Dr. Hive -- what could this be?

[UncleEJ]

I have been having a strange pain in my esophagus for a couple weeks. It has been getting slowly worse and is now at an almost unbareable point. I get a very strong pain when I swallow food. It is closer to the middle and bottom of my esophagus, like from my collar bone and down. When I swallow, I can feel it go all the way down my back. The pain is less with liquids or swallowing saliva but is still there.

 

My first thought would be heartburn/reflux. But I have never had a problem with those. I had very mild heartburn a couple times while pregnant but it was more like just an acidic burp. Never anything like this. The only thing I can liken it to is a burn I received from taking doxycycline. It feels somewhat like that but is not going away and getting worse. I haven't taken any medication that could have caused the pain either. No major diet changes.

 

One thing of note, I have Crohn's disease. I was diagnosed a year and a half ago and so far my disease is mild. The inflammation caused by Crohn's is most often located in the ilium (very lowest point of small intestines, this is where my is located) but can happen anywhere in the digestive tract. It is known to affect the esophagus and mouth. I don't want to jump to the conclusion that what I am experiencing has anything to do with my Crohn's and am looking for ideas of other things this could be.

[Pawz4me]

My first symptom of what eventually became a rather severe acid reflux problem was a severe throat tightening sensation.  It felt like my throat was closing up or that someone had their hands around my neck choking me.  Drinking would relieve it very temporarily (it hurt somewhat to drink, but it made the overall choking sensation a little less bad for a minute or two after each swallow).  I know that doesn't sound like what you're experiencing, but I wanted to point out that acid reflux can present itself in ways other than the traditional heartburn.  Since you're getting worse, I definitely think a doctor's appointment is called for.