esophugus problems
 

I'm wondering if anyone is having problems swallowing food due to the RSD spreading internally? I also have another sort of stupid question ( please forgive me). If a person receives spinal epidurals isn't that a risk of the RSD spreading to that area? As far as the swallowing issue, I have a very tough time swallowing food that is dry. Such as chicken or any other meat. It seems to get stuck right at the bottom of my throat and it doen't want to go any further, down or back up. Thank you :confused:

Hi Krank,

It sounds like you should get that checked. Sometimes it could be a hiatial Hernia, could be GURDS, do you have heartburn? That is something that you can have checked. They can do an upper GI series. No need for any scopes. Sometimes your esophogus can close up and may need to be stretched. It could be dangerous if you get something stuck in your throat...so take small bites and maybe you should stick with mushy foods until you get this checked. Don't wait, get it checked.

Hugs,

Sandy

Krank,
Was this immediately after getting the epidural, like within the first few days? I have had that happen before and I remember how much it freaked me out at the time but I also remember that it did dissapear after a few days.

Other then epidurals, I have noticed increasing problems swallowing food and drinks in the past few months. I was kind of hoping that was just something that would settle down after the ketamine treatments. Now I'm wondering if it's a sign that it's progressed further is some respects. :9

Hopefully it will go away on it's own but please keep us posted,
Dawn

Thanks for the replys. They seem to be isolated from one another. The throat problem started during a flare in july and my last epidural was in January of 2009. The food will get stuck half way down and just stays there. Then my whole body starts to sweat terribly. I sweat so bad that my clothes are drenched. All this happens within a couple of minutes. Sometimes I sweat right after eating. I was wondering if it was part of a spread too. I asked my PM guy and he just dismissed it along with the RSD spreading to the epidural sight. I am wondering if I need to dismiss him. So this has lasted six months for me anyway. I hope this goes away for you.

Hi krank,

I have had a problem swallowing properly since I was Diagnosed. I never thought of it being from an epidural. My RSD is upper extremety and have had may stellate blocks and I do have some back problems and have had epidurals. My problem is the same but instead of having that feeling of nothing going down I just eat very slow. Eating slow in a way is a help, it helps you eat less for some reason. When you eat slow you fill up quicker.
I try and look on the positive side.

I wonder if I started having this problem because of the stellate blocks because they started as soon as I was diagnosed and then the swallowing started, hm....

Gabbycakes

Sweating with eating can be diabetes related. It is called gustatory sweating.

With undiagnosed diabetes, or even when you have pre-diabetic times (called impaired glucose tolerance), you can develop gastroparesis...which is a nerve degeneration affecting swallowing and the stomach.

This article is very complete with discussion of all the causes of gustatory sweating:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/431617_3

Medscape has a strict copyright, so I cannot quote it.
If you are not a member there, you can join for free easily.
They have some very good medical articles there on everything!

Dear mrsD,

Not to change the subject of the thread.

I am so sorry about your kitty.

Gabbycakes

And to add to mrsD, having had gastroparesis for 3 years, you want to watch your diet carefully. No fat, no fiber, no chunks of meat. And a super restriction on how much at one time. I limited myself to 10 bites. Doesn't sound like much, but before they figured it out I had lost 30 pounds in 3 1/2 months and was only taking 2-3 bites. Nothing to mess around with.

Krank, I also noticed difficulty swallowing some foods, especially pretzels. I just ignored it until i was told by RSD specialistl, Dr.S, that difficulty swallowing is part of RSD. momof4

hey

some medication prescribed for rsd cause a dry mouth and also excess sweating....
maybe your problem with swallowing could be due to that

xxx
leiea