I saw a physio the other day who wanted to go through all my records for the local Community Neuro Team, things like symptoms, drugs, etc, etc. Whenever I have to go through all of this stuff (when was your MS diagnosed, blah, blah, blah?) I wish I’d written a cheat sheet to keep updated and just hand out to each new doctor, but whatever, I didn’t.
One of his questions though was about swallowing. I told him that I have times when I have a little trouble swallowing, usually big fat supplement pills (why are some of them so huge?) but often just on water. Rarely on wine!
He said that you’re more likely to choke / have trouble swallowing water because of its low viscosity. The trick is to tilt your head down when swallowing water. That way the air conduit is closed up and it’s easier to swallow. This is why some people end up having to put an additive in water to make it thicker, or more viscous. (He also suggested I take big fat pills with yoghurt rather than water.)
I never thought drinking water was something that I’d have to learn at the age of nearly 50. But I thought it might be interesting for others.
I found some time back that the only way I could get my pills down was with yogurt and if my swallowing is particularly problematic as it is at times I find using a straw for drinks helps me.
I have no problem with wine, I was almost at the point of giving up water and sticking to fine wines. But my damned OH insisted I ask the question. Anyone would think he didn’t want to finance my drinking only vintage wines from the posh wine shop!! Ridiculous.
I have no problem drinking any fluids, but i get told of by one of my nurses has told me off for not having enough fluid intake, my problem came with having to wake at night for the toilet constantly or stopping on long journeys, Now ive increased my intake I actually do go less.
I may try that advice. I sometimes have difficulty swallowing both water and tea. (I don’t think I have trouble with coffee but I don’t drink it that often.) Sometimes I take a normal mouthful and then can’t swallow it. There are other times when I know I won’t be able to swallow a mouthful even as I start to drink, so I have to sip the liquid.
The other thing I have trouble with is tablets. I’m OK with most capsules and caplets, even the omega-3 supplements, which are huge. It’s round tablets that I can’t swallow whole, so I use a pill cutter.
Why is it that I have problems swallowing some time and not others? I have no difficulty swallowing food, although I sometimes wish I had trouble swallowing biscuits, cakes and chocolate. I’d lose weight more quickly that way.