Bulbar Anxiety - Back Again after 3 Years!

[naptowntwitcher]

I can't believe I"m back on this site after over 3 years! I thought I was reformed! Alas, anxiety is starting to creep up again but my story is a bit more complex. I was first on this site when in April 2011, in my 3rd trimester of pregnancy with my son. Started off with twitching which is what brought me here but learned quickly that this was no biggie. But then I started getting bulbar symptoms specifically around swallowing - feeling like food was not going down my throat, sinus issues after eating/drinking. I went to numerous docs who ran the tests they could to a pregnant person but until I had the baby they couldn't do a barium swallow which was the test I needed. I was convinced I was dying of the dreaded *** and had a horrible last couple of months of pregnancy.

Once I had my son, the docs took me to get the barrium swallow. It actually showed I wasn't crazy - I had "esophogeal immotility" which just means that my espoghagus wasn't moving food down as quickly as it should. They chalked it up to "weird pregnancy hormones" and told me if it didn't improve to check back. Well I'm not sure if esophogeal immotility is normally a presenting issue of *** (swallowing issues I've heard about on here generally are first related to the tongue and moving food/liquids down your throat) but when you Google it *** is one potential cause. This freaked me out for sure but I was gradually improving and from what I learned about *** it does NOT improve over time which was very reassuring. Months went by and eventually I was fine and happy and sane!

I even went through my second pregnancy with no issues! Until 3 months after my baby girl was born which was about June 2014...I started getting the same swallowing issues - started with eating food and feeling like it was getting stuck (same sensation as before) and occasionally the sinus issues (feeling like food/liquid is going up first before going down). Since I had this before I didn't freak out since I knew I wouldn't choke. I also figured this wasn't ALS since to my knowledge it doesn't go away and then come back. But I also figured it would go away..but it hasn't. Oddly the food seems to be going down just fine again but the feeling like it's going the wrong way has gotten worse esp. w. liquids. So my question: since I've had this before and it went away, this would NOT be ALS right? I've heard major hormonal changes (pregnancy, childbirth) can trigger an autoimmune flare up which technically ALS is...so that's my concern. Could it come back after three years? At this point I'm fairly sure I have some sort of autoimmune disease & have told myself I can handle anything except this horrible disease. In desperate need of a sanity check! HELP!!

[LKP1231]

That disease does not go away and come back.

[Yuliasir]

and esophagal immobility has nothing common with the bulbar onset of ALS.

at the bulbar onset problems with the swallowing are due to disruption of swallowing reflex. This means that the throat closes under the pressure of food piece while normally it should be automatically open. Mobility of esophagus has nothing common with motor functions operated by UMN or LMN, it is under autonomous system operation, and practically autonomous functions are mostly left intact in ALS (at least not significantly decreased). Usually main source of esophagal spasms or decreased or increased tonus is autonomous system disfunction caused by stress. 3 months baby can drive anybody pretty crazy so be patient, this should go away. Feeling that food gets into nasal cavity rather than into throat is not uncommon (I had that in my acute fears period) and often is overesitmated.

[mwagner]

One big mistake in your post: &LS is NOT considered an autoimmune disease. Maybe in the future they'll find it is somehow, but as of right now, it is not considered one. MS is an autoimmune disease, so maybe you're confusing them. An autoimmune disease means your immune cells are attacking a certain part of your body (in MS, it's your nervous system, in something like Lupus, it can attack your organs, etc.).

The fact that it went away and came back, almost ensures this is completely unrelated to your twitching. Possibly something autoimmune, since it's coming and going - but I wouldn't worry about that either. If pregnancy caused it the first time with strange hormonal fluctations, it could be hormone related. You should see a rheumatologist if you're afraid of having something autoimmune.

[German2]

I had strong swallowing issue last summer. I could not even drink any longer and went to hospital to get infusion 4 days long..At first they were telling me it is all from my mind. But after a half year later they diagnosed my with hashimoto, which is an autoimmune desease. And this can happen also after pregnancy because it has to do with hormones. But of course this can happen too, with other AI deseases and also with Polineuropathie (which I might also have). So this would all be a better explanation for your problems. For me it just came back for a few days, but I knew it would go away..And it did. First time this happened to me, I went often to the ER. I had a special swallowing test...all negative.