Was that an endoscopy, Sleeperblues? My gastroenterologist (or however you spell it) told me he chose to have his own endoscopy done without sedation, and an acquaintance described the same thing to me. I decided that if I ever need to have another one, I would do it without medication. We all know how I feel about Versed!

PS: I once tried (stupidly) to swallow two large vitamin pills at once, and they got stuck in my throat. My doctor (another doctor--this was a long time ago) told me to try swallowing a small piece of bread. It worked.....the bread unjammed the pills and pushed them down.

When I feel like a pill is stuck in my throat, I pop about a half dozen mini marshmallows in my mouth, wallow them around till they are all slimmey and then swallow them all together. I keep those marsmallows around just in case...like a couple times a week.

Sleeper, I also have reflux esophagitis and had several episodes of food getting stuck, for which I had my most recent endo last year. No strictures or anything, probably just spasms due to the esophagus irritation. Are they putting you on meds? I've tried Nexium, Prilosec and other PPI's, and I can't tolerate any of them. I am taking DGL and trying to be careful with diet, that helps a lot.

Yes, Alisande, an upper endoscopy. I do know how you feel about versed, and to be honest I've never had it. I don't need anything to affect my memory--it's bad enough as it is. So I'm kind of glad I got it done this way.

Thanks for the suggestions, I will try that if it ever happens again. Probably the bread, not a big marshmallow fan.

Petra, I have to meet with my regular doctor to determine what I should go on, but I really have this medication phobia. I do not like to take anything if I can avoid it. I think I will pass on anything at this point and get the test repeated in a couple years to see if it's better. Weird thing is, I was totally shocked to find out I had reflux. I have no symptoms other than occasional heartburn, which is rare to happen.

I do have a sore throat, which I didn't really have at first. It feels like the start of a cold but I know it will be gone by tomorrow.

My DH has had many colonoscopies during the past 20 years due to diverticulitis and only had sedation for the first one. Said it's not really painful, but I don't want to find out the hard way lol.

When my mom had her last colonoscopy, the nurse set up the IV in her arm, but forgot to administer the sedative. She was scared to say something and laid there in intense pain.

Hope you feel better!

Sleeper, from what I've read, lots of people have silent reflux, so you're in good company.

I am also not too fond of taking meds and the PPI's did a number on me. DGL is deglycyrrhizinated licorice (they take out the part that can raise your blood pressure and leave the part that helps the esophagus) and has no side effects. It does taste pretty yucky, but it coats the esophagus and prevents damage.

According to my gastro, reflux increases the chance for Barrett's Esophagus and esophageal cancer, but only very slightly. Just a very small number of people with reflux go on to develop Barrett's and an even smaller number develop cancer. I have a friend with Barrett's (with dysplasia) and she has to have endoscopies every 3 months, so it's best to try to avoid progressing to that.

My doctor's nurse said she was never sedated. Since I didn't have a driver I went without. No pain at all, it was uncomfortable until the tip of the tube passed the gag location. LOL

Aww Matti, your poor Mom!

Petra, I've never heard of DGL, but it sounds interesting. I'll have to check it out. I do know about the risks for Barrett's and cancer, so I will definitely keep an eye on this.

Emma, I thought that would be the worst part but it wasn't as bad as I thought. The thing that was kind of freaky is feeling this tube in my stomach, moving back and forth. And that time I felt like I couldn't catch my breath. I wouldn't say any of it was painful, just uncomfortable.

the second time I had it done, it did hurt a little because I had been sick the day before and I was probably raw inside from vomiting.

Petra and Sleeperblues, I can recommend a better tasting deglycyrrhizinated licorice:

DGL Ultra (from Vitacost)

I like the German Chocolate flavor.

Susan, I ordered that last week via Amazon. :o) Glad to hear it does indeed taste better.

My doctor told me to drink coffee as hot as you could stand it. The caffeine shrinks the tissue, the acid breaks down the pill and the heat loosens the muscles in your throat, letting you swallow it. Tried it once...it worked! Usually, it's my vitamins that get stuck, and I just drink some hot water, and they go right down.

He also said that when a pill gets stuck, it can go down and still feel like it's there, especially things like aspirin, because they burn your tissues.

Thanks, Alisande. They are inexpensive enough to try.

More great suggestions, Steppy. I'm a coffee-holic, so I could definitely try that. I take vitamins, too, and have never had a problem with those (yet). Weird that it was a pill half the size.

A trick I had read about a while back that really works when taking pills is to take a gulp of water, turn your head to the right, then swallow. I've not had any pills get "stuck" since doing that. I have no idea "why" it works, but it does.