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I actually think the baby food is a good idea. Basically you are retraining yourself to eat in the same way we all originally learned to eat. There might be some other guidelines issued by occupational therapists (there are those that specialize in swallowing disorders)
You said they ran tests, did they check your thyroid? I have Hashimotos (a type of low thyroid) and one of the symptoms was difficulty swallowing. I had multiple, seemingly unrelated, symptoms but none of the first three doctors that I saw connected them as all being part of one disorder. The fourth doctor ordered a full panel of thyroid tests and it came back with the highest level of thyroid antibodies that he had seen in the last few years. Perhaps your weight loss is not only due to being unable to eat but to a thyroid issue?
Another thought, changes in your bite can make swallowing difficult. A visit to the dentist might be in order. I would specifically ask about whether your bite is correct or your teeth are showing signs of uneven wear.
I believe that this could be a psychological issue, I don't disagree with that. But, I and members of my family have been brushed aside and told things were depression, aging, "just one of those things," when in fact there was an illness or disorder involved that was being overlooked. Just because they couldn't find anything in the first round of tests doesn't necessarily mean it's in your head.
Hey I hope you are doing fine and I hope you over came this situation but I'm going through the same thing and I need help what did you do to help your self ?
Hi! I know these posts are from two years ago but I am currently going through this myself. Like the original poster, I had trouble swallowing and would feel like food got stuck on the walls of my throat occasionally but it wasn't until months later that I choked on some Panda Express food that I started having real difficulty eating. Now six months later, I can't eat solid foods and pretty much blend all my food and have lost 30 pounds. I have gone to all types of doctors and have had an endoscopy and others tests done. Idk if Omatic ever was able to get past her fear and eat again. I am seeing a psychologist but so far it hasn't helped much. I feel like my fear is just getting worse and pieces of food still get stuck in my throat.
I had this happen to me starting at a young age. They used to hand out rolls with school lunch and a I was in about 4th-5th grade. A girl who was mentally handicapped and sitting across from me shoved the entire thing in her mouth and began violently choking. She turned dark purple as they attempted to dislodge it. I had developed an eating disorder of sorts after that where I would only eat things like apple sauce, mashed potatoes, soup etc. My mother brought me to several specialists but eventually told me to
Cut it out. I'm 33 now and still avoid certain foods like fried mozzarella sticks. I also tend to not eat what I would consider "high risk choking" foods when home alone
As I child I found cheese very had to chew and swallow dubbing it "chokey cheese". I'm also not fond on things like oranges and gummies that don't break up enough when chewed. That incident always stuck with me and before it had just never occurred to me you COULD actually choke on your food. I think choking would be god awful, to be aware of it. Ugh.
Has anyone had this problem or know some who did/does? I've had this problem since April of this year, I am really afraid to swallow food. I keep thinking I'll choke. This fear does ruin your life. I've had all kinds of tests done, had an endoscopy, a barium swallow, and the doctors say there is nothing physically wrong with me. It doesn't feel that way.
I'm only 18, I just graduated from high school. It should be a happy time in my life right now, but seriously it is the worst.
Now that I think about it, I've actually had this problem since December/January but when it came, it only lasted for a week or two and it wasn't that bad. I still ate normal food, just took me a while to chew and swallow it. But then it came back in April, and it's been with me ever since.
In December I choked(or almost choked) on a noodle at olive garden. I couldn't swallow the noodle, it wouldn't go down. Finally I had to loudly hack it up. When I realized it wasn't going down, i felt panic and fear i have never felt in my life. It was a terrible scary feeling. I've had problems ever since, but like I said, until the April incident it wasn't that severe and only lasted a couple weeks. But every time it happened, it happened when I was eating spaghetti/pasta which is my favorite food. Hmm, so my favorite food is the trigger food I guess.
So now it's become really bad. Since April, i've lost 40+ pounds and it's a struggle to eat anything, even mashed potatoes. Liquids are fine, I have been drinking ensure and water a lot. But i can't live off liquids forever and I don't want to! I'm really trying to get better, I know I have to beat this. I try to eat solid foods, I put it my mouth and chew it but just end up sucking all the flavor and juices out of it because I'm too scared to swallow. I plan on getting some liquid vitamins tomorrow.
Will I ever be able to eat normal again, will it ever end? Doesn't feel like it. I go to sleep crying a lot of nights because I know I'm losing too much weight too fast and if I don't start eating I will die. But too afraid to swallow because it feels like I'll choke and die. It's a lose-lose sitution and I am so scared. I have started seeing a psychologist last week but only had one sessions so far and it was mostly filling out paperwork. I used to love to eat, and I used to love going to restaurants but I can't anymore. I worry about this every single day. At least I'm not alone. Sorry for the long post but this is killing me. Literally.
I went through this for about twelve years. It started when I was 19. My fiancee dumped me and l realized that when I graduated from high school the sky didn't open up with unicorns pooping rainbows like I expected it to, and my life really sucked now that my fiancee had dumped me and I didn't have the great job, etc. I felt I deserved for surviving high school. I developed severe anxiety. I had three things against me: it was the early '90s, so there was no internet for me to reach out to people or to research on my own if someone had the same problem, I was raised by parents whose mentality never left the '50s (so any admission of a problem like this would mean my father would call me a "mental case" and tell me to "snap out of it"), and I lived in an area with limited resources and with doctors of limited knowledge and limited capabilities so I probably would have just been admitted to the local hospital's sixth floor and left there to rot. It was hell. With me it started when I sat in a food court about a week after my fiance dumped me and I felt like everyone was looking at me funny and watching me eat. Suddenly I couldn't swallow because I couldn't stop thinking about the process of swallowing and everyone watching me chew and swallow. So I ended up with a fear of eating in public for fear that people were watching me chew and watching me swallow. I went through a time where I couldn't chew and swallow at home, either, because I developed a fear of choking because I started to concentrate on my chewing and swallowing at home as well. The panicking at home didn't last long; it was the fear of eating in public that lasted forever. It became both the fear of people watching me eat in public and the fear of choking in public. I stopped eating at work and in restaurants and at parties. I lied to people and told them I had problems with my jaw that made eating painful. I only ate yogurt, soup, ice cream, and pudding. I drank three cans of Ensure a day. I told NO ONE what the real problem was because of how I was raised - I was ashamed of being a "mental case." I had many bad relationships and many failed things with jobs, so the problem never went away. I used to cry every night and beg God to forgive me for providing me with food that I wouldn't eat. "Luckily," I got good at bringing leftovers home. When no one was around at home, I'd gorge on everything I was afraid to eat during the day. I still felt sick every day, though, because I wasn't getting enough nutrition throughout the day at work and I was gorging at night before I went to bed, so I wasn't getting the nutrition when I needed it the most to get through the day. I was always dizzy, tired, and weak. I needed new glasses twice a year. My face was always pale and blotchy. I weighed 87 pounds. When I look back, I don't know how I didn't die. What's so sad is, the way I looked like walking death wasn't helping me improve my life because who wants to date someone who looks like that, and who wants to hire someone who looks like they're going to drop dead on the first day. I was always tired and calling off from work. I had no life outside of work because I didn't have the energy for it. If I dropped something on the floor at home, it would stay there for weeks before I felt like picking it up. What changed for me was after I turned 30 I simply got tired of it going on for so long. I never really disliked food. I slowly started eating out again. For years after I made that decision it would take me over an hour to eat something at a restaurant, and I often took home a lot of leftovers. But as more time went by, I finally started eating everything out again. Even steak. Every once in a while the fear will creep in while I'm eating out. I simply cover my mouth with my hand, maneuver my food in my mouth however I have to in order to be able to swallow it, and I swallow it. If someone is with me, I simply excuse myself and say it was "tough to swallow." Nothing more, nothing less, and no shame. I've worked on my self-esteem. I am now married. I am also overweight now because I love food too much and I have no shame in eating out. I also go to counseling for my stress and anxiety issues and I'm not ashamed. If you hold on and keep trying to improve a little bit each day, it WILL get better. Just don't expect the problem to go away overnight. It WON'T go away OVERNIGHT, but it WILL get better if you hang in there.
Has anyone had this problem or know some who did/does? I've had this problem since April of this year, I am really afraid to swallow food. I keep thinking I'll choke. This fear does ruin your life. I've had all kinds of tests done, had an endoscopy, a barium swallow, and the doctors say there is nothing physically wrong with me. It doesn't feel that way.
I'm only 18, I just graduated from high school. It should be a happy time in my life right now, but seriously it is the worst.
Now that I think about it, I've actually had this problem since December/January but when it came, it only lasted for a week or two and it wasn't that bad. I still ate normal food, just took me a while to chew and swallow it. But then it came back in April, and it's been with me ever since.
In December I choked(or almost choked) on a noodle at olive garden. I couldn't swallow the noodle, it wouldn't go down. Finally I had to loudly hack it up. When I realized it wasn't going down, i felt panic and fear i have never felt in my life. It was a terrible scary feeling. I've had problems ever since, but like I said, until the April incident it wasn't that severe and only lasted a couple weeks. But every time it happened, it happened when I was eating spaghetti/pasta which is my favorite food. Hmm, so my favorite food is the trigger food I guess.
So now it's become really bad. Since April, i've lost 40+ pounds and it's a struggle to eat anything, even mashed potatoes. Liquids are fine, I have been drinking ensure and water a lot. But i can't live off liquids forever and I don't want to! I'm really trying to get better, I know I have to beat this. I try to eat solid foods, I put it my mouth and chew it but just end up sucking all the flavor and juices out of it because I'm too scared to swallow. I plan on getting some liquid vitamins tomorrow.
Will I ever be able to eat normal again, will it ever end? Doesn't feel like it. I go to sleep crying a lot of nights because I know I'm losing too much weight too fast and if I don't start eating I will die. But too afraid to swallow because it feels like I'll choke and die. It's a lose-lose sitution and I am so scared. I have started seeing a psychologist last week but only had one sessions so far and it was mostly filling out paperwork. I used to love to eat, and I used to love going to restaurants but I can't anymore. I worry about this every single day. At least I'm not alone. Sorry for the long post but this is killing me. Literally.
Wow! This sounds like me. When I was 24 I developed this same problem and it's all due to anxiety + depression. In the beginning I went to doctors too and had tests done and when 1 finally did suggest it was in my head I left the office feeling very upset but decided to try a sleep aid to see if it was in fact my nerves and it was. But the feelings of choking while eating was so great I'd have 'choking attacks' (think panic attacks with fear of choking instead of heart attack) and even went to the ER a couple times thinking something was stuck in my throat when it wasn't. So I also lost a lot of weight and the fear around eating caused such great distress + even nightmares! In my case, the anxiety + depression just got worse along with the 'choking attacks' and I went to a mashed potato and shake diet and eventually more or less tried to live with the problems. In fact after having 100's of these 'choking attacks' I went on that soft food + liquid diet for 5 years while being treated for anxiety + depression.
Then a miracle of sorts happened when my doctor switched my anti-depressant to Paxil and within a month or two I started eating again! This was a complete surprise being the change to Paxil was for depression/anxiety only and we never even discussed the choking issues (in regard to med change) nor did I have any reason to think it was going to help the choking, but it did! And big time!! I started eating hamburgers + pizza etc for first time in 5 years and looking back it was the nervous problems causing the whole thing, which I already knew but was still blown away by how taking some Paxil could help so much with this awful, insidious problem. I was also on a low amount of Klonipin (anti-anxiety med) which I'd take when a choking attack began for immediate help and it works good but it was the Paxil that got me back to eating normal and helped the most overall. You may want to consider that you have these other underlying issues causing the feelings of choking because with me it certainty is the case. Nervousness runs in my family and being neurotic does lend itself to these type of problems.
So, years went by and the choking attacks practically became a non-issue up until I decided to go off the Paxil. But now, after 3 years of being on no meds, the problem has returned to a degree. So my anxiety is greater now and without a doubt my choking/eating issues are due to this.
Fortunately, having gone through all this and being wiser I know how to handle the situation much better. Even though I did have to get the blender back out and it's a large part of my routine, I'm actually consuming more healthy foods than I've ever been and blending milk with bananas, peaches, quick oats, and protein powder (sometimes slimfast powder too) while taking a multi-vitamin. Later in the day I've been blending sweet potatoes with carrots (all canned) with more protein powder (and was surprised to learn how nutritious sweet potatos are). Also been trying to get v8 juice, orange, apple juices etc and eat peanut butter out of the jar with apple sauce. I do eat other softer foods (when the anxiety is lower) and mix tuna or boiled eggs in a food processor and eat on soft breads. Most everything I'm blending tastes good too and I still get plenty of softer cakes/junk food just for fun
In fact, sort of a funny thing happened because although eating like this definitely does cause me distress for the obvious reasons of I'd rather not have these issues, I'm actually quite healthier now and appreciate the times when I do eat normal foods. I exercise too so even though earlier on when I was younger with this problem and lost a lot of weight because of it, I now know how to handle the situation and nutritionally + physically doing better now more than ever. Somehow this very negative experience has also brought about some positives too but overcoming challenges like these almost always seem impossible especially when anxiety + depression are involved.
You may not even be aware of having these anxiety/depression problems because they're often that low grade but most definitely do cause these other problems like you're having and it was that way with me. You're not alone and you will get better so follow up with the doctor + therapist.
Good luck!
Last edited by Live-life; 12-29-2015 at 08:44 AM..
Ok so like mentioned in my above post I've dealing with this problem for a long time and just now found out there's a name for it. Not one doctor has ever put a name to it for me and I always described it as 'choking attacks' or 'fear of choking' etc. Well, at least now if I talk to a doctor I can convey the problem in one word, pseudodyshagia.
Has anyone ever checked into a treatment center for this issue? I'm considering doing so, but I don't know if I'd be able to.
Taking Paxil miraculously helped me with this problem I began taking Paxil for Depression + general anxiety and not even thinking it would affect the choking/swallowing issues but it did and big time! All I can say is for me I discovered how much it's tied in with the anxiety + OCD issues (or something along those lines). Because not too long after I had the desire to eat solid foods AND these fears diminished very significantly! Almost to the point of being a non-issue after having the problem every day for years on end. Then, after stopping Paxil and all meds after 15 years continuous use the problem now returned over the past couple years. So although I don't like meds and lean on the side of being against them I can't deny the positive effects they can have on problems like these and I may have to go back on a small amount for quality of life purposes.
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Hey help me
I've had all kinds of tests done, had an endoscopy, a barium swallow, and the doctors say there is nothing physically wrong with me. It doesn't feel that way.
