Post Stroke Eating Issues

[abbybuggie]

Hi! As most of you know my brother had a stroke Quick question. My brother can't swallow with out gagging and chest pain. We try thickened foods but it still doesn't work. Any ideas on how to fix the issue? Scheduled with a speech therapist to try and help.

[woofgang]

can he swallow water? Is he well hydrated? If he can't swallow at all or you think he is inhaling food, he needs to see a doctor and soon.

[abbybuggie]

woofgang, his eating skills are very bipolar honestly. The other day he drank a whole glass of water with no problem and day he coughed up his iced tea. The other day he also ate a burger completely normal, though he told us he had severe chest pain. We brought him to the hospital just in case and they said nothing was wrong. Could it be his esophagus?

[RATTER15]

He needs to see his S.A.L.T assessor ASAP, if you cant get an appointment for tomorrow, he will need to see a GP tomorrow. Be very careful, sounds like he is in a dangerous situation.

[woofgang]

if it was his oesophagus then that would have been an easy one for the hospital to spot. From what you are saying, it sounds like he can drink at times and not at others....same with eating..... Things to think about are (off the top of my head) time of day, whether your brother is tired or upset....temperature of the food, amount of food, speed of eating, his posture when eating (sitting, lying, slumped) and whether one or more of these things cause eating or drinking problems.

[woofgang]

Ratter, i think this lady and her bro are in the US...

[RATTER15]

Oh I see Woof, either way, this problem needs addressing urgently.

S.A.L.T = Speech and language therapist, most likely something different in USA.

[Sqad]

First of all abby, I will reiterate that your brother has had a significant cerebrovascular accident and that he is doing remarkably well, in fact better than i had prognosticated in my initial response and it isn't going to be all plain sailing for quite a time.
I would go as far as to say as far as his swallowing is concerned there has been a marked improvement as it was a prominent feature from the start.
If he can eat solids and drink water most of the time, then one shouldn't worry about aspiration into his lungs as this would seem unlikely from what you have described......so...don't panic as he has adequate control over his throat muscles to deal with this.
Although the "postural and compensatory" issues brought up by woofgang are accepted, world wide, there is little evidence of their efficacy. However, i feel that woofgang's post was excellent and her comments widely accepted.

You and your brother are doing well together and there will always be these blips along the way and no I cannot think of anything that can assist........certainly none medical.