Hi to everyone. I had a stroke 3 years ago. For the last few weeks I have some difficulty in swallowing some foods. I was wondering if this has anything to do with having had a stroke. Has anyone else experienced such problems.
Yes, this can be after a stroke. My husband has twice had this problem in the last year. He is on level 4 pureed food but before on level 6 this his soft and bite size. A Speech Therapist will help you to know what is best for you. Askyour doctor about being referred to one.
Hello Melvin,
I find that when I am tired or even slightly unwell, any or all of my stroke deficits can resurface or worsen, including my swallow - it's rarely serious but things such as peanuts can start to be difficult to swallow. It is usually temporary and resolves within a few days.
After we have a stroke, parts of our brain have to work at over 100% to perform their usual tasks and taken on some of the work of dead or damaged brain cells. This causes the fatigue we so often experience but when we are unwell or tired, they can't do this "more than 100%", so we feel like it is a setback.
I initially lost my ability to swallow when I had my stroke - it has recovered completely, apart from these odd setbacks.
If these swallowing problems are completely new or causing you to choke or other problems, seek professional medical advice - this can be serious. I developed double pneumonia from this and it very nearly killed me.
Take care now,
Damian
Thanks for your reply
Thanks for your reply
I had my stroke in July 2023. It’s now the 1st of March 2024 and I have been unable to swallow since my stroke. Having fed me up my nose for the fist 7 weeks in hospital they operated on my so that I now have liquid fed directly into my stomach via a PEG. I underwent a video fluoroscopy test in a late October which determined that my oesophageal sphincter and my epiglottis were both closed, so that I may never swallow again. I went to see a specialist ENT doctor yesterday, who told me he’d like to operate on my throat and cut into it and slit a muscle. In doing this it may not improve things and may result in my death due to the anaesthetic. I have a very weak heart. What do I do?
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Hi @PhilipS
Welcome to the forum and I’m sorry you’ve had reason to join us
The first thing to know is that very few if any of us here are medically trained and we certainly don’t give out medical advice but we do share their benefit of our wide and deep experience
If you use the magnifying glass above you can search for peg feeding and other keywords and you may find useful previous posts.
It seems to me you maybe you should be asking them to qualify what the risks and probability of benefits are.
Ciao
Simon
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