Food item stuck in my oesophagus since last night. GP or A&E?

[Roowly]

I seem to have a seed stuck in my oesophagus since dinner last night, so about 11 hours. I did all the things advised online, drank some coke,Cate something soft, ate some butter, drank some bicarb of soda but it's not shifted.

Although it is hard to tell if there is something there or perhaps I'm feeling damage causes by a sharp seed.

What should I do? Can my GP do anything? Or do I need to go to A&E?

A minor injuries unit would be your best bet. If you are in the UK, a pharmacy probably won't have anything more than a tongue depresser stick and torch.
But would ring 111 for advice if discomfort continues.

Find your nearest walk in clinic. I don't know why but 111 never suggest it. It's been really useful for me when I've had something that won't wait weeks for a gp appointment but isn't urgent.

I can't believe anyone would consider A&E at this stage. I would see my pharmacist if I really wanted my throat looked at, failing that it would be the practice nurse, who would bring through a GP if necessary.

To all those saying have a drink…please please be very careful and only take small sips at a time. Last year my DP felt something get stuck whilst eating, could still breathe fine but it was uncomfortable. He had a drink of water to try and clear it but what we didn’t know was that the food was stuck fairly far down, and so the water then backed up in his oesophagus to his windpipe and he stopped breathing. Absolutely terrifying. Had to get a neighbour to do the heimlich on him and took him to a&e where they did an endoscopy. So please be super careful even if you think it’s fine and that you can breathe

When I had a problem with my nose (which turned out to be a combination of MRSA , the cream prescribed for it and a deviated septum ) the practice nurse and the doctor she called in had nothing more sophisticated than the torch on their phones.
So they sent me to A&E.

Anything oesophageal (even things like reflux) can give the feeling of something being "stuck" - but as other people have also mentioned - you don't want to get an infection or abscess down there either if there's been any damage.

It's one of those really awkward ones where the GP is likely to only have a pen torch and need to send you on, but it's not really A+E territory either. GP if you can actually see yours - or I'd ring 111 and if they send you to A+E then that's their decision, or a minor injuries if you've got one.

This. Definitely get medical advice- 111 if you can't get a GP appointment. Although the GP might advise A+E as they won't necessarily have the equipment needed to look down far enough. It needs checking though as if something is stuck you could get a nasty infection if it is left.

A pharmacist won't be able to look down a throat into the oesophagus. It is definitely appropriate to speak to a GP first but often they send patients to A+E as they too don't often have endoscopes to look down an oesophagus.

I wouldn’t go to A&E but you do need to see your GP as soon as possible. I had what I thought was a tablet I’d been trying to swallow stuck in my throat for a few days and eventually made a GP appointment and was surprised how seriously he immediately took it. Turns out that as you breathe through this thing, GPs get alarmed to hear about things suggesting it’s a bit blocked!

Fwiw, there was no tablet there, what I had was inflammation in my oesophagus caused by stomach acid silently burning my throat at night.

I don’t know why people are suggesting GP or a pharmacist.

They not going to have an endoscope handy.

People seem to forget the other word in A and E is “accident”.

I would ask for a sit and wait/urgent appt at GP or minor injuries, as they may be able to look and if not can send you on to A&E.

The GP surgery told me they don't have the equipment to look down my oesophagus and suggested A&E. We lost our walk in minor injuries unit many years ago but I see that our A&E is now an urgent care unit triaged through one entrance.

Terrible advice on this thread.

If you have something stuck in your throat you do need to go to a&e.

I came on to say A&E is actually the right place for this. The hospital is the only place with the equipment to have a proper look.
It happened to DH a few years ago and he went to the GP who told him to just go up to the hospital. He was quickly triaged and sent to ENT who sorted it.

Please do go to A and E, DH got a fish bone stuck some years ago and I insisted he went to hospital. He had it removed via his nose and the consultant praised me for getting him there straight away. He said trapped objects can cause very serious infections and obstruct the airway, and it would have been too swollen even the next morning to remove without an operation under general anaesthetic.

It is actually not saving anyone time or trouble to wait to seek treatment.

To be fair OP said she wasn't sure and the second post made it sound like she wasn't just wondering if it was scratched.

I went to urgent care and the triage consultant had a chat with me and advised a wait and see approach for 24 hours.

Yup, pretty much as expected. At least you're reassured. Taking ibuprofen might make it feel less sore.

Did it hurt when you ate? It feels scratchy when I eat and swallow food or water. The Dr said if I am able to eat and drink though the. I'm fine . They said take paracetamol. I still can't work out if it's something there or a scratch left by something. Is it like when you have something in your mouth and you feel it with your tongue it feels huge but when you look at it, it's minor?!

OP it's really hard with anything oesophageal to locate where the feeling of "stuck" or "scratchy" is as well - people can have problems quite a long way down their oesophagus but still will tell you that they feel like they've got something stuck and point to their Adam's Apple area.

Give it the 24 hours they've suggested and then you can always go back to them if it's still problematic - rather than going in all endoscopes blazing.

No, it's fine. I understand. It's making me anxious because I had to have an endoscopy last year for something else. The feeling reminds me of when they numbed my throat which made me panic. At the same time, I'm keen not to have another one. Thank you for your reassurance.

Haven't read the whole thread, sorry! Just wanted to share what worked for me last year when I got a tiny fish bone stuck in my throat. I got the crustiest French bread baguette I could find, took a huge mouthful and swallowed as much as I could in one go and it miraculously dislodged it. Probably not the best medical advice but it saved me a trip to UC.

That's what I posted before - and is exactly the right thing to do.

I remember a time when I had been eating salad peppers/bell peppers and a tiny sliver of skin had got stuck on the back of my throat, bloody hell, trying to cough that up and dislodge that, it was awful, I could feel it, teeny tiny bit of skin just wouldnt budge. Obviously went in the end but you cant focus on anything else at the time. And even after it went it sort of felt like it was still there

I have acid reflux. It's a horrid feeling. I'd phone 111 in the first instance.