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wewillbeatthis

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Hello Everyon,

It has been a few months. I have been reading but not writing. We have moved and I have started a new job closer to home.....

Dad is doing well all and all. However, I don't know if we are looking for things or if they are really there.

Are these things common with ALS:

It seems that Dad will go through this issue for about a week or so and then it will subside and come back again 6 months down the road...

He will have a little bit of a horse voice and or a nasal voice, and some of the words will be slow and slurred. What is this caused by and why does it come and go and other days he is just normal (well normal for him slow speaking)?

Then we have the swolling issue again around this same time the swalloing will be effected not bad just enough that one will notice. He will swallow hard. Almost like someone takes in gulps of water and then he swallows hard, food goes down fine no problem it is water and or things with pepper and then he is fine again and back to normal. Why does this come and go?

Breathing seems fine.... I was wondering if this could be a soft palate issue what do you think?

Dad has had a rough month with a fall that he hurt his side and it is just now getting better, hemmroids which he has had for years and years... Dad is a worrier so when this stuff is going on he dwells and I think this contributes to his problems above cause everything gets tight.... Then I was thinking it could be allergies cause this time last year the same issues occured and it is always later in the day and he is a little stuffy and gets post nasl drip....

Any suggestions or help.... Please I am dwelling which in turn is driving him nuts...

Oh another new thing he has decided that he likes to take his pills without water cause they do down much easier. One would think that this would be hard if he had problems with his swalloing. I can't even swallow pills without water...

Please give me insight I am scared....

AL and Mtpockets I miss you but have been keeping up with your threads and am so happy to hear that all and all your doing well...

Love the New Yorker Jen
 
Hi Jen. Good to hear from you. Most people who have bulbar issues have a problem with water or other thin liquids first. Others have reported symptoms that come and go and I don't think that there is a real explanation for it. Seasonal allergies could be the reason for the post nasal drip. Mine are bothering me so I either suck on Hall's cough drops or take decongestants. When he has his bad period it may help if he was on an anti anxiety med. If he gets stressed and seems worse the meds may help. Hope this helps.
AL.
 
wewillbeatthis said:
he has decided that he likes to take his pills without water cause they do down much easier. One would think that this would be hard if he had problems with his swallowing. I can't even swallow pills without water.../QUOTE]

If you can get your dad to try taking his pill in a spoonful of apple sauce it might be easier. Then he can follow that with some thickened liquid. He'll have less risk of getting a pill 'stuck'.

Mixed consistencies (hard pill with water or granola in milk or thin soup with firm pieces in it) are much more difficult to manage than something that is all the same consistency.

The swallowing mechanism consists of a series of events that need to happen in the proper order. At a certain stage the airway, which is normally open, has to close and be protected; the food tube, which is normally closed, has to open; the muscles in these areas have move the food or liquid safely to the right place.

Water moves much faster than thicker consistencies and because it has no taste or texture (and is maybe neither warm or cold) it doesn't give any 'cues' to the swallowing mechanism.
 
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