Dysphagia

Hey @The-red-centaur ,

That sounds incredibly tough @The-red-centaur . As though you have to wake up each day reminded of what happened.

I see your strength and resilience in pushing through. We hear you have been through a lot.

Do doctors think things will improve?

Coooeee @The-red-centaur

I have known you for a while here on the forum. You are one hell of an amazing person.

Wish I knew what could help.

Keep seeing beauty

Hey @The-red-centaur

Sorry this is happening for you.

I had 3 attempts last year which resulted in intubation in icu and I developed dysphagia from the damage to my throat from intubation. It was more so from attempt 2 and 3 which were really close together and my throat had no recovered. I had a lot of trouble swallowing and eating, was on thickened fluids for a while and had to be really mindful of what and how I ate. It also affected my voice- I was very hoarse and raspy.
I was referred to a swallow and something else that I can’t remember, clinic at another hospital- this was last July- Ive never heard from them.

I’ve mostly recovered. I have the occasional issue with swallowing, and I am reminded every now and then with a raspy voice- I’m not sure what causes it to flare up. But when it does happen it’s a reminder of what I tried to do that isn’t helpful!

id imagine the difficulties triggering your ED issues would be really challenging. I have an ED, not in recover, and I’d imagine any additional barriers would be extremely difficult to manage.

Are you seeing a dietitian? Mine was helpful when I was on thickened fluids and other things.
I think speech pathologists also can help with swallowing difficulties. I think that may of been who I seen when I was in hospital recovering and my swallow and voice was at its worse- she did the referral to the swallow clinic.

@Appleblossom hiiiiiii *waves* it's been a while. Thank you 🙂

@Bow I went through all that with my attempt last year. My swallowing had improved a lot before the incident on monday. Its nearly back to square one, I really don't want to go through it all again.

My vocal cords have permanently been damaged from my attempts so I understand that rasp.

I don't have a dietician or speech pathologist. I can't afford one and my ndis won't cover it.

Sensing your helplessness @The-red-centaur

would you meet the criteria to get eating disorder support plan from your gp? You can get access to a dietitian through that, that’s how I see my dietitian. Or perhaps you could access the dietetics department at your local hospital if they have one?

@Bow I had one of those years ago when I was recovering. I'm not super keen to go back down that path.

I'm still currently inpatient, I might ask my nurses for a referral.

Hey @The-red-centaur ,

Just to jump in. Did you know you can get a health care plan from the GP which covers 5 sessions of allied health a year? (exercise physiologist, dietician, speech). You can choose how you want to use the 5 sessions.

This may be a bit confusing, but if you scroll down, you'll be able to see the list of allied health specialists you can see: https://www9.health.gov.au/mbs/fullDisplay.cfm?type=item&q=10960

@tyme Most specialist still have a large gap you have to pay, which I cant afford..

And I don't think I could see a dietician again.

@The-red-centaur I would certainly speak to your nurse while there about seeing speech and dietetics. See what they can do to help.

Give it a go. Ask your GP if they know anyone who doesn't have a gap fee @The-red-centaur . I've seen some who don't have a gap fee.