If it is problem with swallowing, they can do a modified barium swallow, it’s quite interesting because you can watch the spoonful of barium go down on the x-ray.
GERD (or GERDS as people seem to want to call it now, for some unknown reason) is pretty likely, common things are common, and it can show up in different ways (cough, bad breathe you name it).
Until you get to the doctor, try Pepcid or Zantac. There is even OTC Pepsid Complete which is a Mixture of Pepsid and Tums. Peptid and Zantac are good medications, and proton pump inhibitors are way over-prescribed and actually not as safe as people think (risk of osteoporosis).
I have not had any problems swallowing. But for the past 3 months I have been doing some renovation work in the house lifting and carrying things things not sure if it triggered any thing.
If you insist on not visiting a doctor, you can get Famotidine OTC very cheaply at Walmart. I used it for a couple of years to successfully control GERD, and what I suspect was a stomach ulcer, when I couldn’t afford to visit a doctor. If your symptoms go away with 2-3 pills a day (taken 30 minutes before meals), then it’s probably GERD-related. If not, the pills won’t harm you in any way.
Famotidine started losing efficacy for me recently, so I went to the doctor and she put me on a prescription of 20mg Omeprazole/day. It works even better than the Famotidine, and in fact the cost is even cheaper with my new and improved health insurance (less than $7 a month).
My guess is also GERD, but you have enough symptoms that it would be good to see a doctor. I had similar symptoms and turned out to have both GERD and a minor case of Barrett’s. “Acid pills” have been extremely effective in treating me. But you should get a doctor to check you out.
Typically, they use light sedation. It inhibits the gag reflex, and also interferes with storing memories, so you probably won’t remember the procedure. They don’t ordinarily need to knock you out, though, and in fact it’s easier to do the procedure if the patient is awake enough to follow instructions. It’s an extremely safe procedure.
I’ve had endoscopies both with and without sedation. The gagging is very unpleasant but mostly alleviated by sedation. Other than that, it’s not particularly painful. You don’t have to drink anything before it, or change your diet in any way until the night before the procedure. You do have to fast for a few hours – typically they ask you not to eat anything after supper the night before – to ensure that your stomach is empty. It’s the most reliable way to diagnose most of the serious problems you might have. It is much more useful for diagnosing most of your likely problems than x-rays or an ultrasound.
It’s called twilight sedation. I had it for the upper endoscopies I’ve had (I had three last year), and when I get Botox for migraines. I never remember anything after the nice anesthesiologist says, “You’ll feel like you’ve had some wine…”
The reason I want to see the doctor is some things don’t add up right. It seems to hit me before I go to bed and some times when I get up and hungry. It comes and goes through the day and some days better than other days. And I have gone 10 to 12 hours with out food and still get episodes!!
Some salty and greasy foods do seem to make it worse the episodes.
Funny thing is it does not awake me from my sleep but laying down or slouching some times does cause me to get up and walk around to stop the continue swallowing!! So some times before going to bad is a nightmare!! But when I do fall a asleep it does not wake me up from my sleep!! But some times in the morning when I’m laying in bad awake it starts again.
Not sure if this is anxiety thing feed backing on the medical symptom making it worse or some thing more wrong with me than GERD.
Why can’t you be 100% awake but just give your meds to stop the reflux, acid and gagging?
PS: I wasn’t looking forward to the endoscopy, and it’s not something I’d do again unless I absolutely had to, but it really wasn’t that bad. They anaesthetised the back of my mouth and throat to suppress the gag reflex, but once the tube was down there, the discomfort was just about bearable. Taking scrape samples and photos had no real effect. In the end, about fifteen minutes of discomfort was worth the eventual peace of mind, and there were no after-effects (not even the flatulence they warned about). Well, none, apart from being ravenously hungry from having had to fast in advance.
I could have opted to have it done under general anaesthetic, but they’d have insisted on my having someone there to accompany me home. (One man was there for his daughter, and was trying to explain to the nurse why she might not be coming round as fast as everyone else - because, he said, “She’s got slight necrophilia”).
Why would you want to be awake? You can’t control anything that’s happening then. You have a tube going down your throat and that sucks. It’s rather unpleasant, and it’s much easier if you’re in twilight.
And you can take medications to stop the reflux and acid right now. Have you tried any of them or made any of the dietary changes suggested?
Yes. I’ve done it both ways, because I had an unpleasant reaction to sedation. I advise my friends to consider colonoscopy without sedation, because that’s (at least for me) not bad at all, and it’s nice to be able to see your innards and go home unassisted. But unless you know you don’t tolerate sedation well (which is quite rare–other than my mom, I’ve never met anyone else who has a problem with it) I’d advise sedation for an upper endoscopy. It’s not that it’s horribly painful, but it’s extremely unpleasant. I had to meditate and basically focus on keeping everything relaxed, and couldn’t pay attention to the exam anyway.
The drugs do the “keep everything relaxed” part very well. That makes it much less unpleasant for both the patient and the doctor.
Local anaesthetic spray is weak and doesn’t last, as I learned last week in the ENT office with a scope inside my nose.
You could always have one of these twilight sleep drugs…
Anaesthesia. 2003 Jun;58(6):549-53.
Sexual hallucinations during and after sedation and anaesthesia.
Balasubramaniam B1, Park GR
Abstract
Sexual hallucinations have been reported since the introduction of chloroform. Newer agents such as midazolam and propofol appear particularly prone to producing them. Some practitioners have been the victims of allegations resulting from the hallucinogenic effects of these drugs. Other individuals, including doctors, have used the amnesic effects of midazolam and other drugs to sexually assault victims. Clinicians should be aware of the risks to which they may inadvertently expose themselves if these drugs are not used carefully.
Barrett’s is probably unlikely unless you’ve had untreated GERD/acid reflux for years. From my own experience, I had acid issues (insufficiently treated) for about 20 years before hoarseness kicked in. It’s not much of an indicator, in my opinion.
Seriously, I’ve have the barium swallow many years ago, and an endoscopy more recently. It is no big deal. Period. The endoscopy found more problems than the other did. Quit worrying (in itself can increase acid), drink less coffee and skip alcohol, go to the doctor, and take the meds and you will be fine.
Some of these symptoms of heartburn that should be ruled out like below.
So only way to get the unpleasant feeling to go away is give your meds that make you sleepy or put you to sleep? They cannot give you meds to make it go away but you are still 100% awake?
This is why I want to read up on this to discuss this with my doctor. It most likely the doctor will order many tests. And I should mentally get ready just in case the doctor wants me to have a endoscopy.
Other things that I would like checked out to rule out are.
swelling in or near your airway
swelling around the vocal cords (croup)
inflammation of the tissue that covers your windpipe (epiglottitis)
A endoscopy is just not pretty and being a asleep or in a twilight highs when people are around you doing stuff is not pretty.
At least you don’t make you drink that horrible drink like they do with colonoscopy!!
That was not an option at the medical center where I have had endoscopies. I discussed the options after having an unpleasant reaction to the sedative. Let me know if you learn otherwise, as I have an endoscopy coming up soon.
