I can only speak for myself and I've only had symptoms for less than 3 months....
My swallowing issues are very scary. Let's say I take a bite of a roll with butter, I chew it and swallow it. Now to me, it feels like I swallowed it completely. I go to take the next bite and swallow, only it doesn't go anywhere. The previous food is just stuck 1/2 way down my throat. While eating, I have to keep going through the swallowing procedure a few times before I go to my next bite. But I don't feel anything until it clogs up and then I can't breath. I've had 3 incidents where I was unable to swallow the food and also unable to choke the food up. I went minutes without oxygen and used juice to eventually wash it down. The final time, a few days ago, it was a roll and instead of washing it down, it caused the roll to swell up. Needless to say, I went a while without breathing and I had to choke and choke and choke until it came flying out. I was home alone and very lucky. If you have a doctor treating you for MG, call them immediately if you even suspect you're having muscle weakness in your throat. I still am waiting for a specialist.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lily7
I have read the threads regarding choking and inability to swallow -- and I now realize that can be an urgent problem.
My question is more about understanding what is happening to my throat on a less urgent level. My neck and throat feel like -- what I remember as the how the beginning of a bad cold feels, tight, deep ache, like you have swollen glands -- but I don't have a red Throat or swollen glands. Just these a hit feelings. Are these feelings from small scale muscle weakness or spasms? It happens mostly in the evening and I makes me generally feel miserable.
Also along this line, sometime while eating, when I swallow it feels like my food suddenly turns square and won't go down. It is not stuck in my throat but feels like it is stuck on the way to the stomach. Sometimes this radiates to a really big pain. I stop eating, walk around for a few minutes and When I can I swallow some pepto and that seems to calm things down a lot.
So what is going on in your experience? Should this be explained to Neuro doc or GP doc? How would you describe it as I think my rambling paragraphs above would make a doctors eyes glaze over?
Advice and Input is welcome.
|