I was diagnosed with zenkers diverticulosis years ago. It usually isn't any thing that I had a problem with. I only in the last few years connected it with vomiting. At these times I could not breathe or "catch my breath" I avoid getting to the point of nausea. Today, it happened "out of the blue" I have been having symtoms of upper respiratory distress. runny nose, sneezing. Going on for about a week. Today as I was looking for something to eat...I lost my breath, I could not breathe. It kept going. All I could do was just trying to breathe. I felt like I was going to die. I am 84 yrs old and I live alone. I just was gasping and walking around...until finally I could breathe again. Is there something I can do to relieve this if it happens again?
Tue, 13 Jan 2015
General & Family Physician, Dr. B M Gupta's Response
hi . By reading your complaints it seems like u are a case of symptomatic, Zenkers diverticulosis. It often causes clinical manifestations such as difficulty swallowing, sense of a lump in the neck, reappearance of ingested food in the mouth, cough, smelly breath and involuntary gurgling noises when swallowing. If it is small and asymptomatic, no treatment is necessary. Larger, symptomatic cases of Zenker's diverticulum have been treated in the past by neck surgery to resect the diverticulum. The currently preferred treatment is endoscopic stapling and fibreoptic diverticular repair. You should consult ENT specialist. Take care
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Suggest Treatment For Respiratory Distress
hi . By reading your complaints it seems like u are a case of symptomatic, Zenkers diverticulosis. It often causes clinical manifestations such as difficulty swallowing, sense of a lump in the neck, reappearance of ingested food in the mouth, cough, smelly breath and involuntary gurgling noises when swallowing. If it is small and asymptomatic, no treatment is necessary. Larger, symptomatic cases of Zenker s diverticulum have been treated in the past by neck surgery to resect the diverticulum. The currently preferred treatment is endoscopic stapling and fibreoptic diverticular repair. You should consult ENT specialist. Take care