i recently woke up one day and found myself really afraid to swallow, like fear of choking. once i work up the courage and get the "perfect timing" i send the food to my throat and all is well. but ive been eating tiny bites of food just to make it easier on myself and even then, i just can't. it's like ive forgotten how to swallow. i can swallow liquids, but man ill chew and its just so scary to eat for me now. literally just happened one day randomly, didn't choke or anything for that fear to have been thrown on me. i'm getting so depressed, i've just graduated and im not even interested in getting my favorite foods or going out to dinner to celebrate. i keep telling myself, just do it you've been eating your entire life, ill watch other people eat just to watch the process and how mindless they are about it. i am so tired of this and it's only been about a week. the actual swallow is fine, it's sending it to the back of my throat and initiating the manual swallow that's scary for me. anyway, hoping this goes away soon :(

27f. Started experiencing nasal regurgitation in Nov. of 2025. It has progressively gotten worse so I have an appointment scheduled already but I have started to spiral a bit. Pretty much every single day I experience some food getting “stuck” and it feels like it’s trying to go up my nose. Some foods are worse than others like rice and minced foods. I haven’t really noticed any other symptoms of ALS. At least none that I’m aware of. Could these be the beginning of Bibles onset ALS?

Been having this really frustrating experience with my doctor and would like a second opinion on his "treatment plan". About 2 weeks ago I starting having food get pushed up into my sinuses as I'm swallowing, and the food will get stuck there for the rest of the day causing a lot of irritation. it feels like its sitting in my sinus/pallet right by the back of my throat. I've tried chewing super thoroughly, smaller bites, different foods, nasal rinses, steam, drinking lots of water/gargling, blowing my nose/inhaling super hard, and nothing has helped. I can occasionally feel the food bits shifting but I can't get them to clear out myself, usually by the morning it has resolved itself (likely sliding down with help from gravity/sleep positions).

after it was happening consistently for about a week, and not some freak one off occurrence, I finally went to go see my doctor and immediately he was unhelpful, going over and over "huh, that's weird, foods supposed to go down" (no duh) as I explained again and again what was happening. He sent me to get x-rays done, and I went to my follow up today and he said that the report says the x-rays are all clear (he also flat out admitted that he himself hadn't even opened/looked at the actual x-rays at all) and he was stumped as to what was causing it. So, instead of at that point referring me to and ENT or some other sort of specialist, he instead prescribed me an anti-nausea medication (domperidone 10mg, 3x daily to be specific). I immediately expressed my lack of faith in that treatment plan, as I have not been experiencing ANY nausea or gut irritation (he kept bringing up my gut/acid re flux (which I have not been experiencing, and said as much!)) and I flat out asked "how is an anti nausea medication supposed to treat this?" and he said that it's supposed to 'relax' or 'correct' the muscles in the oesophagus/stomach or something like that, and he won't even consider referring me until I've tried this medication for a few WEEKS!

I have yet to go get this prescription filled because frankly at this point it feels like it would be a waste of my time to try because I don't see how it could possible fix this at all and I don't want go weeks more with this still happening again and again.

Is he wasting my time? Should I go see a new doctor? Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Does anyone feel that their dysphagia is more likely, being hard to initiate the swallow?I never met someone who has like this, only met with persons who says the food is getting stuck. I also have GERD, i am thinking if this might be actually phagophobia on me. I never found the cause. May u tell me your experience about dysphagia and how it is manifesting for you? Or if u ever found a cause?Thank you
I have more problems in liquids, i can only take sips

Hi all.Im over a year into this curse and it's getting worse.

Same story as everyone else really struggling to eat most foods now.Taking me ages to eat and need a big drink of water to swallow any food.

I'm sure my dysphagia is caused by panic/anxiety and there's nothing physically wrong.I had a near choking experience a few weeks before this all kicked off.

I have always resisted anxiety medication but cannot keep living like this.This has destroyed my quality of life.

I've giving up alcohol watched self help videos and even had 3 sessions with a hypnotherapist to try and help but it's getting worse.Anyone have panic disorder agoraphobia and dysphagia and find a medication that helps??? My doctor wants me to start lexapro but I'm terrified of the sexual side effects but know I have to do something

I’m really scared and hoping someone has experienced something similar.

About a month ago, I stopped Zoloft (sertraline) after tapering slowly. Since then, I’ve developed a strange problem where swallowing liquids has become very difficult.

Symptoms:

•	Liquids (especially water) are much harder to swallow than solid food

•	Pills are also difficult to swallow

•	It feels like the swallow reflex doesn’t start properly

•	Sometimes liquid just sits in my mouth and I can’t initiate the swallow

•	Sometimes I cough or choke a little

•	I occasionally feel “bubbles” moving in my esophagus after trying to swallow

•	It tends to be better in the morning and gets worse as the day goes on

•	Bromazepam sometimes helps

•	I’m extremely anxious and emetophobic (very afraid of vomiting)

I do NOT have:

•	Difficulty swallowing solid food

•	Obvious heartburn

•	Other neurological symptoms

This has become so distressing that I’m afraid to drink water or take medication.

Has anyone experienced:

•	Difficulty swallowing liquids but not solids?

•	A sensation that the swallow reflex just won’t trigger?

•	Symptoms after stopping an SSRI like Zoloft?

•	Improvement with anti-anxiety medication?

What was the cause, and what helped? Did it turn out to be functional dysphagia, reflux, esophageal spasm, or something else?

I’m especially interested in hearing from people who recovered, because right now this feels terrifying.

40 M Excellent health, very active and not overweight

So about a month ago I began to notice my swallowing felt a little off in the back of my throat. Nothing super alarming just almost like my swallowing was skipping a step (horrible description I know). It was a couple weeks later that I began to notice that when I did eat initially it would be fine but over the course of the meal my esophagus would slowly feel more swollen and swallowing would be more difficult. My neck muscles would be sore after eating and I would get a bit of pain between my sternum. My adams apple (not clinical term I know) would begin to click as well. All of this would go away after eating and even the swollen feeling would slowly fade. My wife and I assumed it was just some silent acid reflux so I started taking proton pump inhibitors. This didn't work.

Fast forward another week, we finally went to the doctors. The issue would seem to be a little better sometimes and a little worse with others. At this point the chest pain had gone away and so had the neck pain. The doctor told me she thinks it's EOE (esophagitis) and referred me to an ENT. That appointment isn't for another week and they won't see me sooner.

Now this week the swallowing is really bad. It feels like it mainly starts in the top of my throat from the top of the adams apple to the opening of my mouth but food especially things like bread just drag making me take sips of water with every bite. I can at times feel the food flowing down my esophagus into my stomach.

Before I forget. I do not smoke, do any drugs whatsoever and I don't drink and haven't for many years. I know it doesn't always matter but I am extremely active. I work out six days a week, have been eating a low sugar diet for ten years and fasting for about seven years. I have experienced no health issues up to this point.

While I wait for my ENT, does anyone have any perspectives on this? Does this sound like EOE or something else? Obviously, I'm deeply concerned. Ones mind wants to immediately go towards cancer or something like ALS. The doctor told me she doesn't believe it is cancer. And I also am having no other symptoms other then swallowing. What do you think?

Please help me. The medical system is burying me alive. I have not been able to swallow solids for six months for fear of them getting stuck—and when I say stuck, I mean indefinitely, near permanently, amassing for weeks and weeks on end with every bite of food until the lump in my throat was so large it was cutting off my circulation. Because of this I have not eaten solids in six months. I have lost over a quarter of my body weight in that time, and it is still continuing to drop. Despite this, doctors refuse to help or even believe me. They make me wait months and months and months for referrals only for them to immediately tell me they think my symptoms are psychosomatic without ever even asking me what those symptoms are. They scoff at me for expecting the ER to help me.

Someone out there has to do something. Please tell me what I’m supposed to do, who on earth to go to who will actually let me speak and who will DO SOMETHING about it. Everyone throws up their hands and tells me to go to doctors who refuse to offer me the time of day. I am genuinely going to starve to death. My symptoms only get worse and worse. I’ve had what feels like a chronic and almost entirely untreated infection in my throat since January because of this, which has since spread all the way up into my sinuses and even my ears. Everything in my face and throat is so stagnant and putrid that it feels like I’m rotting from the inside out. Literal months of nonstop agony. Of violation, having infected pus congealing in my throat and pouring down into my stomach. At this point even drinking water is active torture. I can’t even brush my teeth; when I do, whatever it loosens up makes my breath even worse. Sometimes it’s rotten. Sometimes stagnant. Sometimes, ammonia. I’ve gone weeks without sleep, unable to lay flat without choking.

I cannot socialize. I cannot work. I cannot eat. I cannot sleep. I cannot think. I cannot do anything but beg and sob for help. Yet that exact hysteria is what gets me written off as delusional. It’s exactly why they refuse to do anything at all. They sat on their hands and waited for this to drive me insane, just so they could use that insanity as an excuse to keep doing nothing. These people are robbing me of a life. All I can do is helplessly watch as I deteriorate more with every day that passes.

Please help me. This is going to kill me and when it does, it will be a mercy. My literal only relief is in completely starving and dehydrating myself for as long as I can stand to. In other words, even relief itself is torture. No one will help. No one will listen. I don’t understand what I’m supposed to do. Every appointment just buries me further into the grave of a mentally troubled, delusional basket case. Somebody please do something. Please help me. Tell me what to do. Where to go. Who to talk to. Something. Anything. Anything that isn’t just sitting back and watching at best, gaslighting at worst. Please.

Hi everyone,

I’m really confused and anxious about what’s happening to me and wanted to know if anyone experienced something similar with GERD, dysphagia, TMJ, crossbite, anxiety, etc.

For the last few days I’ve been having swallowing issues mainly with saliva and food. Sometimes when I swallow it feels like it pauses/sticks for a second and then goes down on the second try. I had a few scary choking-like episodes recently while eating, and since then my anxiety around swallowing has become very high.

Things I noticed:

If I focus on swallowing, it becomes worse

If I distract myself, it feels more normal

Burping often relieves the pressure/throat sensation

I have excessive burping and sometimes even force myself to burp to release pressure

Even drinking water can make me feel bloated/full

I have a lot of bloating and reflux lately

Dry mouth/throat feeling

Water and food DO go down eventually

Doctor said I have tonsil/throat irritation

I also have crossbite and clicking sound from the jaw and a damaged wisdom tooth

I’m overweight

I’ve always struggled more with chewy foods like chicken/meat for years, but soft foods were mostly okay

I’ve also been dealing with GERD, bloating, and stomach/gas issues for around 8 years now. I also have health anxiety and general anxiety, which I think may be making everything worse recently.

Sometimes even saliva feels “stuck” for a second and then goes down. I’m honestly getting scared of eating now.

Could this be:

GERD/LPR reflux?

Anxiety causing throat tightness?

TMJ/crossbite affecting swallowing?

Dry mouth/dehydration?

Tonsil inflammation?

Gas/bloating pressure?

Has anyone experienced something similar and recovered?

I genuinely want to improve my health now and get my life back on track. If anyone has gone through this, please guide me on where I should start and what helped you most.

For the last year I’ve been dealing with severe swallowing problems that nobody can fully explain. Diagnosed with GAD, depression, and functional dysphagia, but I still keep doubting it because of how physical and disabling this feels.

Main issue is not food getting stuck in the esophagus. The problem is initiating the swallow itself, especially later in the day. Mornings are usually my “safe window” where I can eat somewhat normally after waking up, but as the day progresses my swallowing ability gradually feels weaker and weaker until nighttime where it can become nearly impossible to swallow even saliva. Sleep is the only thing that partially resets it.

During bad episodes (lasting 1–4 days), I can almost completely lose the ability to swallow. I’ve survived on saline during the worst ones. I feel the urge to swallow but physically cannot trigger it. Sometimes I even make weird body movements trying to force the swallow reflex. It feels like choking on air. Pills are the hardest — I keep biting them because I can’t coordinate swallowing both pill and water together.

Important details:

- Food usually does NOT get stuck

- Never truly choked but feels like nearly choked sometimes

- Symptoms fluctuate massively

- Fear around swallowing developed over time, especially when alone

- Mucus/throat clearing sensation sometimes happens

- “Stuck in throat” feeling occurs mostly during worst days

Tests done:

- Endoscopy: normal

- Barium swallow: normal

- Esophageal manometry: normal

The strange part is during the barium swallow study I was able to swallow large mouthfuls of thick liquid on command completely normally, while at home I sometimes struggle with even saliva or tiny sips of water.

GI doctor now refuses further testing and says it’s completely functional. Currently on escitalopram + benzo for 3 weeks but no major improvement yet. Still losing weight because I can only reliably eat once in the morning.

Has anyone here experienced this kind of state-dependent swallowing problem where the ability seems to “shut down” as the day goes on and reset after sleep?

I've always assumed it's something everyone can do, but recently I exposed my secret superpower only to find that it's actually super weird lmao. Now I'm curious how I do it, but google doesn't seem to know what I'm talking about!

Here's your chance to back out, cuz I'm gonna talk about chewed goods and throat flaps.

So it begins with mashed food or liquid, and I tuck it away into a mysterious pocket that's either in my soft palate, or somewhere behind my tongue. I can continue to chew more food, breath, and even talk while it just sits there, as uncomfortable as it is. From there, I can either swollow, or recall it like a freaking cow! It comes in handy, tho, cuz sometimes I find that I havent chewed enough, or that I didnt savor the flavor enough haha! After use, I experience a similar sensation to post nasel drip, so the most likely culprit is my soft palate.

If anyone has any insight as to wtf this is, do tell, cuz I've begun to wonder if this ability has anything to do with my sleep apnea or dysphagia.

Just realized it took me about 3 bottles of water to eat a meal over the course of roughly 2 hours. I’m scared to swallow, so probably not true dysphagia (developed dysphagia from GERD but it’s probably subsided by now since my GERD has resolved?). I do this for eveeeerything I eat. I take a bite, chew chew chew, so much water that I can’t feel the food anymore, swallow.

Obviously the larger the meal, the more water.

Uhhhh. Hm. ????? Idk. Just realized uh oh, bad call. But idk how to stop.

I’ve had swallowing issues for around 4–5 years, but recently had a couple worse episodes so I’m trying to figure out what’s going on.
Main symptoms:
Food (especially bread/meat) feels like it gets stuck in my throat/chest
I often have to swallow hard or double swallow
Water usually helps
Liquids are normally fine
Chips are usually fine too

A few worse episodes:

Food stuck for 10–20 seconds
One episode where even water wouldn’t go down for about 1–2 minutes and came back up
I could still breathe, but it felt tight/panicky until it passed

I also get:

A feeling like a burp is trapped after eating
Pressure in my chest/throat after meals
Feeling like I can’t get a full deep breath sometimes
Breathing sensation is worse when I focus on it, better when distracted or exercising

Tests so far:

ENT scope → normal

Swallow study → normal

Endoscopy (EGD) → showed mild LA Grade A esophagitis (acid-related inflammation in lower esophagus), no bleeding, stomach and small intestine normal

They also took biopsies to check for things like EoE

GI started me on omeprazole/Prilosec 20 mg daily.

Has anyone had something similar where mild reflux/esophagus inflammation caused swallowing issues like this? Or did it end up being something like EoE/anxiety/esophageal spasms?

I really need advice because I’m feeling extremely miserable and scared. For about 5 years I’ve had swallowing problems, but recently they became much worse. Right now my biggest issue is with solid food. I can somehow still drink liquids, but when I try to swallow solids, the swallow often just won’t start properly. It feels like the food gets stuck in the back of my throat and my body refuses to complete the swallow. Food got stuck many times before, so I became very aware of and scared of swallowing. I also have a weak voice, a constant mucus feeling in my throat, coughing up mucus balls and extreme fatigue.

The investigation is already ongoing. I’ve seen a neurologist, already had an MRI and I’m going for a gastroscopy soon, but so far I still don’t have any clear results or diagnosis.

Has anyone experienced oropharyngeal dysphagia with throat mucus?

I would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has gone through something similar because I feel very alone and overwhelmed right now.

Hi everyone, I thought I would share my story here as when my swallowing problems started, I used to read this subreddit a lot to see if I could figure out what was behind my dysphagia. I wanted to notice any similar patterns to other people’s symptoms to see if I could identify what was wrong with me.

I really hope this might help someone.

My swallowing issues started very suddenly last January. I got a chest infection that hit me very hard. Before this, I had been having what felt like balance issues for a while, a lot of dizziness when I was walking. Some tongue weakness when I talked sometimes. My eyes started to blur a bit and I had double vision in my right eye when I tried to read. It didn’t register that it was shut and would flick around like it didn’t know where it was in my head!

One night, I tried to eat dinner and it just wouldn’t go down. It was very odd. I assumed it was because I was quite dry from the cough, and thought nothing of it. However, the next morning I made some porridge and the oats were getting stuck immediately all round my mouth, my throat, and in my chest. I started to worry a little bit at this point. My jaw felt like it was getting exhausted by chewing. It felt exhausting and impossible to coordinate eating and breathing. Even trying to have a mouthful of food would make me short of breath.

This went on for days, and I switched to a liquid diet and contacted my doctor. I started having fainting episodes and became so fatigued I had to crawl to the bathroom. I had gone from walking 20,000 steps a day to this within weeks. I couldn’t lift my arms to do my hair or makeup without becoming short of breath. I couldn’t breathe when I lay down, and barely even when I was upright, it felt like I was always air hungry. My husband had to get a wheelchair for me so that we could go out anywhere.

I went to private doctors in the end (UK based) because no one on the NHS was helping me. I had a manometry done which showed that 9/10 swallows were failing. I had a video fluoroscopy that showed weakness in my mouth and pharyngeal muscles. No one knew why, though. I had clues but no answer.

I was repeatedly told I was just stressed and anxious everywhere I turned for help, on the NHS. My husband and I visited A&E probably more than 7 times last year. I was admitted to hospital once but then discharged and told to try harder. In spite of choking on my own saliva towards the end of the day and barely being able to take in any liquids. I was seriously dehydrated.

Previously, I had been diagnosed with POTS, and fortunately my GP agreed to prescribe me a medicine called pyridostigmine that I’d been on years ago to control my fainting episodes. Suddenly, I was able to swallow again. For a year, I gradually built up strength. I still choked on my saliva towards the end of the day, I still had to prop myself up at night to not choke or stop breathing, but I could walk again. I could eat most foods, albeit with difficulty especially towards the end of the day. Having lost over 20kg, I gained weight back and felt like I could just about get on with my life.

Then, I got an appointment with a neurologist and spoke to them about POTS. When they heard my reaction to pyridostigmine they became suspicious of a condition called Myasthenia Gravis. They ran an antibody panel and what do you know - it was positive! Finally, an answer!

I’m now on treatment and hoping to get much closer to feeling how I used to feel before this all started.

To anyone reading this, don’t give up on yourself. You know your body better than anyone else. Don’t let them fob you off, keep going in pursuit of your answer. You deserve to know what’s wrong.

There were times last year when I was terrified I would die. There were times when I wanted to, to be honest. It was absolutely dreadful. Medical misogyny is terribly dangerous. I was teetering on the edge of respiratory crisis and regularly choking for 7 months before I got prescribed the medicine that started to help me.

You have strength within you that you wouldn’t believe is possible, okay? Keep going. Don’t let them win.

On Feb. 5 2024, i woke up and was completely unable to swallow, it was like my body had completely forgotten how to. Just the night before i had no problems whatsoever eating. I couldn’t even manage to eat soups if they had any sort of seasoning. Ensure and other liquid calories kept me alive, but i still lost 80lbs in a matter of months. I saw every doctor and had every test, but they could find no cause for it and labeled it as “Probably Gerd” and it felt like they stopped trying. I missed out on taking my girlfriend to dinner every week, and holiday meals, and just the luxury of food itself. It stayed that bad until November of 2025, when i noticed i could actually handle to eat soft chocolates. Eventually i was able to tolerate m&m’s if chewed properly, so i used those every day to practice. Over time my chewing and the coordination of food in my mouth had suffered from neglect, so every day i would use m&m’s to practice my chewing and swallowing motions. As weeks went on, i was able to introduce more and more foods to this practice. I stayed consistent with it and now in May of 2026, i’m able to eat almost anything i want to again. I’m able to take my girlfriend out to eat, and celebrate with family meals.

I know that this condition is soul-crushing, especially when doctors are of no help. I hope this doesn’t come off as me bragging, I just wanted to let people know that it can change for you any day, even if the doctors aren’t helpful.

Hi guys my name is Ryan I’m 22 years old I came here to ask is there anything to do something about it yeah sure I can see most the sources is rare especially for kids and some adults and it’s a normal variation to see yeah but I came here to share how I saw it basically it was about I tried swallowing a growth vitamins but it couldn’t go down the next day I saw my epiglottis I was scared that time it look like a flap with red marks and red veins it wasn’t there before the pill got stuck and I saw it after it got stuck it happens months so I’m trying to figure out is it swelling that cause it?

Hi everyone,

TW - negative experience

I really just need somewhere to share this, preferably with people who understand what I'm going through... This seems like the appropriate place.

I had my manometry today and it went absolutely terrible. We started by having me inhale the lidocaine through my left nostril. When the nurse squirted the lidocaine in my nostril with the syringe, I immediately took a big breath in with my nose and the lidocaine went nowhere. It was just stuck in my nasal cavity for a while... She waited about 5 minutes and finally I tasted the lidocaine going down my throat. She (the nurse) then proceeded to do another half syringe of lidocaine and same thing. It was just stuck in my nose for a while.

Finally, after all the lidocaine stuff it came time to put the catheter in. I still feel pain. So we stopped and put more lidocaine. Resume. I felt a bunch of pressure in my nose and then the software stopped working and she had to take it out and troubleshoot her software. What sucks is that she initially said that she took it out because I was too nervous. But later she revealed that she was not seeing what she needed to see on the screen.

Anyways, she adds more lidocaine, whatever is left, there's not too much at this point... And we proceed. The second time around was absolutely excruciating. I was crying and just had tears running down my face and I was trying to keep steady breathing and trying to focus on anything other than the pain.

We finally got it through it and it would not go past my LES... In the past, I've had ER tell me that I have a hiatal hernia. I had an endoscopy follow-up to that which did not show a hiatal hernia. Now the nurse is saying that I might have a hiatal hernia because there was resistance and she couldn't get the catheter to go further. The doctor was saying that it's not possible because endoscopy did not show a hiatal hernia.

Anyways. We went on to the swallows. Each swallow hurt my uvula. But she said that my swallows look normal. She said that she couldn't tell me anything about the pressure because those needed to be interpreted by the doctor.

Her and the doctor were in agreement that I should see ENT. They are going to let my primary care doctor know to provide a referral for me. So, there's that.

This is not too scare anyone off. I just really needed somewhere to put this into words. She told me that I was one of her hardest patients. She says that most people don't have an issue with this test. She also said that I had much more resistant than her average patient. I live in a midsize city, so she's seeing a decent amount of people on a weekly basis.

Anyways. All of this testing has felt like a roller coaster. For me, it's not symptoms in my chest... It's that I feel like I can't initiate a swallow. I feel like I'm choking before the swallow even happens. I feel like I have forgotten how to properly chew and how to form a bolus and how to initiate a swallow.

For about a week it seems no matter what i eat pieces of food get stuck in my throat where i need to sip water each time to push it down, also food slowly going down, i dont know what exactly caused it, maybe being sick did because i just remember being sick for a week about 3 weeks ago, i was coughing a storm where it felt like it was hurting my throat, about a week or 2 after when recovering it felt like thats when the food getting stuck feeling happened as if my esophagus was damaged, and all of a sudden now when i lay down, flat or on my side it feels as if my adams apple is being pushed down or like theres a pressure/tightness feeling there, usually when i sit up ill sort of still feel like that but it’ll come with a dry mouth where it feels like i have to forcefully swallow saliva but it comes and goes. I made an appointment with my doctor but what can i expect from my doctor or what tests should i get done? I feel scared atm since that throat tightness is there right now in the middle of the night. Main thing im just worried about is choking on my food or choking on my own esophagus or adams apple if thats even possible.