Choking On Food

[pixiegirl]

Well I'll add another possibility... eosinophilic disease, depending on where the cells collect changes the symptoms. I have many in my colon and stomach (eosinophilic gastroenteritis) but if you get them in the esophagus then you have EE. I have some there and I have had all sorts of problems swallowing. There seems to be some slight tie in with Celiac, it seems like a lot of people who have this have celiac. Its all caused by allergies, either food or enviromental. I have both.

If you are every going to have a endoscopy ask them to do a biospy for it, its often misdiagnoses and they are finding it more and more often (sound familar?). Its usually fairly managable. I'm doing ok with it now due to meds.

Susan

[olalisa]

Others have already thrown out quite a few possibilities, so I'll add one more. My grandmother has had this problem for years -- it was one of the first symptoms of her scleroderma, another autoimmune disorder that causes hardening of the connective tissue.

It sounds as though there are alot of possible causes, so I hope you're talking to your doctor about it. I hope you find a solution, because it must be scary. I remember being scared as a kid when my grandmother would choke while eating -- it happened for the first time ever when she and I were out shopping and having lunch in a cafe. We both remember it vividly!

Yes, definitely get checked for scleroderma. My Mother in law had that, and "food getting stuck" was one of her first symptoms. I was looking to see if anyone else had suggested checking for that!

Keep us posted.... ((((((((((((hug))))))))))

[shai76]

The technical term for it is dysphagia. Make an appointment with your gastroenterologist right away and have them scehdule a modified barium swollow and/or a endoscopy.

I get the same thing. It's probably not Barrets esophagus (a pre-cancerous condition) but could be esophagitis. I get it, so does my son, because we have long term LPR reflux. It can also happen from food allergies. Do you have food allergies? This can cause the eosiniphils inyour eesophagus to rise and cause swelling in there. Definitly have your GI doc put a scope down there to see what is going on.

[whitball]

I also have problems swallowing. I have problems with rice, potatoes, meat, fruit, veggies etc. I have been on protonix since my diagosis in feb 2006. I have also had problems clearing my throat. It seems like I have a chronic problem with this. Anyone else?

[debmidge]

Hubby went thru this right before he was properly diagnosed and although nothing serious was found in throat, he does have diagnosis of GERD and hiatal hernia. In beginning before celiac disease diagnosis he thought it was throat cancer (as usual the first thought is the worst thought).

[CarrieBoo]

I have not been diagnosed yet (waiting on blood test results still!), but have all the symptoms of celiac. I have been trying gluten free and felt wonderful, then had a doughnut lastnight and back to the stomach pain, constipation, headache, and all my joints were in pain!

Anyhow, I have had trouble swallowing food for about 13 years (I can't remember the problem before this), mostly trouble with meats, potatoe/starchy foods, bread, etc. I had 2 barium swallows that didn't show any problems except a small polyp that didn't concern my doctor. I would be surprised if there weren't a connection between celiac and this symptom after reading this thread...

[hawkeye1]

Maggie-

No time to read through the whole thread so excuse me if I"m being redundant... A few thoughts on the chocking problem:

schatzki's ring Open Original Shared Link (my uncle had this and it caused him to choke on food)

a yeast infection in the throat--yup it happens

an esophagus that needs to be dialated (due to inflammation from ie. reflux--but reflux does not have to be noticeable for this to occur)

an allergy (my husband, around the time his allergies are bad, has a reaction to chicken where it gets stuck in his throat and causes him to choke...very strange, but happens every year)

I have a hardened stomach & esophagus problems, & hard to swallow food:(. My esophagus surgeon said I have fungus inside & on the outside of my esophagus...He metioned celiac disease chron's. he's gonna do a scope & a biopsy, down my esophagus & cut the fungus, on the inside 7 outside of esophagus. cause it's narrowed from the fungus blocking esophagus. My stomach was in severe pain, in stomach, for 10 days couldn't eat nothing. but from the top of my throat-chest in the centre & down to my belly-button had a very strange, very hard PAIN:(!!! he also said maybe, esopogitis,Barrets-disease, stomach cancer Esophageal-Cancer, ETC!!! he's checking for a lot of different things, but my stomach is So-Bloated...it looks like I'm pregnant:(((??? anyone have similar problem:(??? pls. let me know;). thank-you Dan.

[cyclinglady]

Welcome Hawkeye!

I hid a few of your postings since they were all the same. It was nice that you responded to each poster, but those folks have not been around in years and are unlikely to respond to you. You might just get a few current members to comment.

If your doctor is willing to test you for celiac disease (and I think he should), here is the list of tests. Try to ask for them all.

-tTG IgA and tTG IgG

-DGP IgA and DGP IgG

-EMA IgA

-total serum IgA and IgG (control test)

-AGA IGA and AGA IgG - older and less reliable tests largely replace by the DGP tests

-endoscopic biopsy - make sure at least 6 samples are taken

(Source: NVSMOM -- )

Also check out the University of Chicago's celiac website. There are over 300 symptoms of celiac disease.

Welcome to the forum and let us know how it goes!

[StClair]

I was diagnosed with celiac disease after a chain of events which started with GERD, food sticking half-way down and an upper endoscopy. When I asked the doctor if the GERD had anything to do with the celiac, she said, "it has everything to do with the celiac." Three weeks guten-free, and it is finally improving. We are all unique, just my recent experience.

[Lisa Purcell]

I found this thread while doing a Google search for choking and Celiac Disease. My sister had a choking event on Sunday that necessitated an ambulance being called. I too have trouble swallowing sometimes - not to the extent she has - but it made me curious as we both have Celiac Disease. I found these links:
Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link
 

They link Celiac Disease Acid Reflux as well as to "intestinal metaplasia of the esophagus (Barrett's esophagus). I saw some articles that mention GERD and Celiac Disease.
So, yes, trouble swallowing is indeed or can be a part of Celiac Disease. I hope this helps.