cant swallow liquids easily

Hi ive been having swallowing problems for a few years now and it seems to be getting worse , I can deal with solids ok most of the time and is not a major problem at the moment , however I cant swallow liquids whenever I try to drink something I just hold it in my mouth, the swallowing reflex doesnt seem to work as I have to contort myself into rediculous positions for this to work and sometimes I just give up and spit it out.
My freezer is full of ice lollies and ice cubes which gives me some liquid at least , I would love to be able to glug down a pint of water or any liquid for that matter,
I was prescribed DOM PERIDONE for acid reflux which incidently I dont have , needless to say they didnt work.
Why is it that I can manage solids and not liquids , if anyone has any advice or can help me with this I would be sooooooo happy .
I am a 67 year old female who loves to socialise and dine out but this is becoming increasingly difficult :shrug: thankyou x

How did it start?
Have you seen an ENT and had one of those swallow tests where you swallow a liquid in front of this xray machine?

if you can swallow food, it might be a mental thing?
Have you tried using straws, or thicker liquids like milk shakes?

Hi
yeh Ive had barium swallow they said it was coordination prescribed dom peridome but didnt work. Ive never been able to swallow tablets but never really had an issue like this until about 5 years ago which has gradually gotten worse. I do have a history of anxiety due to domestic abuse and have been on Prozac for around 4 years .

thankyou x:shrug:

Hello

I have a similar problem, I had serious swallowing problems which started about 3 years ago after a near-choking incident.

I still have to be really careful and can't eat chewy meat etc bun in the main am ok with most solids.

However I still have problems with liquids especially when in company or in a public place. I do the same as you- hold the liquid in my mouth and can't swallow unless I do lots of strange manoeuvering!

It seems like the 'normal' way of drinking is that you do the intake of liquid and the swallow in one motion. So your throat is kind of already open when you start, if that makes sense. I find if I tip my head back and draw the liquid in and try not to block my throat up the swallow comes more naturally. It's very hard to relax though- and I find it easier to practice this with cold drinks than hot,

When with people, the fear of either having to make conversation at the same time as drinking, or choking in front of everyone, makes my throat close and the drink just stays there unless I make a complex effort to swallow it.

So- I don't really know what the answer is- we are obviously physically capable of swallowing just need the reflex to do it for us....

Lin x

I don't know about your situation there but I have to say that one of the times for a long period of time when I was at my worst, I couldn't swallow liquid either. Like you I was okay with solids. It was anxiety with me, it took a few months but I got back to 'normal'. Sometimes it rears its ugly head for a little while.

Have you been told that it could be caused by anxiety and it's not physical?