Question: Question from Rusda Cloete

Hi, Doctor. I had two babies a year apart. Soon after the birth of my second baby, I had trouble swallowing food. I would try to swallow but my throat would push it back into my mouth. It has gotten progressively worse to the point that I'm now almost exclusively on a liquid diet (smoothies, soups) and chocolate/anything really soft which dissolves in the mouth). I've been to several doctors and specialist without much help. I've done a barium swallow but the machine broke down midway through and I ended up swallowing the gross liquid many times which made me nauseous and impacted on the results I think. The tests showed that the liquid went down the throat without much trouble but it came back up briefly after I swallowed. I think it was because I had consumed so much and got nauseous. I've been to an ENT specialist but he doesn't see anything wrong with my throat. It feels like I have no control over my throat muscles when I swallow. Maybe it's weak, I don't know. I had C-sections and epidurals with both babies. I have had a choking incident when I was younger. I'm wondering if these factors are the cause. I'm not sure whether it's psychological or medical anymore. I really don't think I have GERD or acid reflux because I can't even manage to swallow food, it doesn't get past the first point of entry and I don't have the symptoms for any of those. I don't feel any pain when swallowing. What can the cause be? Please help.