Difficulty when swallowing is the sensation that food is stuck in the throat or upper chest. This may be felt high in the neck or lower down, behind the breastbone (sternum).

Swallowing is a complex act that involves the mouth, throat area, and esophagus (the tube that moves food to the stomach). Many nerves and muscles control how these body parts work. Part of the act of swallowing is under voluntary control, which means you are aware of controlling the action. However, much of swallowing is involuntary.

Problems at any point — from chewing food and moving it into the back of the mouth to moving the food into the stomach — can result in difficulty swallowing.

Chest pain, the feeling of food stuck in the throat, or heaviness or pressure in the neck or upper chest are frequently the result of swallowing difficulties.
One more thing? have you been tested for allorgies?
Have you consulted a Doctor abour your problems?
Blessings Keith.

To answer your questions:

The chest tightness started before I began any fasting, around the time I realized that I had been tensing my stomach and had lost the sensation of definite hunger. I do think it has something to do with stress or anxiety. For one, my stomach is feeling a lot better, bowel movements normal now, but every time I go to prepare a meal or sometimes when I even think about food, my chest begans to feel pressured, my heart beat rises and my thoughts are frantic.

I have been hurt. I have lost a lot of good relationships with various people this year. Currently I am coping with this, but it doesnt really get on my mind. Mostly I have been thinking about my illness and eating and it drives me nuts. I need to calm down.

Anything else you should now: When I wake up in the morning my heart beats quickly, then gradually subsides. It used to be difficult to swallow food but now that’s a lot easier. It just feels like my esaphogus is clogged. There is tingling in my jaw and bottom teeth. Also I have been noticing this weird stiffness in the middle of my face. What gets me, is none of this hurts like crazy. I don’t taste It’s just highly uncomfortable, and I guess I am nervous as to what this is. Still, I am hopeful.

Thanks for taking the time. I really appreciate the good being done here.

Bless

Unfortunately I broke the fast last night. I needed to go to work and had no energy. But I want to go again. I was not hungry. As Coghill has observed about me, I might have an affect of the mind. I will read the article. But I would really like to know the condition that I have. My stomach feels fine now, mostly. But my chest still feels pressured in the center. I think that part of the healing crisis had begun for me, and it was too much. Alot of the negative feelings of guilt and self esteem are true, and they kept coming up during the pain, making it very unbearable to even lie down, much less meditate, seeing as how I already live in a stressful environment. The chest pain is really what gets to me. Because I think my choice of foods is still somewhat healthy and every time I feel the pain I either eat more or nothing at all and my mind spirals into a conundrum, something so obvious but I can’t get out.

Before the fast I was 123 pounds. I am now 111. And I still feel chest pain. It makes my neck and jaw feel really tight, messing up my swallowing. I have never had a problem eating and I must be humble about this. I’m not too good for anything by default. Anything can happen to anyone, anywhere, especially when you lose track and pay attention.
I plan to fast again, when there is more sun and I can go to the beach and lie down. I really liked how the weakness made it hard for me to expend precious mental energy on negative thoughts of criticism and deceit. At this point, it is just a matter of getting more research. Once again I thank you for this website. Dr Bernarr’s is healself.org. Apparently he’s this hygenist, raw-foodist, healing guru. But his ways are hard for the common man to follow, unless that common man is in super pain. I am no where near that. I just don’t want to. Who would you know?

Best of Wishes Keith and Tom.
Please help me to shed some light– please. I have to prepare for the next fast… the long one.

PS. I became 24 a week ago.

Your fiber intake is way to high for a start, this will cause you to bind up inside, causing abdominal pains in the intestines.
Enemas, cilonics, flush out the colone.

Do the salt water flush to clean the colone and the intestines, there is always waste that sits in the intestines for a long time; even on a long water fast. this slow down the detox process.

I start my 40 day water fast tomorrow the 28th, for 40 days.
My first day will consist of the salt water flush.
I am in the processe in setting up my cam to post on youtube, i will let you know when i make my first post there.
Best wishes Keith.
Any questions just ask, but let me know what i have asked you first.

First I want to say many thanks for the website. This gem has given me confidence, having read all the testimonials, helpful articles and posts.

I am on day six of a water fast, drinking only distilled water. About two months ago, I spiralled downwards into a dark pit full of depression and anxiety. Most of this was owing to the job I had at the time, working for a chiropractor whom I consider, now, looking back, to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He put me through hard times with his anger issues–yelling at me over nonsense–but I will not blame him. I, for one, had let my self go.

I have been a vegan for a year now, abstaining from all animal products. While working at the chiropractor, there had been a rising craze over the raw-food diet by a few of his healthier patients, so I tried to go raw. It was good at first. Then, I bought a book titled “Nature’s First Law”. I read it in awe. There was a lot I didn’t know about. But there was one thing that affected me negatively. Every chapter ended with the sentence: ‘all cooked food is poison’. I understood this. But then, I could no longer stomach working for the chiropractor; raw organic foods became hardly affordable. It was a matter of bad timing.

Owing to this, I went through bouts of anxiety where I wouldn’t want to eat, because of the fear of poisoning my body; and then I would break, and eat a whole lot, until my stomach felt swollen, and even then, sometimes, I’d eat more. It was mostly stress. I was 125 pounds and still eating relatively healthy. This was the thought that led to an ego trip. I sensed no harm in my eating habits, thinking about the quality of what I was eating, disregarding completely the quantity.

When the healthy food became hardly affordable, I started to slip into less healthier foods: at one sitting, two to three bowls of rolled oats with soy milk and lots of sugar, and around four slices of whole wheat bread with honey peanut butter. I would get really full, feel bad about overeating, not eat for hours, tell myself I was not sick, then break, and eat again. Most of the time, I’d eat the same thing again; the oats and milk and peanut butter and bread. My throat and esophagus began to suffer. My chest became very tight, and I lost the sensation of hunger, as if my stomach was paralyzed. Foolishly I though it was because of what I was eating. I tried to shove all kinds of remedies down my throat: apple cider vinegar, slippery elm, ginger, honey. But it seemed to get worse. I became more depressed and further and further forgot myself. I started to lose my faith in Jah. I began to eat dairy as if in rebellion. Then I became addicted to sugar, eating cakes and cookies and candy in secret, to protect this ego of who I thought I was.

Then it began to really hurt. I had abdominal pains and my chest hurt really bad and my throat was virtually clogged. My regular bowel movements had dissappeared and my stomach would feel full for days, but I would still eat.

I made the decision to do the lemonade cleanse. It was easy to do and I was still getting the sugar. But on day six I broke it, anxious about my stomach. I thought I had been tensing it and it was due to gas from not eating. So i ate. I broke the fast with a huge bean and cheese and potato burrito from my new job, a taco restaurant, and ended up having to take my self to the ER, due to incredible discomfort and fear. They ran some tests, said that I was relatively healthy and that they saw no blockages or anything to worry about, only lots of stool- “Eat more fiber”. I stared wide-eyed at the impersonal doctor who said this to me. Wasn’t I eating about six bowls of oatmeal a day?

I slipped back into the same oatmeal and peanut butter binge and ate a lot of holidy cake for four more days. During the lemonade diet, I had meditated a lot. Thank Goodness for this. I was able to detect my negative thought patterns, was able to remember a time when none of this was happening. But I couldn’t afford a doctor. I don’t have medical insurance. So now I am on the water fast, encouraged by Dr. Bernarr who spoke to me twice on the phone.

I did nothing to ease into this fast. In fact, I remember my last meal to be a large whole wheat pancake with maple syrup and two slices of bread with peanut butter. I saw it as a farewell. So far, it being day six, I feel as if my stomach has normalized somehow. I am no longer craving, and can almost tell the difference between a hunger and a crave. I have had weird dreams at night about meat being served, but it doesn’t make me go hungry or craving. I am so weak, all I can do really is sit back and observe my own actions and thoughts. I have reconnected with my spirituality, learning how to empty my cup, and that is good.

Now, I am down to about 114 pounds and still very weak. My concern and the reason why I wrote this post is about my chest pressure. It sits right in the center and barely hurts, but is highly uncormfortable and causes me to become short of breath, drawing for air, and my heart beats rapidly some of the times. Other times it feels like my esophagus is draining liquid, each loud pang of my heart is like a hammer chiseling away at some thick lining inside. Is this all normal? I have read that the symptoms sometimes go away and then return, go away and then return. But this chest tightness has been present throughout the six days.

One other thing. I have to work three day next week. I have confidence I can do this while still water fasting. But my shortness of breath and lack of energy at random times leaves me doubtful. My options are limited to drinking the lemon juice with maple syrup or eating something like a banana, either one before work. What would you recommend?

I know this will all go away, but I have no supervision and I do get scared at times. Sorry for the long post, but, to me, every detail holds the significance of truth. Please help me through this.