Anyone have this happen to them?

I have now had this happen twice in 18 years...anyone else?

In both instances, I was drinking a carbonated beverage. I took a drink and when swallowing, my esophogas spasmed and locked. It was accompanied by rather intense pain from the esophogas area then I began exhibiting symptoms of shock...light headed, immediate and heavy sweating and clammy skin, then passing out (although tonight I recognized it and told wife to lay me down).

As soon as I layed down and got blood back to my brain, I recovered within 4-5 minutes...completely with no after effects whatsoever.

The first time, my doctor told me it was a psychosomatic reaction.

Any one else experience anything like this?

Eep! Sounds scary! Nothing like that has happened to me.

I've drank stuff before and it felt like it went down the wrong tube, but nothing so severe, (as you described.) I've also had pretty bad air bubbles stick in my chest, like when I hiccup, it hurts pretty bad but it normally only last about 1/2 a min.

something like that happens to me but i don't have those symptoms just that i can't breath for a few seconds.

you nearly passed out right up my alley sounds like good ol' "vasovagal reaction" -- google it up. Your doc was probably right -- it's a reaction to pain and/or fear causing loss of blood in the head, profuse sweating, and brief loss of conciousness. It's frightening if you don't know what is happening, which makes it worse.. put your head between your legs and take a couple deep breaths.. Happened to me when I broke my foot, and I wrote about it in this forum just a few weeks ago; see "EXTRAY! TTL falls in ravine.."
see what happens when you don't keep up with me? :thumbsup:

esophageal spasm can result from a hot or cold drink.

I ran across that when I Googled TTL's vasovagal reaction.

So, Magic, maybe you had an esophageal spasm resulting from a cold drink then had a vasovagal reaction to the intense pain.

A couple of months ago I had a minor surgery with no local done by a Dr. that I'm sure was practicing back in the 19th century. Really painful but I've experienced worse pain.

Get done. Paying out to the receptionist and she asked if I was OK. Said I looked chalky and I was just sweating all over myself. Was determined to get out of that office. Did. Felt faint and confused. Had to get directions out of the hospital after not being able to find the ground floor (you know, 1st flr, Main flr, Grnd flr. Which is which?).

At the pharmacy trying to purchase bandage material (wonderful doctor, eh?) I had to tell them I just couldn't concentrate well so let me tell you what I need, you bag some stuff up and let me get out of here. The good pharmacist (He was good) told me if I felt faint I better have a seat. I declined. He then told me to take two aspirin and lie down in a cool environment. I did. Fell asleep after a few minutes. Woke up an hour later with no pain, feeling fine.

Rather unnerving experience.

Vagus nerveA definition:

Cranial nerve, that is, a nerve connected to the brain. The vagus nerve has branches to most of the major organs in the body, including the larynx, throat, windpipe, lungs, heart, and most of the digestive system.

I avoid carbonated beverages....magic79, that sounds dangerous....another reason not to drink and drive!

have you ever been eating a toffey, and laughed.

and some of the liquid as went down the wrong way into your lungs as it sticks to your tubes and will not move as you try and cough it up.

It hurts so much, you wish you were dead.

regards.

I've had the "when swallowing, my esophogas spasmed and locked" part but no pass'n out.

TedTheLed said:

you nearly passed out right up my alley sounds like good ol' "vasovagal reaction" -- google it up. Your doc was probably right -- it's a reaction to pain and/or fear causing loss of blood in the head, profuse sweating, and brief loss of conciousness. It's frightening if you don't know what is happening, which makes it worse.. put your head between your legs and take a couple deep breaths.. Happened to me when I broke my foot, and I wrote about it in this forum just a few weeks ago; see "EXTRAY! TTL falls in ravine.."
see what happens when you don't keep up with me? :thumbsup:

Click to expand...

BINGO!:twothumbs
TTL...you hit the nail on the head. That's exactly what happened (minus the nausea...thankfully since I was in a restaurant). This morning, I realized from recalling an incident in high school, that putting my head between my legs and pushing would have put the blood back in my head too. But fortunately, it was a Japanese restaurant where I know the owners and they had me lie down in a tatami room. 5 minutes, I was back to normal and hungry again!

THANKS EVERYONE!

magic79 said:

I took a drink and when swallowing, my esophogas spasmed and locked. It was accompanied by rather intense pain from the esophogas area then I began exhibiting symptoms of shock...light headed, immediate and heavy sweating and clammy skin, then passing out (although tonight I recognized it and told wife to lay me down).

Click to expand...

I have experienced something similar on a few occasions, but never to a stage where I felt like I was going to pass out... Last time it happened it felt like someone hit me in the chest with a large sledgehammer... Concentrate on breathing for a few minutes and I was fine again.... Al occasions I was drinking a fairly cold carbonated drink in a warm environment.

Something similar used to happen to me regularly, mostly with solid food but occasionally with carbonated drinks. It turned out to be a swallowing problem caused by acid reflux. Proton inhibitors cured it (Prilosec, Prevacid, Protonix, etc.). It sometimes gave me a passable imitation of a heart attack. It's a good idea to get things like that checked out when it happens. Most of the time it's not serious, but the serious possibilities are extremely serious.
--Walter (aka snowleopard)

seems to be the larnyx that spasms when it gets splashed with liquid; it thinks it's drowning and tries to shut off the air passageway to the lungs..
can happen even if it's just saliva going 'down the wrong tube' --

Wow. That's a heck of a scary experience. Sometimes my body forgets to breathe when I'm halfway between sleep and consciousness but it doesn't really bother me.

snowleopard said:

Something similar used to happen to me regularly, mostly with solid food but occasionally with carbonated drinks. It turned out to be a swallowing problem caused by acid reflux. Proton inhibitors cured it (Prilosec, Prevacid, Protonix, etc.). It sometimes gave me a passable imitation of a heart attack. It's a good idea to get things like that checked out when it happens. Most of the time it's not serious, but the serious possibilities are extremely serious.
--Walter (aka snowleopard)

Click to expand...

Yes, I've had bouts of acid reflux too...it seems to come and go. I've taken Protonix off and on as the reflux comes and goes.

And yes, my wife has taken me to the hospital twice thinking I was having a heart attack!

I has suspected that the two were related.

Thanks for all the input folks. I figured I could count on you folks for some good input.