trouble swallowing food - gagging

[Sockheaven]

I am a 42 yr old male.  I have a hard time swallowing many foods.  I must remember to take small bites and chew carefully.  This is especially true of dry or chewy things such as bread or meat, but happens with almost any food.  I need to take a drink nearly every bite and must make sure it is washed down before the next bite.  If i am not careful, my throat constricts to the point that the food gets stuck; i can breath ok but am unable to swallow.  At it's worst I must hurry to a safe place and gag up the stuck food.  My throat can remain closed for up to an hour; to the point that not even saliva goes down.  Sometimes hiccups accompany this as well as the need to gag.  This started when i was about 13 with plain old white rice.  I would get the hiccups and not be able to eat anymore.  over the years it has gotten worse.  Anyone know what this might be?

[Hippiestar]

I am having trouble swallowing anything like meat. it gets stuck in my throat and I feel like I am going to throw up. I am not sure what is causing this but I do know this happened after I had an episode of Food Poisoning .

[junkanoo13]

I am 21 and have been having the same problem since I was about 10. I paniced about eating at every meal because every time I took a bit, my throat would clamp up and I would not be able to swallow my food. I went to the doctors and they gave me medicine, but I was too young to remember what it was, but they said it was anxiaty or something...I has gotten better and I know it was a mental thing for me but I still wont eat anything without a drink. And I would rather drink then eat any day. So I guess Im still struggling with it. I still panic about foods like bread, or meat, or any dry snacks.

[rmblack1]

I am 36 and have the same issue.  I first noticed it at about 21 years of age.  Have you been able to resolve it?  I'd be interested to know what you have found out.  Rice and pasta's seem to be the most problematic.  Chicken is also an issue at times.  Vegetables are not a problem at all.

[finepickle]

Sometimes people with thyroid disease also have trouble swallowing foods.  Just another thing to check into.

[Betoschica]

you may need to have your euspphogus stretched (im sure thats misspelled) it isnt uncommon. You simply may have a small throat and its not that out of the ordinary..

[bigwade]

I too have this problem not to the extent that that you do but rice, potatoes, noodles and other like foods have this effect on me.  (Happened to me in the middle of a job interview with our CEO)  I have been told by some it could be a symptom of a hiatal hernia.  I am hoping to get into an ENT doc to have it checked.

Hope this helps....


I will let you know what I find out.

This site shows a picture of what it is

http://www.oralchelation.com/faq/images/stomach_diagram.jpg

[suzzie61]

I just happened to go onto this forum to see if anyone is having trouble with losing weight, and I saw your post.
Please do yourself a favor and have your esophagus checked out.  It might not be serious.  You could just need a dilatation of the esoophagus.  Are you a smoker?
Do not want to scare you, but its not normal not to be able to swallow constantly.  I see you posted this a month ago.  I hope your getting on here to see if there are any replies to your message.  See a Gastroenterologist as soon as you can.
suzzie61