For anyone having trouble swallowing, I'd highly recommend trying to find a doctor who will help you with self dilation therapy (ESDT). I had my throat dilated 4x with an OR procedure, it only lasted about a month before starting to close back up, and I was miserable until going back to have it done again.
I bought a Maloney dilator on eBay (48 French diameter, which is 16mm), tried to do it myself after watching a YouTube video, and couldn't get it down more than about 6 inches, which didn't help. My regular GI doctor said he couldn't help me: he works for a for-profit hospital, and they make around $11K every time they do this 15-minute procedure, so of course they aren't anxious to help. He referred me to a U of L GI doctor who also said he doesn't do ESDT but referred me to another U of L GI doctor who did help patients learn this.
It's been a game changer for me. It was taking up to 90 minutes for me to eat a regular meal because I had to chew everything so long to avoid choking, I lost a bunch of weight because eating was so challenging, had to warm food up 2-3 times while eating, etc. It was awful.
Now I slide this 25" rubber thing down my throat every morning. It takes maybe 15 seconds, wash it when done, and I have no more eating or swallowing problems. There are several videos on YouTube if you want to see people actually doing it. The hardest part is finding a doctor who will guide you through doing it. First they will do a dilation (sometimes they call it dilitation) with a scope, while you're under, to take some pictures, dilate your throat wider than the device you're going to use yourself (my Dr dilated me to 20mm, my device is 16mm), then bring you back in and show you how to use your device (doctor does it to you while awake), then ask you to do it to yourself right after they do it.
It sounds awful to some people, but compared to going into the hospital every 6 months for a 15-minute procedure that actually takes 3-4 hours by the time you get through all the prep / recovery, and only lasts a few weeks before problems start recurring, ESDT is a fantastic alternative. My doctor did recommend I take a PPI, but I've read a few bad things about them, never started them, and don't feel like they are necessary for me. He also advised to do the procedure every week, but for me, it's easier to do it every day rather than struggle with it sometimes if I wait too long.
I bought a Maloney dilator on eBay (48 French diameter, which is 16mm), tried to do it myself after watching a YouTube video, and couldn't get it down more than about 6 inches, which didn't help. My regular GI doctor said he couldn't help me: he works for a for-profit hospital, and they make around $11K every time they do this 15-minute procedure, so of course they aren't anxious to help. He referred me to a U of L GI doctor who also said he doesn't do ESDT but referred me to another U of L GI doctor who did help patients learn this.
It's been a game changer for me. It was taking up to 90 minutes for me to eat a regular meal because I had to chew everything so long to avoid choking, I lost a bunch of weight because eating was so challenging, had to warm food up 2-3 times while eating, etc. It was awful.
Now I slide this 25" rubber thing down my throat every morning. It takes maybe 15 seconds, wash it when done, and I have no more eating or swallowing problems. There are several videos on YouTube if you want to see people actually doing it. The hardest part is finding a doctor who will guide you through doing it. First they will do a dilation (sometimes they call it dilitation) with a scope, while you're under, to take some pictures, dilate your throat wider than the device you're going to use yourself (my Dr dilated me to 20mm, my device is 16mm), then bring you back in and show you how to use your device (doctor does it to you while awake), then ask you to do it to yourself right after they do it.
It sounds awful to some people, but compared to going into the hospital every 6 months for a 15-minute procedure that actually takes 3-4 hours by the time you get through all the prep / recovery, and only lasts a few weeks before problems start recurring, ESDT is a fantastic alternative. My doctor did recommend I take a PPI, but I've read a few bad things about them, never started them, and don't feel like they are necessary for me. He also advised to do the procedure every week, but for me, it's easier to do it every day rather than struggle with it sometimes if I wait too long.