Having problems with my throat

[afidz]

I am going to be making an appointment with my GI, but I wanted y'alls opinion

A few months back, before I started Remicade I started having what can best be described as throat spasms. While eating my throat would lock up and I would start drooling. Swallowing made it worse. I could breath so I know there wasn't anything stuck. I brought it up to my GI, he thought it might have something to do with acid reflux and put me on omerprazole. I am TERRIBLE about remembering to take pills so it only last a few weeks. But I didn't notice a difference. Then I started Remicade and it went away.

Now, I am 3 weeks late on Remicade because of an insurance switch. 2 weeks ago my throat started acting up again. This time the pain is worse, it lasts longer and it comes on more frequently. Since swallowing makes it worse, I spit out any drool. Last week when I was spitting out drool, there was small tinges of blood. It was bright red so it was pretty fresh. I haven't noticed anymore bleeding, but the spasms are becoming more frequent as time goes on.

Another thing that concerns me- Sometime last week for 3 or 4 hours after I ate I was spitting up my food, like an infant. Indigestion has gotten worse, I don't have heart burn but I always feel like I have to burp but can't. Do you think its acid reflux related?

Thanks for any response

 

[FrozenGirl]

Hmm maybe. I have never had heartburn but a barium study found moderate to severe acid reflux and I have reflux that is actual acid coming up into my mouth, I suspect mixed with food at times. I frequently feel like I have to burp but if I do I will have a reflux issue.

I have never had blood however and that seems concerning. Can you ask for a barium study or upper GI at your visit?

 

[lenny]

That sounds really scary. I hope you get relief soon!!

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

Afidz, I have severe GERD so I have some of the symptoms you've mentioned (particularly the spitting up thing - "regurgitation" is what my doctor calls it - my stomach contents, including just plain water, will come up to the top of my throat and even into my mouth at times - I never let it come past my mouth, I'm able to swallow it back down and I don't have the issues with swallowing that you mentioned). I do not typically have heartburn, though (apparently what is refluxing/regurgitating up my throat is more food/water based than acid based, so for me it's not an issue with acid and therefore I don't really get the burning sensation). Long story short, yes, you can absolutely have GERD without heartburn. If it were me, I'd be scheduling an upper endoscopy to see what's going on.

There are other tests they can do as well on the esophagus that might be helpful. I had a pH impedance test - in a nutshell, they stick an NG tube in you for 24 hours. The NG tube has sensors on it which check if you're refluxing/regurgitating, how often it happens (I found that for me it often happens without me really noticing or realizing it), how high the refluxate gets in your throat, how long the episodes last, etc. If you are diagnosed with GERD, that test can be very enlightening. The results I got from that test were eye-opening, it showed that my GERD is far worse than I thought it was. (My results showed that I had 48 separate episodes of reflux in 24 hours, my longest episode was over 5 hours long, when I'm lying down I reflux most of the time, etc.)

There's another test called esophageal manometry (I think - I haven't had that one myself). I believe that test checks the motility of your esophagus - how well it moves food down into your stomach. Since you mentioned issues with swallowing, that test may be enlightening for you as well. Something to look into at any rate. My GI had mentioned that test to me but I haven't had it myself yet so I don't know much about it.