dysphagia

Good morning...at least here in California....

Does anyone have dysphagia ?  I am having testing for it today.  I was diagnosed with it once from one of my DR's
la long time ago and it got pushed to the bottom of my list for a long time and i forgot to mention it to my new primary, and btw I really like him, he at least has some knowledge of MS.

So he ordered testing for today..fast huh?  

hugs, meg

[Wobbly]

what is dysphagia?  sorry can't help

wobbly
dx

[Lulu54]

Meg -
Shadowsister had an episode of dsyphagia (swallowing problems) that caused her to have an emergency tracheotomy performed years ago.  She could probably answer any questions you have.

good luck with the testing.

L

[Wobbly]

OH is that what it is...thanks lulu..

good to know
wobbly
dx

[Weakandfalling]

Hi, Meg,

Yep, I have it periodically.  A couple of times I couldn't swallow anything at all - had to rest.  After napping for several hours, then I could swallow again.

WAF

[meg321]

Its when the food or drink you are swallowing tend to go into the lungs instead of the stomach.  It does cause choking and coughing.  Its different than my hiatal hernia though.

The test was useless today because I didnt have an episode during the test..duh !
But the speech therypist understands it being part of the MS, so he took time afterwards to talk to me about what how to eat, when to eat and some other tips that will help.

hugs, meg

[kmil1999]

That is great he took the time to talk with you.  Any info that you would like to pass on?

The are certain foods I had to give up because they always went straight to the lungs. (ie: anything with powdered sugar or cracker like that are light in texture)

Maybe it would be of help to me as I have a sweet tooth and miss the powdered sugar, lol!

Karen

[meg321]

He said to stay away from meat, crumbly, dry foods...but he said just to pay attention to what you eat and how you react to it.  Of couse anythhing soft like milk shakes, ice cream, yogurt etc are always best...of course you dont have to eat milk shakes all the time.

Also, room temperature liquids such as water,nor hot or iced liqiuds either....just cold is best.

And you should sit up when you eat, unlike me who eats in weird positions on the sofa.

easy guidelines really...

I may see him for my cognative issues too.

hugs, meg

[essdipity]

There are different kinds of dysphagia. The worst, or most dangerous, is what you describe, breathing in food instead of swallowing it, even a tiny bit. This can cause aspiration pneumonia.

In a modified barium test I had about 6 months ago, I had one incident where I started to do that but immediately 'blew it back out' to the throat. Of course, none of this is under our control or done consciously, just as I can't control my very rare episodes of swallowing soup and having it gush from my nose. Talk about ick factor!!

You're right that you have to be having an attack of sorts for this sort of thing to show up on testing, and that can be maddening when it doesn't happen.

Personally I wouldn't go for the diet recommended to you. I like food too much and am not going to eliminate all the food you mention. But cutting food, especially meat, into small portions and eating very slowly will help a lot. I've had many episodes of chicken getting stuck in my throat, and it's unbelievably painful. So I've learned to be particularly careful there.

Let us know how you do with this.

ess

[saveone]

Hi Meg, I had all of the testing and like the everyone else the bad spasm/ whatever you want to call them did not make an appearance.  But the modified barium swallow did show enough for them to give me the dx of mild to moderate dsyphasia.

It does get so bad that it scares me.  I have shown honey how to do the Heimlich Maneuver just in case.   Two weeks ago he thought it might be the time it had to use it.  We were eating and I choked.  He came up behind me and asked if he needed to do it.  I was trying to tell him as long as I am coughing and wheezing I am not going to die.  I could see it really scared him.  Scared me too...lol

take care, terry

[meg321]

I am not giving up everything either but will be more careful and I also eat too fast.  And he was giving me examples when he mentioned the foods.

I will take this to my MS doc this month and see what she has to say.

hugs,meg

[HVAC]

I have trouble swallowing saliva while sleeping. I wake up and have to sit up to swallow.
None of my Doctors seem concerned.

Alex