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Constant feeling of something stuck in throat

Messages
59
I had noticed about 30 minutes after dinner last night it felt like something was stuck in my throat-almost like food was lodged in there. I have drunk tons of water since then, hot drinks, eaten more food, and nothing will budge this stuck in throat feeling which has now been over 24 hours.

I have never experienced this before, and I wondered if maybe someone else has experienced this and it could be linked to the disease? I know it is a long shot but I just don't know what could cause this.


I thought an allergic reaction but I don't know why it would last so long, and I have never had this before. I also don't have insurance so it is hard for me to get care.
 

Dechi

Senior Member
Messages
1,454
That's what I thought also before I knew I had gastric acid reflux. You always feel like there is something stuck, but it's the lining of the throat being burned by acid and thickening (or thinning, I forgot which one) that makes you feel this way.

It's very annoying and even 2-3 years after it started, it still feels strange. Go see a specialist (ORL). All they need to do is insert a camera through your nose (they freeze it first, it's painless) to make this diagnosis.
 

Snowdrop

Rebel without a biscuit
Messages
2,933
I have read here on other threads that people get this feeling when they are low on potassium and supplementing some seems to relieve the problem. It would be easy and not expensive to try to see if that helps.

Potassium is generally sold as 99mg dose. I'm not sure how many others have taken but too much is not safe.
 

Mary

Moderator Resource
Messages
17,334
Location
Southern California
@skyfall - @Snowdrop is right, difficulty swallowing can be caused by low potassium. You could try eating or drinking high potassium foods - e.g., low-sodium V8 has 900 mg potassium per 8 oz. Many of us here have to take extra potassium daily.

I've also had the difficulty swalloing sensation when I am low in phosphate. There's something called phosphate diabetes which has been associated with ME/CFS: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2360873/

I haven't been diagnosed with phosphate diabetes; however, I have had symptoms of low phosphate (most notably severe fatigue - different than PEM and different than the fatigue I get with low potassium - it's tricky sorting out all the different types of fatigue!) I first learned about problems with phosphate when reading about refeeding syndrome, in connection with Freddd's methylation protocol. Refeeding syndrome is responsible for the sudden drop in potassium often seen when starting this protocol, although hypophosphatemia is the hallmark of refeeding syndrome.

Then I learned that dysphagia - difficulty swallowing - is associated with low phosphate. http://effectivediagnosis.org/hypophosphatemia-the-low-phosphorus-disease/

I take a lot of pills daily and most of the time have no problem. However, periodically they seem to get stuck going down, and will take hours and hours and hours to completely swallow. And I've learned that this means I'm low in phosphate through hands on experimentation - adding in high phosphate foods.

I believe you have to be very careful with phosphate supplements; however I've learned that dairy products are very high in phosphate. I generally avoid dairy but do drink kefir a couple of times a week and whenever I get that stuck in the throat feeling, I up my kefir. I also eat sunflower seeds daily (I buy the kind with shells on so I don't OD, they are so good!)

I do have a phosphate supplement - monosodium phosphate - which I get from Swanson Vitamins, but I use it sparingly, only in very small amounts if the kefir alone does not resolve the problem.
 
Messages
7
I was diagnosed with dysphagia through a video fluroscopic swallow study. Every substance pooled in the area called valeculae. It was attributed to muscle weakness, which makes complete sense now that I am diagnosed. I will try the phophate supplement. Thx