u/iFaolan

I (29F) had an esophageal motility study last week, and I finally got the results back! I have ineffective esophageal motility (IEM). Which sucks, but it’s progress towards an answer. So I’m both relieved and saddened. But now I’m wondering what could be causing this.

100% of my swallows were ineffective. 40% failed peristalsis, and 60% weak peristalsis. I’ve also had an endoscopy and chest CT, but there were no signs of EoE, cancer, strictures, Barrett’s esophagus, schatzki ring, etc. Just some signs of gastritis in my stomach. I already know I have GERD/LPR. I’ve been on omeprazole 40 mg once a day for a couple of years.

But about a year and a half ago, I had two separate ANA 12 plus profiles done. Both came back abnormal. I was reading about sclerosis/scleroderma (since it’s a potential cause of IEM), and I thought back to those tests. My rheumatologist brushed them off at the time, but now I’m wondering if it’s a genuine possibility.

Doc is going to schedule a gastric emptying test, is prescribing me nexium twice a day, and ordered some lab work. But I think I’m also going to ask about autoimmune disorders.

To anyone here officially diagnosed with IEM: do you know what caused/causes it? Do you have any advice to share?

I’ve had bouts of dysphagia much of my life, but they were not as severe and it would just occasionally show up as food going down slowly. Got more frequent as I got older. Then it suddenly got so bad close to a month ago, that I’ve been on a liquid/puree diet since. But even blended soups feel like they go down very slowly. It’s torture. I hate eating now because of it.

I (29F) have struggled with random, brief moments of dysphagia all my life where food would suddenly go down very slowly and it affected my breathing until it passed. I didn’t think much of it because I always saw it happening to my dad and the bouts were so short-lived. As I got older, I got diagnosed with LPR. Omeprazole helped for a little while, but then my acid reflux got bad again after a stressful time in my life. I tried to treat the root issue and things seemed like they were getting better. But around the end of April, I noticed swallowing was starting to feel…wrong. I was afraid to eat anything I could choke on when alone, so I always waited to eat solid stuff until my husband was home or I was around coworkers.

Then, on May 2nd, I noticed even scrambled eggs felt hard to swallow. At best, very uncomfortable. I took my two mental health pills that night and they must have gotten stuck at one point, because I was in serious pain for hours after. I went to the ER because I thought something was stuck. They did a chest Xray, gave me some lidocaine and sucralfate to swallow, as well as some morphine through IV. I went home feeling slightly better. After this, I stopped eating solids altogether. I stopped even taking my pills (it’s okay, they were the lowest dose of antidepressants; and I’m not a suicidal person). I only take omeprazole by opening the capsule and sprinkling it over applesauce. I went to the ER again a week later because I felt like I wasn’t getting enough nutrients, but my blood tests said otherwise. One test showed that I had a high WBC, RBC, and Neutrophil count (among a few other things), but they didn’t really address that. I also got a chest CT scan, which showed no issues.

I was fortunate enough to get an endoscopy this past Monday (I kept begging for my GI doc to get me one as soon as possible). The doc said everything LOOKED fine, save for signs of gastritis in my lower stomach. They still took biopsies for EoE and H Pylori. And I have a motility test scheduled for June.

While I wait for the results, I started worrying about something. As I read about EoE, I started eliminating the most common allergens for this condition a couple days after my first ER visit (the 2nd). I stopped consuming things with milk (although I had a sip of a milk-based drink on the 7th), eggs, nuts, and wheat. Again, my endoscopy was on the 11th. I worry that eliminating these things will make it too difficult to detect the EoE. Is it the case? Or does EoE remain detectable for longer than I’m thinking?
Also, I have eczema, so I highly suspect EoE. But I’m so confused as to why the doc said things look normal.

I (29F) have struggled with acid reflux for several years. It was very manageable once I got on a PPI. But in the last 6 months, it’s worsened. And this last week, it’s slowly gotten harder and harder to swallow solids. Even liquids aren’t comfortable, but much more bearable than solids. I can’t even eat scrambled eggs without feeling like it’s getting stuck. I can’t see my GI until the 20th. I’m already losing weight fast. How do I keep myself well nourished enough? I’m so afraid of starving. I’ve been drinking/eating Ensure, lactose-free milk, applesauce, Metamucil (for fiber), and yogurt. What else can I do? I can’t even go to work because it requires energy I just don’t have right now as a result of this.

A month ago, a woman rear ended me and left some nasty dents in my trunk. She was driving a Turo rental and I guessed her and her boyfriend denied coverage. I also found out she wasn’t even authorized to drive it (I assume only her boyfriend was). The insurance connected to Turo won’t cover the damage as a result, and neither will my insurance (probably because I picked the minimum coverage). I don’t know what to do now. Do I go to the woman and her boyfriend directly? Do I bug the company some more to try and get them to pay for the damage?

My acid reflux has never been this bad, but I’ve gotten to a point where it feels like my throat is closing up. Eating is torture. I feel like it’s going to get stuck or come back up and choke me or make me throw up. Even just drinking nutrition shakes hasn’t been great. I’m losing weight fast because of it. I have an appointment with a GI doctor on the 20th of this month, but I’m worried about what will happen in the meantime. I can barely eat at work which makes it difficult to focus and have the energy I need. I have constant anxiety around this. I’m afraid of wasting away. This globus sensation and tight throat feeling are killing me. I’m even afraid to take gaviscon or reflux gourmet because that requires swallowing pretty thick substances.

I take omeprazole every day and I’ve also been taking famotidine in the evening when I really need to. I’m cutting down on so many different foods, sleeping elevated, but I’m still worse than ever. I was doing alright for a little while, and then suddenly my dysphagia worsened significantly. I just ordered some alkaline water and I’m hoping it will help, but I don’t have much hope. What do I do?

I (29F) had a turbinate reduction and valve repair in addition to my septoplasty back in July 2025. My right nostril has been working great, but my left nostril (more so now than before) just isn’t working how it should. I am constantly having to blow snot out of it, and sometimes it feels like it sticks together when I sniff hard enough. There is also this weird bump where my valve is. I thought it was swelling, but it has never gone down. It feels like a hard pimple on the inner wall of my nostril. This didn’t happen to my right nostril. It blocks some airflow and constantly gets boogers stuck behind it. When I met with my surgeon last, he said he could either remove the cartilage/graft he used to repair the valve, reduce my left turbinates further (because I guess they’re still kind of big), or do both. The problem with removing the graft is it COULD lead to that valve collapsing again whenever I breathe in.

Has anyone had this experience? I can’t seem to tell what the true source of the problem is. I often lift open my left nostril now to get it “unstuck” (it doesn’t completely close up, of course, but it’s still an annoying, sticky feeling that reduces airflow).