I was diagnosed 2 days ago with Schatzki's ring. Many of the symptoms described by the other patients here were my experience, although I didn't realize how serious it can get. I have been mostly vegan for several years, so I probably was spared a lot of episodes resulting from eating meat. I have found that warm to hot liquids ease the symptoms, as does walking up and down. I have been looking into the pH balancing of foods, and pursuing more alkaline-based foods, especially raw potatoes, which neutralizes stomach acids. This might be a good alternative to antacids.

I was diagnosed about 9 years ago, after seeing various doctors and receiving a lack of understanding as to the cause of my symptoms. I experience a blockage at nearly every meal, although regurgitation is far less often since my endoscopies. I have gone as long as 37-hours without being able to eat or drink because of a blockage, in the past. Most of the time, a carbonated drink will help remove the pressure. However, I almost never suffer any symptoms of heartburn, and I don't take any kind of anti-acids. The endoscopy greatly reduced my symptoms.

For the last year I had trouble swallowing. I needed to have an ultrasound of my heart but the cardiologist would not do it until the swallowing problem was addressed. I had a barium swallow done, which didn't show anything. The doctor did an EGD and found the Schatzki's ring last week. He stretched the ring and the problem seems to be resolved already.

For many years I would feel as though my food was stuck and would have to drink a lot to swallow it. I did a barium swallow but it didn't show anything. Then one day a piece of chicken got stuck. I could not regurgitate or swallow it or my saliva. I went to the ER and they did an EGD to dislodge the chicken and later I had a EGD to stretch the ring.

I had trouble swallowing food. When eating I would get the sensation that I was choking. This choking sensation would lead to panic as I felt as if I could not breathe. In actuality I could breathe but, I could not pass food to my stomach. The sensation was very scary. This problem developed and became worse over a year. Sometimes I was able to alleviate the problem by drinking water but, sometimes I would have to induce vomiting by myself to remove the blockage. This problem was very intermittent. I finally went to a doctor and I had a video x-ray taken while ingesting barium. This video showed that I had a Schatzki ring in my esophagus which would intermittently dilate like a sphincter. I received the "ballon" treatment which was very painless and totally fixed the problem at that time. It is now 20 years later and I am having some of the same symptoms. I may need to have this done again.

I'm 37 and I had trouble swallowing for almost 10 years. It was fine in the beginning but for the past 2 years I need to have water constantly available every time I swallow anything. The water helps me to push the food down. I have had 3 big chocking episodes that occurred while I was eating chicken or meat. I felt like I was dying, I couldn't breathe. I had to have someone do the Heimlich maneuver to make me regurgitate the food. I was really scared. One time the chocking lasted for 8 hours. I couldn't even swallow my own saliva because I couldn't breathe. I just got diagnosed with Schatzki's ring last month. Now I know what's going on. They made me drink barium and get an X-ray to discover it. It's getting worse everyday but I'm going to get the procedure with the balloons to expand my esophagus next week. I hope I can help some people having the same trouble as I am. It's really scary and I don't wish it on anyone.

I am relieved others have these symptoms. Intense chest pain, saliva build up and you basically have to wait it out until it passes. Sometimes within a second you can almost feel the blockage or bubble feeling pop and your back to normal. I have had one procedure, dilation 6 years ago and my symptoms have returned in the pass few months. I notice a natural whole foods diet does not cause any symptoms, I am going to try that for a few more months before having another procedure. I fear that the procedures may cause scar tissue or more damage in the long term.