Happy New Year..?

A funny thing happened a week ago. By funny, I mean irritating and then kind of scary. Last Wednesday I felt like there was something caught in my throat. The problem was I had just woken up. I hadn’t even eaten anything yet. How could something be caught if I had swallowed anything other than saliva in the past 8 hours? I went on with my day, trying to make the weird feeling go away. I noticed my chest was a little tight at times, so I didn’t do anything strenuous.

Thursday came. Although the phantom blockage wasn’t really there, my chest was a little tighter at times. Breathing sometimes caused unnecessary pressure in my upper chest, near the base of my throat. Roy suspected bronchitis. Lydia thought it could be heartburn or something of the sort, which runs in the family. I went on with my day, and then it was lunch time. I took a couple of bites of my food and had to stop. My chest had tightened suddenly, like it was twisting inside. I gave it a minute, thinking that penne with meat sauce was not the best thing to have if I had heartburn. However, I was subbing and had no food alternatives. I finished my meal. Later I called my mother and she said it sounded like esophageal spasms. I tried taking Tums, but they did nothing.

Finally it was Friday. Breathing had become a little harder, as had eating. However, I was tough! I wasn’t going to let this get me! I went to my sub job and pushed through. Lunch came; again, I couldn’t eat. The twisting pressure in my chest was bad enough that I didn’t try to finish my sandwich. I had yogurt, though, and that went down easily. I was worried enough to try to find a doctor, thinking perhaps I had the virus going around the school. It was late notice and a Friday; no appointment could be made. I was worried. What was wrong? Why couldn’t I eat? If it was heartburn, shouldn’t it be gone by now?

I went to an urgent care clinic and told the doctor my symptoms and what my family had said. The doctor asked me what medicines I was on and when I mentioned doxycycline, for acne, she knew what was wrong.

Apparently the doctor has a friend who recently had the same problem. A fungal infection had developed. Apparently this medicine is both caustic and breaks down easily. The ‘breaks down easily’ part is not good if, say, it gets a little stuck on the way down. That may have been what happened with me.

The doctor prescribed my prevacid to take care of the caustic part and an anti-fungal liquid medicine for the infection. It’s been almost a week and I am feeling much, much better. I spent the first few days eating only soft or liquid foods. By Monday I could eat solid foods again, although I had to be careful. Since then I’ve gotten better and only have random times when it hurts to swallow.

Let’s hope that the rest of the new year goes well…