I had dinner about 3 hours ago and accidentally swallowed something hard that I felt in my throat. Afterward, my throat felt off, so I took a cough lozenge and later some flurbiprofen AL. Now, when I try to clear my throat, I notice blood in my spit. Initially, it was pinkish, but now it looks more like typical blood. I didn’t see what I swallowed—just that it was part of a potato dish.
I’m assuming it’s either a small wound or maybe something stuck. Any advice? I definitely feel something in my throat but can’t tell what it is.
The bleeding started about an hour ago, and I also feel very light stomach pain. (not sure if its connected to the rest) There isn’t a ton of blood in my spit, but enough to make me concerned (not enough to call an ambulance, I think).
I kind of dont wanna go to bed in case it gets worse and I miss it . But if it stays bad I need to see a doc in the morning.
Any input- tipps etc welcome
My gut feeling is to say, see a doctor if it’s within your means. Blood is usually a bad sign I would think.
Well, it’s midnight, so the timing kind of sucks. I could go to an emergency room, but I’m not even sure there’s much that could be done if it’s traveling through my body. That said, if there are even slight complaints in the morning, I’m going to my local doctor. Mind you im not sure if I should wait till the morning or if its urgent but that is hard to judge as a layman.
But yeah blood isnt a good sign. Even if its not anime coughing up blood levels of blood.
Edit. One good thing the blood seems pinkish now.
You could wait it out then if it’s midnight, but for sure go tomorrow if you’re not any better.
Well I plan to see a doc first thing in the morning if Im still bleeding or have any complaints at all.
Good call, I hope everything is okay with you, probably are. Going to guess you probably scratched or inflamed something.
The bleeding has progressed from foamy pink to frank blood, which is concerning - was the lozange you took red in colouring? It sounds like it’s only a scant amount instead of a lot, maybe even just food dye. The stomach pain/nausea can be from ingested blood or whatever you swallowed earlier bothering your stomach now, or just some anxiety. If you vomit blood or it looks like coffee grounds, head to ER sooner. Head to ER if you feel like it’s hard to breath (you won’t be wondering about if its tight enough, you’ll feel ready to go). Same if you pass bloody stool or black tarry stool, but your plan was to head to ER tomorrow morning anyway so it’s unlikely to pass before then.
Some kind of injury to your throat is going to feel like something is stuck there. You could’ve had something sharp cut you a bit or just rough up your throat lining and had bleeding. Usually the lining of the throat is pretty good at not getting cut, lots of mucous, it’s soft and pliable, etc but maybe you just had something too hard. There are conditions that can make your throat more susceptible to bleeding like esophageal varices but chances are all that happened is your an otherwise healthy person who ate something to sharp or too big and it caused some trauma to your throat.
I’d say drink liquids, eat some fibrous stuff if you can manage (or drink it like metamucil) so you can get whatever is in you out the other side. Don’t smoke (it’s just gonna bug your throat injury). No harm in getting an xray at an ER or urgent care, you could’ve swallowed something metal or harsh or too large and maybe they’ll decide they need to go retrieve it. There’s stuff they can do for your throat if it’s bleeding and won’t stop, it’s weird looking and feeling - basically a big balloon lol. But they probably won’t do anything but maybe get you to eat some bulky fibrous food and maybe take a laxative later (maybe).
Blood is pink now. There is some red in it but mostly pink. There was no red color in anything I took so I doubt its from meds or cough drops. I would describe my state more as discomfort than pain (obviously some degree of worry) . Drinking tea. Thanks for the input. I was going to go to my family doctor (In the morning at 8) or should I go straight for ER ? because if I go straight for ER I could go right now … even if it sucks balls. I dont really wanna call an ambulance even if it doesnt ruin me like in the USA.
It’s your call! It sounds like you’re okay right now and don’t need emergency medical attention. Go to ER if anything I mentioned earlier happens (vomiting blood, throat tightening so much it’s restricting your airway, bloody stool etc). Your family doctor is a good person to see tomorrow and get you checked over before deciding if you need ER or not. Probably all you’ll get is a course of prophylactic antibiotics (GPs love their abx lol), some painkillers and maybe some fancy fiber to eat/drink. The GP might get you a req for an xray just to make sure, or they might decide to wait. Some medical professionals are going to tell you to go to ER regardless just so they can cover their proverbial asses, but from what you’ve described you’re okay!
If you want something lower key than the medicine on your own, add some honey to your tea! Honey is great! And some bulky fiber.
In my experience any kind of wound in the throat feels like something is stuck in it.
Stomach pain is probably psychosomatic, though I wonder what you swallowed?
(I am not a doctor and this isn’t a battlefield so combat lifesaver training isn’t going to be directly applicable, this is not advice for you just what I would do for myself.)
So…
Can I breathe?
Can I swallow?
Can I swallow fluids like water?
Does my stomach feel fine like it usually does?
I have not needed to sit on the toilet for awhile?
If these are all yes, I can probably wait to see a doc-in-da-box tomorrow if the bleeding in my spit continues.
If any of these questions suddenly become “No” then I might have made a mistake and should probably think about going to see a emergency room.
I would expect my throat to be sore from the cut/scratch for a few days, longer if I forget about it and eat something like dry Cap’n’Crunch or potato chips. I might take a small sip or two of alcohol to maybe disinfect the cut and maybe try to get a better idea of exactly where the damage in my throat might be by the burn. I probably would want to keep sipping on cool water or herbal tea (hoarhound and licorice I think are often used in the Sore Throat herbal teas). I probably would want to cut back on sugary things for a few days. I’d probably want to eat softer foods, broths, slippery noodle dishes with minimal spices.
If I’m trying to tough it out but the bleeding or pain start to get worse and I’ve been diligent about soft foods and keeping my throat wet by sipping water/tea constantly I’d have to bit the bullet and go get checked out at a doc-in-da-box or ER, whichever is closer and open and I think I can get away with being able to afford.
Depending on the potato dish, maybe a small rock didn’t get knocked off/washed off or some really dry dirt. Just from experiences with eating potatoes from the garden out back. Once that hits my stomach and intestines, the rock’ll be coated in mucus and shouldn’t cause any problem.
