food blockage - GP?

[bangingmyheadoffabrickwall]

Would you go to a GP if you were experiencing occasional food blockages in your oesophagus for a few months?

I have (about 3-4 occasions a week so not a regular occurence). It is pressure, like something about to burst from your chest/stomach accompanied by sharp pain. Usually it lasts a minute or so and subsides but I find myself unable to finish my meal afterwards. Last night I had a 30 minute attack. The pain was intolerable to the point where I almost text DH downstairs (I was upstairs trying to be sick) to take me to A&E. Before I took myself to the bathroom, I could barely speak. I felt winded and DH said it was as though I was unable to breathe!

I think I simply don't chew properly. DH thinks because it happens again and again, I should speak to my GP.

I don't want to look like an idiot when my GP tells me to chew my food!

If it has come on suddenly I would get it checked, could be a swelling or lump that’s causing the blockages.

Yes go to a GP. I have dysphagia and occasionally have this too. You may need to be assessed by a SALT team.

My father had something similar, tho' without the pain. We thought it was because he talked too much while eating and should shut up and chew his food properly. But he had an endoscopy and there was a narrowing of part of his digestive system, pyloric stenosis?, the side-effect of too many anti-inflammatories. I would think that something you have 3-4 times a week needs a visit to your GP and sorting out.

I started to have trouble swallowing, and I had a growth on my thyroid that was pushing into my oesophagus. It sounds like yours is lower, but definitely get it checked out. Has it been like this all your life? If not, then something has changed (and probably not how much you chew your food) so book an appointment with your GP and start keeping a diary of when it happens, how long it lasts and what you have been eating/drinking