what could food getting stuck in the esophagus mean

01-09-2011, 12:32 PM

what could food getting stuck in the esophagus mean? i manage to shift it with big gulps of liquid. I'm 25 and this has been happning for a couple of years now.

01-10-2011, 07:48 AM

Definitely get a Modified Barium Swallow!! I also have pills sticking in my esophagus & an upper GI/endoscopy showed nothing. I was very frustrated, too. Then, I had the mod barium swallow. They actually take pictures of your throat while you are swallowing. You are given liquid, small pieces of food, & even a pill to swallow. When they did my test it showed the pill lodged in my throat. There it was stuck in my esophagus! Even after swallowing big gulps of water, it just sat there. The technician was amazed.

They referred me to see a GI doctor. He is going to look at the pictures. I'm not sure what they can do, though. I had my esophagus dialated by the same doctor during my Upper GI.

01-10-2011, 09:05 AM

My ladylove is at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona for all
of the reasons described in this thread. Told me yesterday
about seeing the stuck barium pill with the water flowing around
it. She has had many dilatations of her esophagus in the past
several years for an esophageal stricture at the lower sphincter
muscle of her esophagus and is now having gastroparesis wherein
the stomach outlet sphincter muscle won't relax and allow food
to pass (she is on a totally liguid diet for many months). There
is the possibility she will get botox injections into her lower stomach
sphincter to cause it to relax. She is starting manometry (24 hour)
today also. So reading the posts on this thread sounded so
familiar and I hope y'all get help before your conditions progress so
far.

01-10-2011, 11:19 AM

You could have a Hiatal hernia. this is when a portion of the stomach pushes up (tears) through the diaphram of muscle that supports the digestive tract. This portion of herniated stomach creates a pocket which can act like a trap for food, causing the need for the drinking while you eat.
This has happened to me. I was doing the same thing with gulping water to stop the pain i was having while eating. It was pretty bad, i would lose my breath, i thought i was having a heart problem. I had a procedure called a Barium swallow, (it's an X-Ray they take shots of while you swallow a thick liquid called barium this shows the esophagus at work) this showed the Herniated stomach. I now take a prescription for Acid reflux called Omeprazole 20mg, and have been instructed to avoid eating 2 to 3 hours before sleeping. To Avoid Caffiene, Alchohol and Fatty FooRAB. These 3 cause Reflux as well...

Hope this gives you some insight. I would see my Doctor if i were you, ya never know...

01-11-2011, 05:08 AM

Could someone still have a problem if the Mod Barium Swallow came out normal, and no signs of reflux or heartburn? Because my barium test came out normal, showed no problem, I don't have heartburn, yet I still feel like food get stuck in my throat. I also tend to feel dry throat after I eat certain fooRAB, but it goes away within an hour or so, and no heartburn. Why can't I just eat normally again!! Is it just a fear of choking?

**sunshine123** · 01-11-2011, 06:56 AM

You might have a stricture. If you do, the GI Doc can dialate your esophagus which will make swallowing food and liquid painless.

01-11-2011, 02:18 PM

Yep. You can be one way one day and different the next. I think it also depenRAB on the person giving you the test. Another thing is that I don't believe all the test results to begin with!

Charla

01-11-2011, 08:40 PM

It could be barrets esophogus. To much acid coming up into the esopagus and creating inflamed and mutated tissue. NeeRAB to be checked out by a Dr. by using an endoscope.

01-12-2011, 02:50 AM

i have the same sort of thing going on, food getting stuck and water has not been helping, i was even having a hard time with geting pills down. had the upper GI and that showed nothing. very frustrated......

01-12-2011, 08:13 AM

They did an upper Endoscopy on you and there was no stricture? I would suggest an Esophageal Manometry test. This test is used to check pH levels/acid reflux stuff but also I believe tests the motility of the esophagus. You may have a motility issue. Please ask your doctor about this or see another doc if your own didnt suggest this. I hope u were not told to "live with it"!

God bless you,

FG