Can Food Alergy Cause Swallowing Difficulty

[JoelMcElrath]

Some food cause to me have serious swallowing difficulty for five minutes.  A few grains of rice has caused this problem.  I cannot swallow food or fluid.  After about five minutes of excessive saliva, I can again swallow and eat a eat all the rice I want in big mouthfulls.  I am 65 and had this problem about five years ago.  I'm 6'7" and weigh about 230.  The problem disappeared for over four years then returned.  Recently, I lost weight down to 190 and then regained to about 230.  The problem has returned.  The irritant is a relish made of field peas, corn, onions, vinegar, sugar, cilantro, and avacoda.  I've not tried rice lately, but through the four years of remission, I had rice many times with no problem.  I have RA and am diabetic.  I take a big mouthfull of pills and vitamins every morning with no difficulty even without fluid.  In the past, I developed a habit of swallowing a few grains of rice, waiting five minutes, then eating all I wanted.  If you've drank a lot water too fast and get the feeling you have swallowed air, this is how I feel during the five minutes.  I have on occasion stuck my very long finger down my throat to gag and there is no obstruction except saliva.  Fifteen years ago, I took Orudis and it caused severe acid reflux which could have caused scarring, but I had not trouble until about five years ago.  What kind of doctor could diagnose this?  ENT, GI, Allergist?

[ChitChatNine]

I'm not a doctor by any means ... I'd ask your Doc if this can be esophageal spasms caused by strictures and/or reflux.  Laryngospasms would cause uncontrolled coughing I think like in asthma .. my daughter has had those and ended up micro asperating from it.

Could it be the texture of the food causing this to happen is something else to ask?

[JoelMcElrath]

The anomoly here is that my reaction is only five minutes or less.  The cycle is:
-  I eat a little bit of the allergant (rice, peas)
-  I gag for about five minutes with a lot of saliva (I sit silently while everyone stares)
-  I can then eat a gallon of anything with no problem.

[ping12]

I have food allergies to mushrooms/seafood/all dairy & strawberries.  These are all foods that I used to eat but became allergic to over the years.  With each food item I get a different reaction.  It is very difficult eating anywhere outside home for me.  Tragically, and let this be an alert, since people react differently to food allergies I have been served mushrooms in a soup by a friend thinking "what would it hurt" because when she gets a reaction she only got a rash.  My reaction to mushrooms can be deadly.  So be aware when someone says they are allergic to something just tell them it is in a dish you are serving, that's all we ask, just tell us.

[ChitChatNine]

There are some interesting comments in another unrelated thread about onions and garlic containing sulfites ????  That is really interesting and something to also explore maybe.

C~

[ChitChatNine]

Last night I was also thinking about these two other conditions to ask your Dr. about:

Laryngospasms
Laryngeal Swelling doing to allergic reaction  (can cause severe stridor/croup I think)

Pcarsey---
Cinnamon is not common at all; luckily it isn't in too many food items I'd think but could be one of those "secret" ingredients.

C~

[pcarsey]

hmm.. my mom was a diabetic too and could not eat rice for the life of her. It always got caught in her throat!!

Another note.. "not being able to swallow" is how I discovered I was allergic to cinnamon. It was on some pancakes at a restaurant and immediately my throat began to swell and I couldn't swallow. It never swelled shut thank goodness, but it did get pretty uncomfortable to breath. They rushed me to the hospital and gave me meds through IV.

Yet another note.. my grandmother had to have surgery on her throat because of gag reflex issues. Anything that hit the back of her throat the wrong way would make her vomit in an instant! As soon as she healed from the surgery she could eat anything!!

Good Luck!

[ChitChatNine]

Hi, I read your post and was thinking that esophageal spasms could be occuring if it isn't an allergic reaction (but could be that, too).  Definitely seek an allergist and probably an ENT and/or GI to try and help figure out what is going on.

Rice is very low on the list of causitve allergins but anybody can be allergic to anything.  The rice, may have induced some type of spasm going down if there is nothing else going on,but I'm not a doctor or medical professional, just a mom with lots of food allergy experience.

They may want to do a scope and/or Upper endoscopy to see what is or isnt' going on .. scar tissue, nerves, etc.  Maybe a swallow study.  Either an ENT or GI would probably do that type of test.

I, too, have been on Orudis .. it is no longer avail by the mfg. in the US otc .. not sure about Ketaprofin via script  -- I take Mobic which is a bit more gentle.

Have you been food tested for allergies ever?  The peas could be in the lentil food family if I recall and that can be in the peanut family of allergins .. (going by memory, you may have to double check on this).  Avacados are not as safe as a first food intro as the Avocado Assoc wants people to believe for baby food .. it is up there on the allergin list.  

They may want to do an ultrasound to be certain nothing is pressing on your esophagus during your heavier weight periods when there is less area and more compression?  Just guessing with some ideas as 2 cents.

Keep us posted ... hope this helps,

C~