus on it the more spasmodic I seem to be. I
try not to over-react to any symptom in a flare-up, it's hard; but I can do
it. Gotta' hang in there or I'll just fade away! Been crying all day, and
it's only 9:14 PDT.
Hope you-all are better than this!
Susan
Taffy46222 <taffy...@aol.com> wrote in article
<19971102151...@ladder02.news.aol.com>...
Sherry Messick
> ):never lie flat, keep your upper body propped up at night.
I was instructed to raise the head of my bed. This really made a
difference in the amount of mornings I was awaken with pain from
reflux. I was told simply propping yourself up with pillows won't do
the job because only your upper body is raised. You want your entire
body in a slight inclined position so the downforce keeps the acid down
in the tummy. We were told to do it 6 inches. We put wooden blocks under
the headboard feet. With a long skirt and comforter you can hardly
notice you have done it. I thought my hubby would have trouble sleeping
with it this way but he didn't seem to notice any difference. I hope
this helps.
--
Sherry Messick,
http://ps.superb.net/smessick/survive
Find support there dedicated to those that are
Surviving Scleroderma, Living with lupus, Fighting with Fibromyalgia
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MarciaLF
I find it really interesting when people talk about raising the bed. I've
heard that many times, but I always feel better laying down. I've been
diagnosed (endoscopy) with Hiatial Hernia, GERD and Gastritis. Everyone
tells me I should be raising my head, but the truth is the time I have the
least problems with swallowing, gas and pain, is when I'm laying down in
bed. I never have any kind of heartburn during the night.
I guess we're just all different!
Marcia
luck
Hi everyone...I have FM and also a Page and Half of other chonic
illnesses...One is the Swallowing..some of which is caused by
reflux, gert, hiatal hernia...and a Tongue/trachea devaition, so
holding chin down to swollow is impossible. The dx put me on
"Prevacid" which has been a god sent...If I forget to take med
for a couple of days...then everything feels like a bowling ball
going down and the pain even from water is beyond horrible...
The main thing that the Doctor said and I agree is the Medication
helps to relax the muscles in addition to helping with other
esophagus and trachea, etc....
Without Insurance to help pay for the med I couldn't afford it.
The Prevacid 15mg in AM is over $100.00 for one month supply...
Same cost problem for my Pain meds Ultram....Having trouble getting
Insurance to pay for it.....The Ultram has helped the most for Pain
and especially the Flare ups like Iam in now due to a Sigmoidoscopy
done the other day....The doctor gave me lots of extra meds to help
knowing it would give me a Flare Up, but Here it is anyway....Without
the Ultram it would last for weeks. Most strong pain meds and Anti dep.
react like Speed....Including Morphine....My last "TIA" the Paramedics
gave me Morphine, so by the time they got me to the Emgency room I was
flying high and couldn't stop talking for hours afterward....It caused
my high blood pressure to go Higher.....
As for sleep...I have learned to listen to my body and not worry about
what sleep clock everybody else uses....I no longer fight not sleeping
at 2am....I have some foods that will make me drowsy and keep me asleep
longer, so if I start back at no more then 2 hrs a day....I use the food
(warm turkey is a good one, it has chemicals that make you sleep when
heated just like warm milk) plus whatever time of day that my body would
prefer to sleep.....This has helped to keep my flare ups in check..
The Ultram 50mg was developed for FM suffers and Cancer patients....It
is
a longer acting pain reliever. Because of some of the serious side
effects....Its not for everyone.....Its alot less additive then many
others, such as Vikden, morphone, codene etc.....and can be used on a
long term basis.....But it is expensive and the Insurance companys don't
want to pay for it and they have the HMO doctors usually suggesting
other
pain med, lower costing anti dep.....for cost reasons....Then also you
have the Sales people that give medications to the doctors to try....I
remember when Paxil was flooded into every doctors office by sales rep..
Every Person is different as are fingerprints and not all medications or
vitamines, etc. will work on everybody.....I have to take alot of
Aspirin
for a Genenic progessive Artery and small vessel disease and found out
that taking "Tums" will counteract the Aspirin....There are many foods
and meds, vitamines, that will reverse effects of other medications or
keep them from working at all and its different for different people.
Thats our problem with doctors and others.....They have decided that
anti depressents are the answer for everyone and that all FMers should
be
at a mild level with exercise.....Well, thats false....Some FMers never
go beyoond a mild cause and others find a way to not have any major
flare
up tell people if you do such & such you will also be Cured of FM....
We are just like MS patients....there are NO TWO PEOPLE ALIKE. 40%
NEVER FIND RELIEF FROM MAJOR FLARE UP while others may go into
years....Our body changes all the time.....
Sue from Portland, Or
Sue from Portland
Barbnjg
I have just had the same problem recently. It felt like the food would not go
down and it felt like it was always in the throat. Sometimes if I ate & then
laid down for a while (which I normally don't do), when I got up it felt like
the food was still in my throat. Thank goodness that passed after a couple of
weeks. I certainly don't need another problem.
Kelly FL
As for sleep...I have learned to listen to my body and not worry about
>what sleep clock everybody else uses....I no longer fight not sleeping
>at 2am..
I think that that is a reasonable idea but I have one tip. It is not good to
try to sleep during the day unless you are in total darkeness. For five years
I worked very late -4 am-then slept in until 10:30 or 11 am. Here in sunny
Florida and in our neighborhood where window shades are not necessary due to
the proximity to neighbors, I slept like a baby in a bright room. But it is
hard to get into a deep sleep if you sleep in a bright room. Lights goes thru
your eyelids and tells your brain to cut off melatonin and other chemical
production and this disrupts the body clock. But if you sleep in a totally
dark room this won't happen when your body clock is set to the night mode.
Resistance is futile.
jere hilton
;The reaction is yet another symptom of Fm. You are experiencing
esophagial spasm which means you are having a spasm of muscles around the
esophagus. It is very frightening. I take Zantax 150 which seems to
help. I also have alerted all friends that I may have thies reaction and
that I might call them and unable to talk so call 911 for me. One secret
I've used is Tiger Balm on the muscles around the throught; this seems to
relax these muscles a little to alow the food to slide on down.
Jere Hilton
Madison, Wi
Barbnjg <bar...@aol.com> wrote in article
<19971112235...@ladder02.news.aol.com>...
JIFFYHEART
I have experienced some swallowing problems. I have alerted my family, but not
friends. Thank s for the tip. What is Tiger Balm? Reply to Jiff...@aol.com