esophageal spasm
Dear Dr. Gehring,
I "know" you from justanswer, but now you can no longer ask individual questions, only subscribe to a membership.
Since I value you and your advice very much, I am writing to you here. I am 41 years old and female. The phenomenon described below has been occurring irregularly for the past 4 years.
Sometimes not at all for months, and then up to 2-3 times a week.
In about 90% of cases, I had consumed alcohol shortly before (on the same day).
Since I was 13 (runs in the family), I have had problems with reflux and often severe heartburn (after acidic drinks, especially wine and champagne).
I am aware that I drink too much. Additionally, I am mentally "fragile" and suffer from depression and hypochondriac anxiety disorder.
For this reason, I avoid going to the doctor, as I am afraid it might be esophageal cancer.
Now, regarding the symptoms:
Sometimes while eating (almost always after I have almost finished eating), a last piece gets stuck in my esophagus right at the entrance to the stomach.
I then get a cramp-like feeling with a stabbing pain (like heartburn) and pressure.
Swallowing is completely problem-free before that, it only gets stuck at the transition to the stomach.
It does not happen with liquids. It is usually things like grilled sausage (with or without a bun) or schnitzel or even dry meat or a dry pretzel stick.
But always when I eat these things "dry".
I can breathe normally during this time, but of course, I panic.
This can last for minutes, then it slides down and the pain is gone.
Last night (I had not consumed alcohol, but had a bottle of wine the night before), it was really bad and I even had to gag several times. But no vomiting and no nausea.
It was a piece of fish (salmon), which was relatively dry.
This morning, I have (which I never had before) a kind of "sore muscles" in my stomach.
Maybe from the cramping or gagging?
In any case, I am now really afraid that this obstruction could result from a narrowed passage. Of course, I am thinking of a tumor.
I know that only an endoscopy can provide a diagnosis, but I am so panicked and wanted to know first if such symptoms could also indicate reflux leading to this disorder.
Or due to my psychological problems.
Maybe I am not chewing properly or am distracted while eating (I often watch TV or eat in the car on business trips).
If it were really a tumor, shouldn't it also hurt "outside of eating"?
And if I had had it for 4 years, there should be other symptoms as well, right? (Weight loss)
On the contrary, I am severely overweight. Even more so in the past year, with an additional 20kg (88kg at 1.70m).
I hope you can enlighten me a bit so that I do not have to have such terrible panic anymore.
