Swallowing

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Every once in a while, I'll find myself thrashing from side to side in order to aid in swallowing. I think it usually happens when I've already eaten too much.

A friend recently saw this and thought I was having a seizure, but doing this seems to completely negate any choking sensation.

Autism Diva - I'm so glad I'm not the only one who does that!! I often have things 'go down the wrong pipe' and it's awful - I'm not quite choking because a little air can get through, but not much, so I spend ages coughing... trying to not look to obvious in public is so bad, you can't help but wheeze and splutter and draw attention... oh dear.

I occasionally have trouble swallowing. My problem is reflux and esophageal spasms.

Me too - dry white rice is another that causes problems and meat.

Yeah, I've never seen my life flash before my eyes, but sometimes I wonder how bad it could get. I can't imagine it's really good for the lungs... do your eyes get all watery when this happens? That's the other embarrassing thing is I'm cough, cough , coughing and wiping away buckets of tears.

My (grown) ASD kid won't eat steak. Over time chicken became more doable and hamburger is fine. But s/he choked on meat as a young child and won't "go there" again with steak.

There's a weird thing called Sandifer's syndrome that looks like stereotypical behavior or maybe like a seizure, but apparently it is more caused by pain from reflux than what you describe...

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/410654_3

I saw a video of a girl who was autistic and had reflux. She couldn't communicate well enough to tell people her stomach/throat burned, or whatever it was. Her movements didn't make sense to me, though. They had several clips of her doing this odd gyration, but for part of it she was bending over which would (seems to me) make the reflux worse. Anyway, apparently when they treated the reflux she stopped doing the movements (which included putting one arm up over her head).

Haha yes... I tend to bend down and 'look for something in my handbag' or 'tie my shoelace' or something so I'm at least a little bit less visible while I try to regain my composure. At least my bf knows to just get me water whenever it happens and not to laugh too loudly.

I have thrashed around too and have a really bad time swallowing anything dry. So I drink a lot whilst eating, but I can lock on water too.

And it os a real P.I.T.A to tell your body what to do and hav e it refuse! Geez!

I think my computer has choked on liquid more than I have (it got a nice big drink back in November ). The only reason I would ever gag on anything as a little kid was because I just put way too much food in my mouth XD

I have to have drinks on hand when I eat because of this dilemma.

I tend to drink lots whilst eating - but I can lock on water as well. Once the blockage is there - nothing goes down. Water comes straight back up.

No, I cannot administer Heimlich maneuver to self. I do have that problem where throat closes up while I'm eating & I freak out. Often due to "bad bite" of food-for instance, meat with a piece that doesn't chew up but instead is rubbery or hard. I freeze & my stomach lurches, takes several (seems very long !) seconds to unclench jaw & pry open my own mouth.
Have learned (from reading, and my experiences doesn't contradict this) that slightly lowering one's head-with chin pointed down, rather than tipping head back, helps food go down. I almost never throw up (haven't in the past 7 yrs. or so-and before that it was only from being drunk or being "legitimately" ill/sick), I just frequently feel like I'm going to.

I love thick pastries, such as cofee cakes & brownies-but they tend to get stuck in my throat. Then I can't breathe for a few seconds, so I just have to sit & wait for the food to slide down-I get scared, but refuse to give up eating those yummy items. Pills are quite tough to swallow-they land on my tonsils or linger in my throat. Assuming pill is small enough, I put it in a spoonful of yogurt & am able to take it that way.

Have major food/eating issues, sensory stuff-but not so serious that I need medical intervention. I don't have significant reflux problems, thankfully-when I've heartburn, I chew a cherry Rolaids & then am fine. As child, had heartburn (or painful, nauseating hunger pangs) many mornings-but never knew what those sensations were, so I just had to silently suffer.

My uncle has CP (and related swallowing, acid reflux, and ulcer problems) and I've many traumatic memories of him throwing up at dinner table, it's not nice for me to say this but it's true-vomitting totally grosses me out, regardless of who is doing it (and despite knowing it's involuntary physical reaction, not his fault).

Believe one type of swallowing problem is called achalasia-(random tidbit I recall researching).