Trouble swallowing

[Star8181]

Any ideas / experiences welcome, i have no idea what’s going on….
Spoke to my GP (well via email) to say I’ve been having trouble swallowing on one side for quite some time now. I just can’t get the food to go down especially when it’s stodgy eg bread/cake. Also I have a bad cough at the mo, very annoying tickly cough, and I just cannot clear it from that side to the point where my eyes are watering and I’m eventually sick. GP sent me for an emergency gastroscopy to rule out anything sinister, thankfully all fine, but that’s it now, GP doesn’t seem to be interested and I’ve never even had a conversation with a doctor about it!

I wonder if you have enlarged tonsils or salivary glands on that side?

In the meantime drinking water with food helps it 'go down' better.

You need to go back to the GP and ask questions.

It's acid reflux. The camera will probably tell you gastritis maybe and oesophagitis. Also why you've got a cough.

They'll give you meds but wont tell you to follow the GERD diet for a bit. Elevating the head of your bed will help.

It sounds like you may need a laryngoscopy; that's not routinely done with gastroscopies (especially the urgent ones I think). Ask about being referred to ENT?

Soz seen you've had the camera.

I'd push further, @Star8181 - hopefully an easy fix as described above (reflux or similar) but the symptoms you're describing were indicative of a type of muscular dystrophy my family member was diagnosed with.

Chances are tiny that you have something like this, but it's clear that you're not happy with the explanation and investigations done so far, so I think you should be confident in pushing for more tests.

Thanks for the responses. I don’t usually have a cough, I’m just full of a cold at the moment. They’ve tried me on a months worth of omeprazole in case it was reflux but it’s not changed anything.
@RedPandaFluff gosh I hope it’s not muscular dystrophy

Do you have any other symptoms, even things that might not seam related? Weaknesses in thighs or other large muscle groups?

Sjorgens syndrome….? Have a google.

No muscle weakness….
Aah, my mum has Sjorgens! Don’t think she has swallowing issues so I didn’t make a connection. I don’t feel like I have a dry mouth though, so not sure. I’ll definitely mention this to the GP.

My DH has Achalasia. It's not easy to diagnose - an oesophageal motility/barium study needed.

EmmaMy I have trouble swallowing and also have muscle pain in my thighs and arms, plus many other symptoms, it’s been almost a year of being ill, is there anything specific your thinking of

You need a barium swallow. Ask your GP for a referral.

The OGD looks at the structures to rule out tumours etc. So great that's all clear. But you need an assessment of the physiology of your swallow now - a barium swallow shows on moving x ray what is happening when you swallow (usually liquids, tell them it's happening with food mainly and they get you to have bread usually)

From your description, I reckon you have some upper GI motility issues, maybe some cricopharyngeal hypertrophy or some dysmotility.

If the barium swallow is all clear. You need a referral to speech and language therapy who are the specialists in swallowing disorders and they will unpick everything with you.

@yellowblanketban thank you for the interesting info, I’ve only just seen the reply. I’ve just googled cricopharyngeal hypertrophy - I think this is it! I’ve just seen you can have a spasm in this area too - I always feel like my throat muscles are tight and have to concentrate hard to relax. I’m going for a small camera down my nose/throat so it’ll be interesting to see what they find. Thank again.