funny... (not funny 'haha', like 'isn't life funny') kelly at rawarrior just posted something about this today...

rawarrior.com/the-cricoarytenoid-joint-and-rheumatoid-disease/

but yes, RA can affect stuff in the throat.

Sally has posted about, for lack of remembering the correct term, esophageal incompetence associated with RA. Maybe she will be along with better information. Until then, yeah, I think it comes with. Oh, joy- what next?

I saw her post just now:)
Weird. I don't have a rough throat so to speak, or most the other symptoms so I wasn't sure if I could still classify it as this....but I suppose it very well could be.

It might be RA but I have never had that kind of problem.....Were you taking any meds at the time you first noticed it??? it could be you are having an allergic reaction to the meds. LIke your throat swelling?? I took Lantas insulin for 5 years and then one night my throat swelled and had been for awhile ... Dr gave me one of those shots and within minutes the swelling went down so dr had to change me to another brand of insulin and all was fine. I suggest you call and talk to your Dr...

My docs office never returns my calls, do I have to call three times to reach an answer. Also, she's leaving Friday and will be gone until march. I choked the day before the plaquenil, have been on prednisone nonstop since September 30, and the choking st dinners been going on for a while now so I don't *think* it's allergy. It isn't all day every day. Thx for the help you all. I will definitely talk to her come march, and call the staff before if it becomes worse.

lionprincess, i've just added this stuff to my cheat sheet for my rheumy appointment today. what you describe about feeling like you're choking on saliva, i've had that happen occasionally for years. i haven't felt like i'm going to choke on food though. even right now, it feels like there's a bit of a lump in my throat. it comes and goes; might last for a few hours and then subsides.

kelly lists the following as possible symptoms:
Hoarseness / laryngitis
Painful swallowing (odynophagia)
Feeling of a foreign object / lump in the throat (globus pharyngeus)
Sore throat
Cough
Difficulty breathing (dyspnea)
Change in sound or tone of voice (dysphonia)
Loss of voice (aphonia)
Pain during speaking
Pain during swallowing (dysphagia)
Choking sensation
Stridor (high pitched sound caused by difficulty breathing)

it's hard, because things like 'coughing' or 'hoarseness' or 'loss of voice' could occur for SO MANY other reasons. because we have RA, i think it's something we should take note of. is it definitely caused by RA? maybe not - but it could be.

They had suggested for my mother to use this stuff in her drinks and her food which thicken it-helps with choking I guess

thanks Sally and all

i read all the posts.

have this and have had it in a big way. my daughter had the ear/nose/throat procedure admission as a child for the acid monitoring cord down the throat to measure throat acid. adults can do it at home. 24 hours of data returned to a computer. for anyone that thinks it is also/additional throat acid. that was a handy test for her. Told us everything we need to know objectively about her throat acid. she was a huge throat clearer.

i had it before the spine surgery. i have it now. i would say being a vegan is my friend as most everything I eat has a wet and slide consistency. chewing is not my thing.

they didn't care in the hospital they just changed the diet to "mechanically altered".

the GP would tell me to take throat acid medication.

i'll try the rheumie when I see her next month.

for now, I am the choker and feels stuck queen so I just go with a diet that minimizes that feeling. it can feel like that with liquids also. so I know this diet of mine is not full proof. i throw up a lot also.

i can not swallow pills. i crush them. if it's time released, i can't take it. i can't do lettuce greens unless they are in a blender. um, that would be (k a l e) also.

i saw the speech pathologist in the hospital, did some barium swallows. resulted in nothing.

i find this annoying having to worry about choking a lot. i realize maybe I should have gone forward with an endoscope but the thought of that from a choking standpoint....yuck. asleep or not. besides RA is enough. until you all start talking and it makes me realize that maybe it is not an additional thing.

right now i figure anything additional in this area is related to the surgery swelling itself.

i don't like the feeling so i can relate to you all. it aint dramatic and i am not laughing at you lion princess. in fact I am glad you brought it up.

today I am having squash and spuds, that look like baby food. nope not laughing at all. sometimes I would like to have something hard and crackly (looking at popcorn would make me choke - the visual that is :)

Ros

Ros, this sounds a lot like what my husband went through. He lost 60 pounds due to swallowing difficulties. Finally they did a scope and he had a esophageal stricture. They opened it up and he's been fine since. Have you thought about seeing a gastrologist?

dear Sally and Sheri

thanks SO much for your supportive input. I read both your posts and will forge ahead, when I feel stronger to address which I don't want to but i can't keep escaping. I am having applesauce and smashed peas right now :).

Lion princess i hope you took heart in some of these great responses also. I am going to put some of the stuff on an index card. I see my primary next week

hope you are all staying warm :)

Ros

Ros, I have had that as well. Went with my churning stomach. Got scoped and a colonoscopy. Internist had to dialate my esophagus to get scope through. Diagnosed me with IBS. Esophagus and stomach had inflamed lining.

Had to have esophagus dialated the next year too. Was on Nexium for it but both churning stomach and constricting esophagus continued.

Then, when my RA disappeared on the paleo diet - so did all the GI symptoms. Now I only have GI inflammation when I eat the foods that are documented allergens for me. Haven't seen the Internist for 1 1/2 years now.

Anything can irritate the GI tract. Depends on the person. Make a log of foods eaten and meds taken and when symptoms appear. Look for patterns.

thanks 2c, I don't have food allergies. and I have been tested. I did not find it easy. I did not find it covered (it was not on my insurance).

I do believe in the throat acid thing having watched my daughter as a wee one. And we did make adjustments based on what the ear nose and throat doctor gave us for a list of "no foods." Seemed to help her a little. But that was a diagnosis of throat acid.

For old Ma here, Unfortunately, drats, bummer, and drag, i can't make my RA disappear with paleo or a kale diet or south beach or weight watchers, or the vegan take of the year including all the MD"s yelling about it or all the fancy packaging about eating meat, or sugar busters, or fat busters, or a colored palette of food. I think that the marketing of target ways of eating in the United States is an industry as merciless as the advertising for biologics. Just my humble opinion.

I do think that when folks lose tremendous amounts of weight they sometimes affect their systems. but I don't understand why "diets" are given credit.

I validate your devotion to your cure through food. It must be such a drag on here to only have a few that have experienced your same experiences. I want to tell you about another board on here: natural alternatives for RA. It might be probable that there would be also dozens of folks who have had a cure for RA through food. It might be nice now and then.

For that same reason back here in real time at home I have a vegan group that I meet with now and then. It sure is nice to be with vegans in kind, now and again.

I think we all pick our poison, prednisone and antibiotics includes, but that it is so important to be kind and gentle with each other.

but that's just me. For you, I am truly happy.

If you come to my house you can't have any processed foods but you'll still eat well :).

I don't have a churning stomach and I don't have any stomach irritation. I had a perfect easy colonoscopy that was negative.

Animal makes me want to vomit immediately. I don't eat animal, and I would not be able to feed a paleo friend here. She/he would have to get their animal somewhere else then show up here. But if you want vegan food come on over. That would include no fish and no dairy of course. It also comes with a rock bottom cholesterol and low blood pressure. But I don't complain about that :)

with this newest neck surgery I am not interested in a throat scope right now.

I'll get to the bottom of it after the pneumonia is a clean bill and the neck brace is gone and I am back to working 50 hours a week. it's one thing at a time with making a living right in the running. oh yeah that's always in the running right?

Ros

I find this all so interesting. I have had acid reflux for at least 10 years. I like Sheri's husband had my esophageal stricture stretched. Been on protonix or Nexium every since. Last year I felt like I need the procedure done again but Dr said he really didn't have to stretch it that much this time. When I lay down, I get that funny tickle in my throat and want to cough. I am going to look into this more. Thanks for sharing.

On a number of occasions, I have felt like I have food stuck in my esophagus. It is really scary and I feel like it won't go down. I figured it was due to some type of internal inflammation. I have also had reflux for years and was eating a lot of tums. You are not alone.

However, like 2c, I went paleo and I didn't think it was working. But I realized my GI issues were gone and I haven't taken tums since, except when I got lazy and went off it about a week ago.

See a doc, try to play around with your diet. For me, it's been a bit of trial and error. But I'm starting to be able to clearly tell what causes throbbing and pain.

With RA, anything is possible but coming close to choking is no good. I would let my primary be aware of these episodes and maybe you need to see a GI doctor or have an endocsopy to make certain everything as far as your throat and esphagus are okay. Please keep us posted. Hopefully no more episodes. I don't reall believe the Plaquenil is doing this. Good luck and feel better.