Digestive problems-possibly dysphagia

[Cleo]

Hi, I have been noticing some digestive issues that really leave me wondering..

Sometimes I'll get this lump in throat sensation after eating, as if there is food stuck that's not digesting. Sometimes there is a small amount of food that, without effort, I regurgitate. The regurgitation might happen a few times a week and then stop for awhile. Sometimes it seems like I won't have any of the symptoms.. for several days to a week but then they come back on. Feel like I need to start writing down when this is all happening.. Anyway, with the regurtitation-there is no abdominal pain or odor, usually no heartburn.

Mostly it is this feeling of food stuck, lump in throat and then belching after a meal.

In January I got what I believe was food poisoning with accompanying headache that lasted 24 hours. The day after, I really started to notice again the lump in throat feel, as if more food than usual was stuck. Because of the discomfort, for a couple days I did force the food up which I haven't done since.

I know I experienced the feeling of food stuck/regurtitation less than a couple years ago but nowhere near as often as now. At the time I just thought it was some symptom having to do with grief. So what might be called globus, or the sensation of a lump in throat which is linked to it. But then, I had all the other symptoms.

Looking up my symptoms online, I found info on the condition dysphagia, the closest match so far:

The most common symptom of esophageal dysphagia is the inability to swallow solid food, which the patient will describe as 'becoming stuck' or 'held up' before it either passes into the stomach or is regurgitated.

Any input on the matter is appreciated. Btw my diet is pretty close to what I would call paleo, and because my eczema has been acting up since the start of the year I've been thinking of trying out this diet that was linked to in another thread: http://www.sott.net/article/267780-Why-isnt-my-brain-working. Maybe this diet could help with my digestive issues as well as the eczema.

 

[Leland]

Hi Cleo, give this thread a look, especially if on iodine. This is how mine started a while ago. I had some amazing, immediate relief with chlorella. Take milk thistle too. Hopefully you can nip it in the bud. I'm going over now to post an update.

https://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,41055.0.html

 

[Cleo]

Hi Leland, thanks for starting the thread you linked to-that is actually where I found the article about the diet :) Looking at the diet article right now, I eat quite a few of the foods to avoid. Ones I avoid though are instant coffee, soy, alcohol, dairy except butter, grains that contain gluten. Otherwise gluten-free and try to eat local organic meats when available. I probably eat way more sugar, especially from carbs and fruit than I need to.

I'm not on the iodine protocol, thought I'd focus on getting most if not all of the many amalgam fillings I have removed first. Not sure it'd be a good idea to start the protocol with the amount of mercury I might have in my system.

I am taking a supplement btw formulated by David Brownstein, M.D. called Actalin. Two capsules a day includes 200 Mcg of Iodine (from Kelp and as Potassium Iodide). I haven't been taking them daily but plan to start doing so. Now that I think on it, I did start taking the capsules in early January this year, sometimes just one a day. Not sure of any connection there. I noticed Actalin wasn't mentioned in the Iodine thread...maybe if not on the protocol, taking a low dosage of iodine like this is not recommended..?

Maybe just starting out by tackling the diet in that article, will start to make a difference. Will look into Chlorella, milk thistle.

 

[Leland]

Like I said, that was one of the beginning really irritating symptoms, along with the stomach rumbling. Then it morphed into sinus/head/chest cold stuff, and then just exploded with all the tummy/throat issues (at 12.5 mg/day). I sure hope it doesn't for you, but be on guard.

I started at 150 mcg a day for a week, then bumped it up in 50 mcg or so increments. Per the iodine thread, it varies wildly among folks. Some have reactions at the microgram level, and others can zoom up to 50 or more mg with some side effects, but nothing overpowering. Some go up that high and no symptoms at all. Their bodies are probably squeaky clean from years of good diet. Be alert to yours and don't let things get away from you like I did. In hindsight, a good idea would be to keep a diary of your symptoms and assign each a severity level. Less likely to sneak up on you that way.

I knew about chlorella (had taken a bit years ago) but I had mistakenly associated it more with the DMSA/other focused heavy metal detoxes.

At the health food store here, they have some small boxes with 5 or 10 packets of "green" nutrients which included chlorella and spirulina. You could try to find something like that before you invest in an entire container.

In my 20s I had panic attacks, and in addition to the garden variety symptoms, I would get the lump in my throat. Sometimes it would get so bad I would throw up. This was the late 80s so the prescription was tranquilizers. I later did biofeedback and some other stuff and eventually just kind of "grew out" of it. In my case, some of it had to do with maturity, and feeling not in control/secure as a young adult.

I moved around a lot as a kid, family scattered internationally at times, etc. Was not horrible by any means (a lot of fun in many cases), but there were stability/big change issues that I wasn't always prepared to deal with. One month I was living with parents in another country, and the next on my own, back in the states.

That was my stress. yours can be something totally different. Even positive stress is stress.

It could be a combination of iodine, anxiety, and toxicity, which the iodine is going to stir up, even at small amounts. I can't even begin to cover it all like many here, but helping the GI clean up and function better is definitely worth a shot.

Changing the diet is great and definitely a foundation, but don't discount some additional assistance.

Let me know how you get along and I hope you get some relief very soon.

 

[aragorn]

Hi, Cleo. From what I've read, swallowing problems and "lump in the throat" sensations could be a sign of something more serious. I think you should see a doctor just to make sure. Another thing that you could try is taking some digestive enzymes and probiotics, in case you have some sort of dysbiosis.

 

[Shared Joy]

Hi Cleo,
sorry to come up again with the Chinese medicine, but I 'd met many like cases. Globus histericus (plum pit qi) is phlegm congealed in the throat area and can be released with acupuncture. One example below ( Stomach 40,44, with the draining method, and local points are also recommended)

_https://www.goldenneedleonline.com/library/2009/05/26/acupuncture-plum-pit-qi/

It's easy to treat. Maybe you can find a practitioner.
FWIW

 

[Leland]

In hindsight my post was a little noisy, all over the place, and way premature for me.

Excited to be hear and interacting, and the iodine has me more gregarious than usual.

As the more erudite have pointed out, there could be some serious issues to address, or rule out.

I'll stick with questions in diet and health for a bit

 

[theos]

Hi, Cleo. From what I've read, swallowing problems and "lump in the throat" sensations could be a sign of something more serious. I think you should see a doctor just to make sure. Another thing that you could try is taking some digestive enzymes and probiotics, in case you have some sort of dysbiosis.

Yeah, I'd recommend getting it checked too. As you wrote, you should also keep a diary of when it happens, what you're eating/drinking at the time and if heartburn accompanies it and take it to your doctor.

 

[ermete55]

Hypochlorhydria?

 

[Cleo]

Hi all,

Hi Cleo,
sorry to come up again with the Chinese medicine, but I 'd met many like cases. Globus histericus (plum pit qi) is phlegm congealed in the throat area and can be released with acupuncture. One example below ( Stomach 40,44, with the draining method, and local points are also recommended)

_https://www.goldenneedleonline.com/library/2009/05/26/acupuncture-plum-pit-qi/

It's easy to treat. Maybe you can find a practitioner.
FWIW

This could very well be what's going on!...what you mentioned about phlegm congealed in the throat area or 'plum pit qi' reminded me of several instances in the past where after laughing really hard at something, I would develop phlegm in the throat. To the point where it would cause me to cough a lot due to the phlegm obstructing my airway. Will be further looking into this condition..thank you.

Like I said, that was one of the beginning really irritating symptoms, along with the stomach rumbling. Then it morphed into sinus/head/chest cold stuff, and then just exploded with all the tummy/throat issues (at 12.5 mg/day). I sure hope it doesn't for you, but be on guard.

I started at 150 mcg a day for a week, then bumped it up in 50 mcg or so increments. Per the iodine thread, it varies wildly among folks. Some have reactions at the microgram level, and others can zoom up to 50 or more mg with some side effects, but nothing overpowering. Some go up that high and no symptoms at all. Their bodies are probably squeaky clean from years of good diet. Be alert to yours and don't let things get away from you like I did. In hindsight, a good idea would be to keep a diary of your symptoms and assign each a severity level. Less likely to sneak up on you that way.

In my 20s I had panic attacks, and in addition to the garden variety symptoms, I would get the lump in my throat. Sometimes it would get so bad I would throw up. This was the late 80s so the prescription was tranquilizers. I later did biofeedback and some other stuff and eventually just kind of "grew out" of it. In my case, some of it had to do with maturity, and feeling not in control/secure as a young adult.

It could be a combination of iodine, anxiety, and toxicity, which the iodine is going to stir up, even at small amounts. I can't even begin to cover it all like many here, but helping the GI clean up and function better is definitely worth a shot.

Changing the diet is great and definitely a foundation, but don't discount some additional assistance.

Let me know how you get along and I hope you get some relief very soon.

Yeah, I question my decision to take the supplement with Iodine all the sudden like I did-even though it's a lower dosage. Also, I do think it could someway/somehow be related to anxiety. Partly because I developed this slight worry that the food might continue to get stuck after a meal, kind of similar to how (I was also in my 20's, happened a few times) I would have a panic attack and then worry about it recurring.

I didn't notice much of the sensation today, slight but not as pronounced. The worry about it continually happening is also not there as much. When it does happen, it's usually in the evening after dinner. In the morning, it is more a sensation of swallowing air after I start to drink a warm liquid, like yerba mate.

Hi, Cleo. From what I've read, swallowing problems and "lump in the throat" sensations could be a sign of something more serious. I think you should see a doctor just to make sure. Another thing that you could try is taking some digestive enzymes and probiotics, in case you have some sort of dysbiosis.

Yeah, I'd recommend getting it checked too. As you wrote, you should also keep a diary of when it happens, what you're eating/drinking at the time and if heartburn accompanies it and take it to your doctor.

Thanks for the reminder on probiotics. I have probiotics in powdered form I could take, bought them after taking antibiotics last year due to a teeth issue.

If I can help it, I try to avoid the doctor's (have the feeling they'll try to prescribe me something) but may also be smart to do so, to be on the safe side.

Hypochlorhydria?

At first I thought you'd written Hypochondria! Heh, started to wonder how I might come across this way..then went on to read it again some time later, and noticed what you'd actually written. Still reading up on this condition.

Thank you all for your input into this.