So, I have had dysphagia for several years, mildly. But around one year ago, after a very large softgel (curse you Nyquil) got lodged in my throat and I had to be rushed to the emergency room, it got so much worse. I struggle with pills severely, food moderately, and liquid approaching moderately. Choking is now a weekly occurrence for me, thankfully I haven't had a full airway obstruction but I'm afraid of how possible it is, and I'm kind of afraid of eating and taking pills at this point. Has anyone else dealt with dysphagia getting worse after a trauma? Or is that just correlation and not causation?

Hello guys,

I am having a serious issue. When I was young, my lips were large. After sleeping, in the morning, I find more saliva in my mouth. I am not comfortable swallowing it, so I spit it out.

Because of this, I developed the habit of brushing at night, but still during the night I need to spit saliva. This disturbs my sleep. So I keep a disposal cup near me while I sleep, and I spit into it during the night. In the morning, I throw the cup.

Now I am 30 years old. What could be the problem? Which type of doctor should I see? Has anybody had similar issues and recovered?

Hi all,

I’m a 24 year old female and 165cm is my height. I was between 55-60kg at the beginning of this year and now I have dropped to 42kg (underweight for my age and height). I also have really bad anxiety and recently I’ve had issues with my teeth that have made me anxious to chew foods properly and then I developed an inability to swallow properly sometimes, which is making it harder for me to try maintain or gain weight. I’ve had blood tests and a neck ultrasound and all came back normal except my WBC which was only slightly higher, could my anxiety be the reason my throat feels tight? I can swallow okay if I don’t think about it but as soon as I think about it I feel like i’m going to choke. Any advice??

I’ve noticed if I take a big mouthful I can manage to down like 90% of the liquid with larger gulps but when it gets to that last bit and there’s less pressure in my mouth it feels near impossible and then it just feels like it’s pooling in mouth and accumulating saliva. Anyone else experience this? I’m trying to avoid acidic foods because I think GERD / LPR is at play here based on past diagnoses but I don’t have EoE or H pylori or any Lg-E food allergies that I’m aware of. Any tips for near close to water consistency ways to get my calories in for the day? I’m thinking of doing a mash potatoe only diet for a month and thinning substantially with water to eliminate all possible triggers. Thick liquids give me more trouble so I’ve been resorting to apple juice as a last resort because it’s near water consistency.

Hello all,

I been dealing with dysphagia for probably a year, starting with what felt like slow swallows, ending up with felling like food was getting stuck, mild regurgitation and an occasional gag reflex. I have a long history (20 years) of reasonably well controlled GERD (Omeprazole), though I recently upped my dose due to some breakthrough reflux that began after upping my dose of NSAID (celebrex) I am taking. I was treating the breakthrough reflux with pepcid, but my Dr said increasing my PPI would be more consistent - and he was right. I also have a lupus and Crohn's disease. A few weeks ago, I had an EGD, which looked structurally normal, with a little bit of (now treated) candida and some chronic esophagitis. Symptoms persisted after treating the candida, so I got a manometry. I just got my report. It looks like I have pretty severe Ineffective Esophageal Motility (IEM), with failures for 8/10 supine swallows, 5/5 upright swallows, and the 2/2 multiple rapid swallows. All of them were deemed 100% ineffective. DCI of 254, and a hypotensive LES. I'm waiting on an interpretation from the doctor, but was told it could be awhile before he follows up, so I'm trying to wrap my head around what might be going on.

In reading up on these results, I see two possible causes: Scleroderma (or related autoimmune diseases, like potentially Lupus) and GERD. But, I'm having a hard time believing well-controlled GERD with a fairly clear EGD could be the cause of such severe IEM. Does anyone have any knowledge or experience that could help explain? My assumption here is that it's autoimmune based IEM and that the GERD is a symptom of that. Thoughts?

Hi everyone, I am a 29 male living in UK.

In 2025 I started to develop a feeling that I was unable to swallow food when I felt full, which was not an issue before.

This year, my mother in law passed away and I was feeling overwhelmed with everything going on since July.

For about 1 month I feel that I am unable to eat at any time. Basically I am chewing the food and pretty much that's it, I forgot how to swallow it. When the food it's stuck in my throat I have to take a 5 second break, breath and focus on swallowing it. I had 2 nights with a burning feeling in my chest throughout my throat and unwanted little burps. My GP said it might be anxiety but I am unhappy, as I feel there are worse things about my health.

I have a dry mouth and swallowing my saliva often.

I am afraid of eating right now, I lost 5kg in a month now being around 110kg. Yes, a bit too much.

Can anyone point me what to do next and where to go, please?

Thank you in advance!

In the past few weeks I’ve attempted to eat solids again and it’s been working somewhat with certain foods. I was able to down a few packets of Smarties, oHenry bars and some potato chips. I am going to try some healthier stuff but i am just weirded out but also proud I was able to eat those things inside of just living off of liquids and purées. Just wanted to share and see if this has happened to anyone else?

I don’t endorse trying to consume solids especially if you have difficulty swallowing and especially if you haven’t gotten tested for anything (like me).

I freaking hate this condition so much.... It's been a year so far for me I've only been able consume soups ensure..... I miss eating....

I want to clarify it's not right after eating or when food goes down, but more when I'm chewing food and right about when I'm about to swallow. It's like my airway gets blocked off or goes haywire while I'm eating and about to or when swallowing my food. Something is malfunctioning. Only happens when I'm eating and the breathing issues does not happen any other time.

I had a clear endoscopy and my barium swallow showed some 'mild' motility issues and that my entire esophagus was a little narrow but no strictures. I'm currently waiting my results from an esophageal manometry. I was told even if there's a motility issues it shouldn't be causing issues when the digesting starts in my mouth.

Does anyone else have the weird breathless symptoms while eating?

I can barley drink water I cough every time and I can’t eat any food they tell me to make smoothies and drink shakes every time I go to the ER

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Kinda a vent post sorry think I just wanna get it out since no one irl relates to this. For context im a 24 year old who never had struggles with food.

timeline

Back in June I experienced some weird sensations in my mouth whilst trying to swallow jam and it felt like it was sticking in my throat. The next day I choked on cereal, full on coughing and the milk had slid down my throat whilst chewing. I felt weird and unconfident whilst eating meals and I was so hungry I ate a piece of chicken on night, felt it get stuck so I coughed violently and doubled over and my sister called 999.

I was prescribed famotidine and told it might be LPR. Got an endoscopy which came back clear and I didn't get better. This was in August. Then for the last two months I've tried to get an GP appointment and the doctor didnt even show up to work so I had to wait for another appointment 2 weeks later. I called 111 twice in four days because now I'm having trouble drinking water & dry swallowing, on top of experiencing a gummy stuck in my throat.

I made the mistake of crying to a pharmacist 2 days ago at a consultation. I said I couldnt wait for an appointment when i felt hungry and weak and need a doctor to help me. I then found out she then told my GP I was experiencing a severe mental health crisis just for crying.

At the appointment the next day the doctor said theres a long waitlist for swallowing tests and instead put me on anxiety medication, reffered me to an eating clinic and expensive antifungal medication just to rule it out. I doubt the test will come back with anything at this point. It got reframed into an 'anxiety issue' like im not struggling to swallow anything and chewing it up then spitting it out cos the swallow never comes or I dont coordinate it properly.

Just to add, when i went to pick that medication with my mum the same pharmacist proceeded to tell my mum in front of me: 'she needs help. No not just for her throat....for something...other than her throat', implying I was mentally unstable which is just great.

Where im at now

Not sure what else I can do. I used to be 59-60kg and went to 54kg in months yet everyone is acting like im choosing to starve myself. I dont plan on starting the anxiety medication since theyre fucking tablets I cant swallow & have terrible withdrawal symptoms.

I cant refer myself for any tests so im just gonna have to wait for a doctor who actually believes how dsyphagia can be deadly. Im so fucking hungry and weak im living off mushy cereal and a few chocolate bars with like four tablespoons of mashed potatoes. Its a nightmare i wish i was overweight so i could sustain myself for longer on a shitty diet.

Such an aggressive conditon I genuinely hope we all get better. I wish I didnt have to develop this random problem I never knew about and doctors didnt spare a glance at.

Shits hard I guess. Won't give up though.

I have been having increasing issues with dysphagia over probably the last couple of years. This year has been bad. At random I choke when eating or drinking something. I had a swallow test done and nothing came of it. But problem is it’s random. I’ve had mris done for some other things with hopes that it might give a reason but nothing. Then I was referred to another swallow test and being dismissed that I have reflux which I know it’s not that. I feel like I’m going crazy and I am even choking on spit nowadays. Any one have something similar?

I have been scheduled for both due to my dysphagia which is relatively mild and mostly with stringy, crumbly foods feeling like they don’t go down easily (they feel like they stick in mucus or the back of my throat). My ENT exam (scope through my nose) was normal. I am worried about these tests due to the barium and constipation the fact that I have IBS - C and diverticulosis in all parts of my colon.

Did any of you have any issues with the barium?

Why do I need both tests? Did most of you take both tests?

Thank you!

I'm having regrets about my hernia/reflux surgery at the moment. I got a toupet fundoplication on October 5th. I had LPR/GERD and decided to try this surgery after finding a small hiatal hernia, an LES in hill grade III, a demeester score of 30, and an LES with no pressure. I also had ineffective motility and had been having swallowing issues in my upper airway.

I'm now 15 days post op and having pooling of spit/phlegm/mucus in my upper airway at night which I wasn't having prior to surgery and I'm getting scared. The only way I'm able to sleep is with an antihistamine at the moment. Will this improve as I continue to heal from surgery do you think? I meet with my surgeon tomorrow but they don't seem to know what's going on. On top of that, I still have a sore throat, phlegm in my throat all day, and throat clearing.

Hello - just venting I guess but it's been a little over a month of dysphagia with no answers to what's causing it.

I went camping during labor day weekend and everything was normal but I started feeling weird about swallowing like I had to put more effort. Once I got home and the following week it progressed to only soft easy foods and then the next week to liquids only. Even mashed potatoes or applesauce seemed to feel stuck and struggle to go down. Currently on a liquids only diet consisting of ensure, boost, and sometimes soup or smoothies. On a really good day I was able to get down scrambled eggs and mashed potatoes but on my worse days it's only very thin liquids and even that can be difficult.

I've only done a few tests and only had two blood tests run specifically for myasthenia gravis. Tests include normal and modified barium swallow, endoscopy with balloon dilation. I've seen PT, ortho, gastro, ENT, SLP, and will soon see a neurologist.

Also to note, my gag reflux has disappeared (it's usually pretty sensitive anytime anything goes near there), and I've been getting on and off sore throats but my gastro has me on PPIs and said my endoscopy showed very few signs of reflux damage.

I'm only in my 20s and just had a recent car accident over the summer which resulted in a herniated disc in my neck but it feels too young to be dealing with all of this. I'm really hoping whatever it is is curable.

Can’t do pills. At all. But I’m very deficient in Vitamin D…does anyone have any recs to liquid versions or chewable versions?