Have You ever?

Question

Have any of you had to do a Baruim swallow? well i have to get one and i just wanted to know what people experiences (spelled that wrong) are and what it was like did it hurt do you were your own clothes and whats the stuff you drink and how long it takes and ect and the reason that iam getting it done is because i puke up food after i eat and its not iam ED so no need to worry o ya if i do drink that stuff since iam going to have it because i puke and i heard that the table they put you on moves do you think that i should tell that that i might puke? or just let them find out? I hope this makes sence :)

Answer 1

The swallow study I saw was done in the radiology department of the hospital. The patient was wearing a hospital gown (metal buttons, necklaces, etc.. would show-up on he X-ray) because he was sitting in a special chair that had an X-ray machine (Fluoroscope) in it to see where the Barium was going. I think you would sit in the chair and the Radiation Tech would X-ray your upper body to see where the material is going. I've heard that it tastes bad, but doesn't hurt. It may also make your stomach unhappy (yeah! Pepto Bismol!). I saw people drinking the Barium solution in the waiting room when I arrived for my rotation. It might take a few hours, between when you get there and drink the Barium solution (if you need to do that before hand) through when you sit in the special chair and get X-rayed.

If they are going to see how well you swallow, you would sit in the special X-ray chair while the speech therapist gives you spoonfuls of "peaches", "juice", etc... The "food" is real food that gets dunked in the Barium solution before hand and the X-ray machine around the chair watches where it goes. You would be sitting up on the chair wearing a hospital gown. A rad tech would attend to the X-ray machine and a speech therapist would be performing the study. A doctor of radiology would review the results for final assessment/diagnosis.

Barium solution and patients don't get along well very often. Lots of people have a bad reaction to the Barium solution causing either vomiting or diarrhea. Most people I know of who have had a procedure with radioactive material that needed to be drank say they were ill afterwards until the material cleared their system. It doesn't sound like it took them too long to clear it either. :(

I hope this helped.

Answer 2

The tests that the other answerer mentioned are not what you are having done. A "modified barium swallow" is one that is done with speech pathology, usually for people who have had a stroke to see if they should be given solid food. You won't be sitting in a chair. A "small bowel series" is a test that can take hours. And the barium is not radioactive.

Just goes to show you that you can't believe everything you read here. Read my answer to your other question.