Problems swallowing

[deadcat]

I've been having trouble swallowing for quite some time.

I am 25 now, but for as long as I can remember I have had to chew my food quite small, and usually drink while I'm eating (to help wash food down).

When i try to swallow tablets it feels like they get stuck.. if I don't bite them in half first, I can't swallow them at all.

The difficulty seems to be in the first part of the swallowing process... it's like the tablet feels too big, and it actually sometimes gets stuck for a sec and I gag on it.

Could I have some sort of obstruction right at the top of my throat?

What could the problem be? I am sick of having to chew tablets, and chew things for ages.

[esperanto41]

I had this problem for a long time, and tried to solve it by tilting my head backwards as I swallowed. Wrong. Lately I've found that if I bow my head forward while swallowing, that seems to do the trick, even when a pill is momentarily stuck. Hope this works for you.

(In my case, pills wouldn't get stuck all the time, but often enough to be annoying, as with aspirin or Vitamin C.)

[BethanySublime]

sorry, this won't be helpful, but I know how you feel!  I'm 19 and I can't swallow pills at all.  I mastered it for a short while and I always felt like it was stuck in my throat too just like you.  Then I choked on a pill and can't swallow pills at all anymore.  I've ALWAYS wondered if there's something different about my throat.  Primarily I've thought and been told that it's all in my head.  But i've never ruled out the possibility that my throat is just too small or something.

[BethanySublime]

oh and I chew everything very small too.  Maybe we have the same problem?

[h02184]

How long have you had this problem? Any kind of possible blockage should be closely investigated - Get an endoscopy, you want to rule out anything serious...

Good luck!