Feels like something is stuck in my lower esophagus

Oh yes -- severe pains for over a week from this.  finally went to the er on monday -- was told i have a severe stricture after a swallow test.  after another week of pain -- the gi is going to see me tomorrow for an endoscope and hopefully a dilation to open my esophagus back up.  i haven't eaten in days and just found out about this doxy warning.  i have been taking it throughout this entire mess.  praying that it hasn't caused severe damage!!!

since i was in second grade, i've had difficulties with certain foods, pills, and even liquids that would cause my esophagus to clench up and cause a blockage (or the stuck feeling). i don't have acid reflux, i have an esophageal stricture. my esophagus is about half the size it should be, even though i have gone through outpatient procedures to attempt to widen it. my suggestion to you is to talk to your physician and see if it's a good idea for you to have an endoscopy done, just to make sure it isn't something more than reflux. also, crushing pills saved my life! invest in a pill crusher, they're cheap and wonderful. good luck with everything!

I too took Doxyxycline about two years ago and I was too sick to not lay down. I started to have trouble breathing 3 days after taking it. I have never had trouble breathing. Then my gallbladder was bad so they took out my Gallbladder a few weeks later and every since then I have had this issue with my breathing in my diaphragm area. I feel like my breathing is labored and I have trouble when I go to swallow like it isn't opening like it should then the next try to swallow is fine. The discomfort feels like there is something like a knot or a ball rolling around my diaphragm area in between my breasts. I even wonder if I have parasites. I went to a lung specialist a few weeks ago and he said I def have reflux.  He put me on Protonix 40mg twice a day. A high dose cause he says my voice box is burned as well and all needs to heal. I too feel like there is something else that is not being diagnosed. I have never been sick in my life. But this is taking my life from me.  I get so weak when this is going on. For the past two days it has gotten worse and non stop.  Help there has got to be a reason this is happening and something to stop it. 

I just found this forum when researching my pain.  I am also taking doxycycline.  I took one pill just before bed last night, and woke up 5 hours later in panic.  I thought I was choking to death and scrambled to the kitchen to drink as much as I could. It felt like the pill was lodged in my throat, or I was having a heart attack.. eventually the pain and panic lessened as I was coaxed back to sleep.  I awoke this morning still with a faint "lodged pill" sensation, and it has remained all day.  I think, perhaps, that the pill had not cleared my esophagus before I laid down for bed, thus making it dissolve on my throat tissues.  I did some research after reading some posts on here, and I am going to diagnosis it as "Corrosive Esophagitis"  Look it up.. see if it helps you any.  And call your Doctor if it persists.  Hopefully, it won't though :/

Today I took medication for flu; antibiotics, paracetamol and flu medication. Had a banana right before, went to bed after. Woke up 2 hours later and had porridge. That's when I had to stop eating because of the sensation that the food was stuck in my chest, right below my breastbone. Hence I found this site. It was hard to swallow my saliva even and it felt like my phlegm was just piling on on top of the lump. About an hour later though, I burped a few times and slowly it feels like the lump is going down because the pain is lessening. I hope this gives some f you hope, it might not be as bad as it seems, it might just disappear after an hour or so!

Hey, I just wanted to say that I am also taking Doxycycline, and I'm having the same feeling of something stuck in my throat, and I'm going to ask a doctor about it today. Thanks--

I personally wuld go to yur GI doctor and let them schedule you for a EGD it is a tube they insert with a camera that goes down your throat and you will not even know it and they take pictures. you will be asleep.

Ok, everyone is coming up with all sorts of reasons.  I was on Doxycycline for exactly 5 days. The first few days I had a dull pain in my throat and thought I might be getting sick.  By the 5th day the pain was SOOOOOOOO bad i had a headache.  It felt like a tumor was growing in the lymph nodes of my neck.  I happened to glance at the prescription info and saw it said to contact your doctor if you are having pain/difficulty swallowing......I did.  She had me come in and said this antibiotic has a tendency to get stuck in the throat and erode the esophagus.  This is why it hurts.  While the internet is great and I by no means fully trust doctors you should consult your doctor before listening to other people who know nothing about medicine and/or science.  I saw several other forums where someone had the same problem and people replied that there was no way it was the pill in the throat.  THEY ARE WRONG!!!

What was the surgery? You should have an endoscopy. That will definitely find out what is wrong. If you had a breathing tube put in your throat, that could cause irritation. If none of this helps, ask a gastroenterologist to put a Bravo Probe on the wall of your esophogus. This will help figure out what is wrong. I have had all of this done, and my doctors know what is wrong with me, so I highly reccomend this.

My doctor did the EGD and found gastritis and mild esophagits, but he said that everthyng else looked fine, and that the medicine should take care of it. But not being able to take medicine it's very hard and wanted to know what other people are doing. I'm trying now pepcid to see how much I can tolerate it. The insomnia, headaches, stomach cramps, dry eyes,and anxiety from the PPIs are unbearable. Anybody had troubles with the ppis?

All of the symptoms you are describing are just normal side-effects from the PPI. If the symptoms are unbareable, talk to your doctor. He/She will provide you with information. I hope you get better. :)

Yes. I have been on PPIs for 15 years- daily. GERDs ran in my family, my father had it so bad hhe had to have his esophagus stretched every months and often couldn't swallow things like turkey. When I started getting heartburn, he said, "YOu have to take care of this or you'll end up like me!" So I went on the PPIs when I was 24. Within one year, I had gained 40 pounds, had insomnia, constant migraines, dry mouth, dry eyes- but I never associated any of it with my PPI meds. I took everything over the years (prescribed by doc) from Prilosex, Nexium, Omeprazole with the Sodium Bicab was the most recent. I have had two upper endoscopies with no evidence of stricture or damage to the esophagus. Over the last 6 months, I started waking up in the night with a mouth full of acid, coughing for two or more hours after from the burn on my throat and in my mouth. I had a chronic cough. I had so many health problems that I started researching the PPIs online.


I had no idea that the "other things" wrong with me (dry eyes, insomnia, anxiety through the roof, then, recently, severe IBS-C, bloating, weight gain) all of it was from the PPIs. I went off them cold turkey in the middle of January. At first I was absolutely thrilled. I lost 10 pounds and 2 inches off my waist. I had energy. The IBS was *gone*. I suffered through "normal" heartburn, while I lost weight, felt great in every way except the heartburn. The heartburn was not at all what I was having while on the PPI- while on the PPI I had acid in my mouth and upper throat- stomach acid tasting stuff. You know that horrible vomit taste. (Sorry to be gross.) It was what I guess regular people have when they have heartburn- an actual burning sensation in my lower esophagus and up to where I swallow.


I have tried everything. I tried Deglyccerized Licorice chews, d-Limonene, Apple Cider Vinegar. I've changed my diet. I eat half as much, or less, food than I used to. I no longer have strong crazy food cravings. But the heartburn is worse. I now have chest pain where I understand how people can end up in the ER like they are having a heart attack. I also have the feeling at times of a big ball coming up through my diaphragm and into my throat up to where I swallow. The ball hurts. I sometimes have shooting pains right at the bottom of my breastbone. I started taking chewable antacids- the kind with the h2-histamine whatever it is. Chewable pepcid. But those make me absolutely sick. I feel sick in every way when I take those. Tried just taking Tums. Some days, I think, "Finally!" like today- I felt great today. I ate a very healthy meal and about an hour later, the pains started again. I'm pretty despondent at this point. Suffer like this or suffer with all the other stuff again? I think I need another endo to see if damage has occurred from stopping the PPI and then to see if the pain in swallowing/pain of the "ball" moving up my throat, is stricture.


So, if you are new to the PPIs, you have to weigh the pros and cons for yourself. I am likely either going to go back on them, or try to have surgery to repair my esophageal sphincter. I will tell you this- I am NOT taking any new drugs without thoroughly researching them. "Normal Side Effects" are not acceptable to me when they interfere with my health and happiness. It's absolutely ridiculous to say it is ok to experience an illness because it is caused by a drug that you are taking to deal with the symptoms of another illness. I can't help but wonder if I had just done more natural things when I was 24, I wouldn't be writing this today.

i also i have the same experience with doxycyline, i took it wit little water and went straight to bed and the next day i felt like something was stucked in my throat, i couldn't swallow my own salaiva, it's been so miserable swallowing anything, does anyone know what to do, it really hurts

I have the same thing with the same medication, im worried its doing permanent damage to my stomach, but is needed because of my acne type ugh life sucks