I have started to choke spontaneously on my own saliva. Anyone else?

Posted by chinasvegas @chinasvegas, Apr 19, 2022

I’m a 75 year old female take no medication and have had no diagnosis. Lately I’m chocking on my own saliva occasionally. The kind of chocking that used to happen only when liquid goes down the wrong way. Now it seems that I spontaneously choke on my own saliva. Anyone have this experience?

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Yes. After having Covid last year, I am having bouts of thick sticky saliva that I get choked on at night. I have been to my Primary, ENT, Dentist, Infectious Disease Doctor & Dermatologist. Culture of mouth came back normal. My B12 was low and injections helped greatly with metallic taste in mouth. I have to scrape my tongue several times a day to get rid of the saliva and I spit all day long. I got off sugar and keep myself hydrated. Terrible breath with this and so self conscious of it. I pray you get better. God bless you.

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I've been doing that! Causes a horrible gag reflex. Sometimes it feels like my natural swallowing on just saliva is impossible, especially at bedtime. Also noticed that I can't swallow ground hamburger, turkey , rice etc anymore without having choking and having to bring it back up and spit out. 56ish female. Not overweight.

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@waves

I've been doing that! Causes a horrible gag reflex. Sometimes it feels like my natural swallowing on just saliva is impossible, especially at bedtime. Also noticed that I can't swallow ground hamburger, turkey , rice etc anymore without having choking and having to bring it back up and spit out. 56ish female. Not overweight.

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Had covid 2 years ago.

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@callalloo

I just looked up the water brash that I referred to, associated with GERD and other GI tract malfunctions and one symptom is a feeling as if one has a lump in one's throat. That could trigger a swallowing and/or cough reaction.

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Oh wow! Should I look up gerd? My friend has similar problems too. My Mom and friend needed their esophagus stretched. I don't want to have to do that especially because when my Mom was having hers done the doctor poked a hole in her esophagus!! Scary

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Thanks for your sharing. Most recently after testing and diagnosis it appears that in older people the flap that covers the tube that sometimes opens and causes spit and liquids to go down the wrong way is simply ‘weakened’ over time. I did 6 weeks of swallow therapy and it helped a bit. Insurance did cover testing and therapy 100%. I have Medicare and TriCare.

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Difficulty swallowing and choking is often one of the first signs of Myasthenia Gravis (MG). Other signs, which usually do not occur all at once. Often a droopy eyelid, blurry or double vision is the first symptom but not for all with MG. Other symptoms of MG are: choking and difficulty swallowing, limited facial expressions (looking like a sneer or angry), weakness in neck, arms & legs, slurred speech. Gradually, I had ALL of these symptoms. I dismissed all except slurred speech as 'old age' as I was 75 when I was diagnosed with MG. Many doctors, even specialists in the above neurological fields DO NOT HAVE A CLUE ABOUT MG! I went to an ENT specialist for my speech. He said that I would need a palette surgery but at my age, it would NOT be recommended! Thankfully, I went to my PCP who wanted to rule out mini stroke although he really felt that was not the problem. At the hospital, after eliminating all obvious causes of my symptoms, the hospital staff neurologist new slurred speech was a symptom of MG, put all the pieces together, did the Tensilon test (drug into IV line) and within seconds after my voice started to slur, I could speak NORMALLY! He smiled and said 'you have Myasthenia Gravis'. He 'double confirmed' with the blood test for the ACHr antibodies. Yes, normal ACHr count is 25 or below. My count was 49! It took me TWO YEARS to find a neurologist who KNEW how to effectively treat MG! My MG was stabilized, I started a MG support group and am a fervent advocate of MG education!!

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@kay56

Difficulty swallowing and choking is often one of the first signs of Myasthenia Gravis (MG). Other signs, which usually do not occur all at once. Often a droopy eyelid, blurry or double vision is the first symptom but not for all with MG. Other symptoms of MG are: choking and difficulty swallowing, limited facial expressions (looking like a sneer or angry), weakness in neck, arms & legs, slurred speech. Gradually, I had ALL of these symptoms. I dismissed all except slurred speech as 'old age' as I was 75 when I was diagnosed with MG. Many doctors, even specialists in the above neurological fields DO NOT HAVE A CLUE ABOUT MG! I went to an ENT specialist for my speech. He said that I would need a palette surgery but at my age, it would NOT be recommended! Thankfully, I went to my PCP who wanted to rule out mini stroke although he really felt that was not the problem. At the hospital, after eliminating all obvious causes of my symptoms, the hospital staff neurologist new slurred speech was a symptom of MG, put all the pieces together, did the Tensilon test (drug into IV line) and within seconds after my voice started to slur, I could speak NORMALLY! He smiled and said 'you have Myasthenia Gravis'. He 'double confirmed' with the blood test for the ACHr antibodies. Yes, normal ACHr count is 25 or below. My count was 49! It took me TWO YEARS to find a neurologist who KNEW how to effectively treat MG! My MG was stabilized, I started a MG support group and am a fervent advocate of MG education!!

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Kudos to you for your perseverance. You have likely helped many others who may have the same condition and were unable to get the correct diagnosis.
You continue to advocate by starting up an MG support
group.

Thank you for sharing your experience.

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@kay56

Difficulty swallowing and choking is often one of the first signs of Myasthenia Gravis (MG). Other signs, which usually do not occur all at once. Often a droopy eyelid, blurry or double vision is the first symptom but not for all with MG. Other symptoms of MG are: choking and difficulty swallowing, limited facial expressions (looking like a sneer or angry), weakness in neck, arms & legs, slurred speech. Gradually, I had ALL of these symptoms. I dismissed all except slurred speech as 'old age' as I was 75 when I was diagnosed with MG. Many doctors, even specialists in the above neurological fields DO NOT HAVE A CLUE ABOUT MG! I went to an ENT specialist for my speech. He said that I would need a palette surgery but at my age, it would NOT be recommended! Thankfully, I went to my PCP who wanted to rule out mini stroke although he really felt that was not the problem. At the hospital, after eliminating all obvious causes of my symptoms, the hospital staff neurologist new slurred speech was a symptom of MG, put all the pieces together, did the Tensilon test (drug into IV line) and within seconds after my voice started to slur, I could speak NORMALLY! He smiled and said 'you have Myasthenia Gravis'. He 'double confirmed' with the blood test for the ACHr antibodies. Yes, normal ACHr count is 25 or below. My count was 49! It took me TWO YEARS to find a neurologist who KNEW how to effectively treat MG! My MG was stabilized, I started a MG support group and am a fervent advocate of MG education!!

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Guess who gets to spend all that money on missed/mis/under-diagnoses from many of the so-called specialists?

We do.

It's all just part of the scam to bankrupt the average Joe who has medical problems (virtually everybody, as they age off of Planet Earth).

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I started waking up choking and having little mini throw-ups.

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@maddiemae

I started waking up choking and having little mini throw-ups.

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It sounds like you have back-up reflux. Have you had a gastroenterologist doctor check you out? Blessings & Prayers.....

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