To ask if you've ever choked on food?

[BillHadersNewWife]

I did today...on a Dorito. It was the WORST thing ever. What surprised me was that I could feel it lodged in my breathing hole...whatever that's called...but there was a small gap which allowed me to suck in a TINY bit of air...about 30% of what was normal....and I knew that if I struggled to breathe too hard, that the crisp might move and further block my breathing.

I was in the shopping centre with DD aged 11...she took one look at me and WALKED OFF! She left me there dying on a Dorito beside a display of Christmas trees! 😂

I sat on the floor and carefully breathed again...assessing the situation...then I coughed and it came up...my eyes watered...it was horrible!

DD and I did laugh about her dumping me to die alone...she said she was too embarrassed! My God! That'll teach me to eat in public whilst walking won't it! ONE crisp it was!

I nearly choked on steak once, it was so chewy and fatty and just got caught.

I have on a piece of chicken in a restaurant in Menorca in September just gone.

Me and DH were having a meal and he had his head down concentrating on trying to get the bones out of the massive fish he was eating. I tried a bit of water, that came straight back down my nose, I couldn't make any noise so I threw my chair back into the veranda thing behind me to get attention. DH jumped up, immediately realised what was going on and started back slaps. The owner came running over, with a huge pile of plates, shouting "the stomach , the stomach". The back slaps had worked so DH did the Heimlich Manoeuvre and it finally are out. I was so, so scared and really embarrassed.

I'm so glad that DH knew what to do.

Back slaps hadn't worked that should say

Twice that I recall vividly. First time I was around 6yo and inhaled a whole XXXstrong mint my older brother had convinced me to try. I ran to the bathroom and he followed me, he was 8yo and managed to whack me hard enough for me to cough it up (with some blood for good measure!) - second time I was eating campino sweets at the cinema and after laughing at a bit in the movie (I was with my then GF and she loved the Moulin Rouge film, I’d seen it about 7 times with her in the cinema and was fed up with it, the more I saw it the more I found Ewan McGregors crying hilarious) I inhaled the bloody sweet and was heimliched by a big burly bloke who was there with his wife, he thanked me for breaking the monotony of the film 😂

I laugh now but I’ve never touched XXX strong mints or Campino’s since!

Yes, on a piece of meat, 100% blocked. At first I was fine, assumed I'd keep trying to swallow, but it was a strange experience when I realise that it wouldn't happen. I got up, was still feeling relatively calm and went to my OH. He started to tap me hard on the back but nothing happened. I was trying to show him he needed to get his arms around my middle, and suddenly, I did think that might be it. I remember thinking that it was a very stupid way to go, and then he did as I told him and the piece right out.

Posting this to say, if someone's chokes, don't hit them in the back, it might do the trick, but might not. Do grab them from the back, out your fists on the top of their stomach and squeeze hard. Much more efficient.

After this experience, I expected to be quite upset and even maybe scared to eat again at first, but somehow it didn't leave any mental scars. It affected OP more than me, which is odd as I am the emotional one.

Is anyone else hyperventilating now?!

Yep, i cant eat the fat on bacon no matter how crispy it is, i always choke.

I have. Ah, the day I realised just how unpopular I was at the youth club o attended.
I'd been sent on a camping weekend away with them. We were being fed BBQ leftovers for breakfast. I bit into a cold sausage that turned out to be more char than sausage.
It lodged in my throat. I remember trying to breathe, trying to get up, trying to get attention. No help.
Trying to get up saved me, as I failed, sat back down hard and it shifted and then shot up my nose. I said something along the lines of how I'd nearly choked and the nearest person rolled their eyes and turned away.
I'll not forget that fear of my lungs trying to suck air in and not getting any. Or how shit that youth club was.

I have,can't remember what it was but I managed to squeak an instruction to TH to hit me on my back. He tapped me ineffectively, DS2 told him he was doing it wrong and hit my back and not just dislodged what was choking me but sent it flying over the room.

Don'tdisturb we were told in first aid training to do back slaps first and only do abdominal thrusts if they didn't work as it's so easy to do internal injuries when performing then.

I choked on Water!

I was just taking a big gulp and DH made me laugh. The water went down my windpipe and I couldn’t breathe. DH took what seemed like an eternity to do anything(it was probably only a few seconds) he hit me really hard in the back and the water shot out.

It was terrifying.

Yes, on caviar at PILs. I had never tried it before so they put some out for me to taste, then laughed at me when my eyes started watering and I couldn't stop coughing or get any air. I managed to find DH in another room and he slapped my back to dislodge it, it just felt like my throat had closed around it. The worst thing was MIL was a nurse, and just told me off for being dramatic, but I am pretty sure I was having some sort of allergic reaction to the stuff.

I've always been told that if you do adominal thrusts you must take the person to hospital afterwards!

Back slaps don't cause internal injuries...

I did, in a hotel restaurant, eating breakfast. As others have said, it was terrifying realising what was happening. I grabbed DH's orange juice and tried to swallow that but it didn't work, got his attention but although First Aid trained, he was frozen to spot.
Another diner came over and did Heimlich manoeuvre and I brought up the bacon and bile - it didn't fly out though as you might imagine.
Unfortunately this caused me a severe psychological reaction and actually resulted in me suffering major subsequent problems with eating and I developed spasms in my oesophagus. I had treatment from a gastroenterologist who told me that if you have it nearby, try drinking coke. If it doesn't force the blockage down it may help bring it up. The person who helped (still unknown to me as I was in such a state) did try to give me coke at the time.
I lost two stone following the incident as could only eat such restricted diet and it massively affected my life.
In the end I had counselling and anti anxiety medication.
Two years ago, I could not have read this thread. I forced myself to do so but my heart is racing now!
I'll never eat bacon, steak or lamb again.
I am also very paranoid with my DC (both in their teens) and panic now still if they wolf food down.

@Chouetted, you are right. Gastroenterologist told me Heimlich Manoeuvre can result in various problems and you should be checked over afterwards in case.

Try back slaps first....

OP... Did you talk to your child about walking away? Because she was embarrassed? You could of died

I choked on a barley sugar when I was very little, about 4 I think. My mum tells me that my dad had me hanging upside down by my ankles shaking me to get it out.

Scariest moment was when DD was about 18 months and choked on a mini milk. The look on her face when she realised she couldn't breathe will never ever leave me. Thankfully managed to dislodge it with a few hard slaps on the back.

Yes I have it was terrifying and I still shudder at the thought of it, similar to PP I can just about read this thread without crying.

Twice: once on a round chocolate football, about the size of a maltester, aged about 7. My dad had to whack me on the back to dislodge it.

Second time was in my late teens. I was eating some museli and something got stuck. I could make any noise, but manged to run into my mum in the other room. I couldn't get her attention so stamped my feet, and she told me off for it! Then she realised I couldn't breathe, slapped my back and I coughed up the offending cereal.

I no longer eat solid chocolate balls or museli.

Once on an Uncle Joe's mint ball a neighbour gave me aged two. My dad swung me upside down and out it came.
The second time was on the stroke of midnight when the streamers from a party popper got stuck down my throat! It was terrifying. Everyone was singing and hugging and I just stood clutching my throat unable to inhale. I think it disintegrated and I swallowed it down but really scary.

Yes. I choked on a lump of meat in a beef curry in the canteen at work once. Unfortunately, despite being in a hospital nobody seemed to notice, until I spotted one of my own colleagues in the queue for the till. So I staggered over, gesticulating wildly at my throat and fortunately she realised what was going on and did backslaps til the offending piece of meat shot out of my mouth. With supreme skill (even if I say so myself ) I caught it as it flew out of my mouth, put it in the bin and coolly returned to my table. I only ate the rice though.
Seriously though, it was very scary. Everyone should learn what to do to recognise and manage choking.

I wont allow jawbreakers (hard candy like ball with a piece of gum in the middle) in the house and used to throw them away when I found them in DB room I was around 15 and it got stuck in my throat, I felt light headed and couldn't get anyones attention. Lucky for me someone noticed from back of the class and I felt a thump in my back and it shot out. I then couldn't catch my breath for ages, crying at the same time as trying to calm down to catch it probably didn't help. Even 10 years later thinking about It i feel panicky and teary.

My DD around 18mo choked on a bit of meat. I did back blows and it came out, that strangely didn't frighten me. What frightened me is the way she looked up at me before I managed to get it out, still scares the life out of me now.

I did once, I was in my local having a bite to eat. Food got stuck and I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t cough. The people I was with thought I was acting that way because the food was very spicy - and were laughing. I ended up going outside and sat down. I genuinely thought I was going to die. Luckily another regular in the pub had seen what happened and came sprinting out the door after me. He gave me an almighty whack on the back and it dislodged what was stuck. Afterwards he told me how his brother had choked and died on food when he was younger and since then he’s very observant of that type of thing. I will be eternally grateful to him for that as I have no doubt he saved my life and I would have died as I could get no air. The whole thing felt like it took ages but in reality it was less than 2 minutes.

I wonder how many people die from choking, I imagine the elderly have issues chewing, grapes are a lethal size and shape too.
The little boy who died in pizza hut choking of a grape was heartbreaking.
I honestly think I'd attempt to open a hole in their airway to help them breathe. Watched to many medical dramas

A little boy near where I live died a few years ago from choking on a grape at a party The mother of a friend of a friend died recently after choking on steak at a restaurant while they were having a family celebration.

I also have visions of using a straw and a knife to save someone's life - pretty sure I've watched enough ER and Grey's Anatomy to do that!