Help! Foil stuck in windpipe!

[LMBoston]

First off, I’m not choking so no panic :) Last night I took my inhaler at bedtime, and breathed in what I’m guessing was a bit of foil from a tablet blister pack (all kept in the same bag so I think a bit must have been in the inhaler mouthpiece). I can feel it in my throat but just can’t shift it — coughed so much last night I was sick, same this morning and it’s still there! It’s scratchy and irritating and it’s making me feel a bit panicky.

I’m at work all day so I can’t go around hawking and retching like a 60-a-day old bloke 😅 any tips to shift it, or can I just leave it to somehow either go down or come up on its own? Will it do any harm?

You need to get this checked out asap. I'd go to A&E tbh. I know someone who nearly lost half a lung due to inhaling something as small as that.

Also, you don't want to be at A&E on a Saturday night, it will be busy and full of drunks. Best to go now.

Leave work and go to A&E OP! Something stuck in your windpipe could lead to worse so please go get it checked

I inhaled a load of dried leaf pieces when I was about 14 and ever since I always blow down the top of my inhaler before I use it so that any foreign objects will be expelled. People look at me weird but 🤷🏼‍♀️
I hope you go and get seen and are more comfortable soon.

There’s naff all your GP will be able to do if you really think there’s foil in your trachea. You need to go somewhere where they can use a nasendoscope to take a look at your upper airway, do x-rays, and if necessary fish it out from further down.

Oh my goodness, if you think there’s foil in your trachea you definitely need to get it looked at! Hopefully it is just a scratch that will heal but if not, it could turn serious. Please go to A&E.

OP, call 111. Follow their advice. Which will be to leave work and go to A&E.

Your manager can hardly object to official NHS advice in a serious medical situation, which this potentially is. You need to be examined.

I have a condition called EOE and food gets stuck regularly. You need to find drinks tHat have a lot of fizz. Pepsi, sparkling water ect and knock it back. It will move it down. You need to be as calm as possible, as the more anxious you get the tighter your esophagus will get. Try and stay straight posture wise as much as possible. If it doesn’t go down you need to go a&e for camera where they will remove it with a little net on the end of the camera. Seriously I hope it goes okay xx

Its not in her oesophagus though.

If you had a foreign object lodged in your airway you would be coughing violently, honestly even a tiny bit of foil would induce constant coughing and you would be producing excess secretions to flush it out. Your eyes would be streaming and your nose would be running. If you aren't coughing like you do when something goes down the wrong way I doubt it's in your trachea.

If it is just stuck in your oesophagus which sounds more likely just keep drinking and drinking it'll go down eventually.

That said always seek medical advice as none of us are experts.

Thank you for all your help and advice! I think it’s gone — as in I can’t feel it and I’m not feeling the urge to cough any more… but I don’t know where it’s gone! I haven’t seen it come up so it must have gone down. If it was in my trachea would I have felt it at the top of my throat (which is where I think it was, hence the gagging)? Biology isn’t my strong point, sorry. I’ll ring 111 when I’ve finished and see what they say?

A&E or walk in urgent care today. Good luck OP.

Ffs get off here and get it sorted !

It could just be a scratch. Provided you're not having difficulty breathing etc, I'd leave it 3 or 4 days to see if it heals. Otherwise you just need ent referral.

If it's silver paper it will show up on X-ray, so A&E might be an option but GP could also refer.

Sorry just seen update. If it was in your trachea (probable with an inhaler) it could have gone down to the smaller lung branches. I'd check with the GP to see if it needs an ex ray to locate the foil. Anything in the small airways will eventually cause an infection. If it was at the top where they branch to the food pipe, it's probably just swallowed and would do no harm.

Sometimes things can stick in the pharynx behind your mouth and nose, without quite moving down to the oesophagus or trachea. Your body won't appreciate that, so there's coughing and irritation until you can get it to move--sounds like OPs eventually made it into her stomach.

Ahh okay. Thank you :) The only reason I thought her oesophageal is the way she described it.

OP, you need to go to a&e. Don’t just leave it. Even if you feel it’s gone as you could have scratched and done some damage

This has always terrified me….something stuck in mouthpieces of inhaler….the removable cap invariably falls off in a bag & with the crap lying in the bottom of my handbag goodness knows what I might breathe in! Hope you’re ok.

yes, i started keeping my blue inhaler in a little plastic bag,

Home now and feel a lot better — just had another good cough but I think it was psychological rather than physical iyswim 😅 throat is sore and my chest hurts but guess that’s from all the puking and barking!

I will see how it feels over the next day and if it’s at all dodgy on Monday I’ll ring the gp first thing.

And yes @Gall10 and @Willmafrockfit — my inhalers are now blasted through with water to make sure there’s nowt else lurking in there, and in a separate plastic bag of their own! Honestly this has frightened the life out of me, I will be VERY keen on checking all parts of the inhaler before using it!

@WhoWants2Know that’s a really useful diagram. Thank you! It felt like it was stuck in the turquoise bit above the hyoid bone (good job I’m not a doctor 😂) so hopefully it hadn’t actually reached my windpipe. I think if it was stuck in there I’d know about it.