@Debg,
Intersting topic. I'm Asian and have eaten rice all my life - with no problems. I just wonder if there are Asians with this problem. Kind of sad if there are. Some Asian cultures eat rice three times a day.
@jrrmn,
You can sit at a table or desk and jerk yourself as if someo e was giving you the heimlech just shove that edge of table into the upper gut. We may have ee disease. Im looking into it
@joefromchicago,
I taking nexium Prilosec , etc is cause for alarm too. I took that for 8years until it cause ibs so bad that I was constantly in extreme pain when I had to go. Now I can't take anything except sucrafete and Pepcid for my Gerd. And can't take any ncaids for I get same problem. Just keep your eyes open when taking those pills. And for god sake stop taking Advil. It causes stomach ulcers! Good luck with your symptoms.. Eat slow small bites, chew well and the first sign of problem with eating rice just stop eating until it clears.
Me too it awful paintball information my chest and back, only when I've eaten rice. Last time I had to vomit. It lasts overnight. So far have only been able to link these episodes to eating white rice. Since cutting its out altogether I have had no further symptoms -touch wood!
@susief,
i have similar issue with plain white rice. i think it's due to the form (it expands to fit your throat). i would suggest eating smaller bites. also - i eat spicey food a lot & rarely get heartburn, but plain white rice gives me acid reflux (heartburn) more than anything else...it's odd.
@susief,
It may just be Heartburn/indigestion or possibly trapped wind! I don't think it is anything to be overly concerned about but if it persists, I suggest you go to your family doctor. Indigestion is usually caused by eating too fastly and not chewing the food thoroughly.
Take 50% of wheat product while eating rice, it will level your carbohydrate .
Picture the scene - Sat in a restaurant with a brown paper bag over your head for 15 minutes, all because you ate rice. Sounds like a Monty Python sketch where someone has to get in the fish tank and sing Jerusalem because someone said "mattress" to the salesman in the bed department of a shop.
This is one of the many duff piece's of advice I was given 10 years ago when I discovered the sheer agony and a good helping of terror that sometimes, but not always, accompanies the first small mouthful of rice OR certain meats like pork, (but never bacon!) or Kentucky Fried Chicken on one occasion.
I went to the Doctor, falsely believing I may have cancer of the oesophagus after seeing someone describe the same pain on TV, having to have treatment for that - But the Doc assured me it WASN'T cancer or it would happen ALL the time.
Friends suggested it was a nervous complaint, knowing I get tense in social situations due to having the autistic disorder Aspergers Syndrome. My preferred solution would be for them to stop dragging me to restaurants they know I feel extremely anxious in - Their preferred solution is for me to stick a brown paper bag over my head and breath. As luck would have it, I like breathing anyway - that part I like. It's the brown paper bag and looking like an idiot wearing it that worries me most. That, and the pretty obvious fact that it could only make me more tense and self conscious.
Does it have to be a BROWN paper bag? Surprisingly they didn't realise I was joking and said yes, it has to be a brown paper bag - Not a Morrisons carrier bag then. You never realise you are surrounded by medics until you're in agony or re-telling your experience. So now we know - a green paper bag just wouldn't work. I wish I'D been to University.
In all honesty, I confess I've never actually tried their solution because I don't have a problem of hyper-ventilating and their other solutions that I have tried have proved about as handy as sticking a knife in my chest...
..."Drink some water" . This is the WORST thing you can do, it turns out. The agony multiplies. I've never had a heart attack but this is how I imagine it must feel.
It's odd. I can go 6 month, freely eating what I want without issue. Then randomly, it seems, pain with the first taste of rice (usually rice, very occasionally dry-ish meat - the dryness or SALTINESS is the most common factor, such as in the KFC incident - but that doesn't explain why bacon is never a problem)
THE REALLY ODD thing is that the problem GOES AWAY if I give it 5 - 15 minutes then carry on with the meal - almost as if my oesophagus was then lubricated, prepared for it better.
I've no idea if there could be a connection but the onset of the problem 10 years ago roughly coincides with when I started drinking all milky coffee, instead of tea or normal coffee. I dunno.
Doc put it down to me not chewing my food enough, a reasonable enough guess seeing as I didn't have a full compliment of teeth (the only advantage of wearing a paper bag over my head - Maybe that's why people keep suggesting it!) - but I could still chew reasonably well, habitually chewed my food far longer than most people anyway after learning the reason we should chew more as a kid - so meals take longer to eat as I don't just gobble everything down like a pig in a famine.
The DRYNESS does seem the most likely reason - I just suffered a minor incident after starting one of those CHEAP ready meals where the rice is quite dry, I guess - But had no problem at all eating the posher, much more expensive variety several times last week at my sister's, that rice seeming a lot more moist and soft.
And yes, the pain can be so bad I've had to make myself sick, horrible as it sounds - Perhaps a clue is the fact that I get that watery feeling in my mouth when you know your body is telling you to get ready, find a bucket - Conjouring up more images from Monty Python - "A bucket for Mr Creosote!"
If there really was a god he'd have given us tranparent bodies so we could at least see what the heck is going on when we have these aches and pains - "Ah - You've swallowed a button!" - case solved. That and a fold down flap or two to access swallowed buttons, lightbulbs, razors or rice. I;d have made a great god but there'd be no restaurants. (or rap artists)
SUMMARY
Don't eat cheap rice based ready meals - or add water to the rice?
DON'T drink anything hoping to wash down trapped rice/meat, unless you're very brave, stupid or desperate to make yourself sick
Don't stick a brown paper bag over your friend's head if they appear to be having one of these attacks in a restaurant - They won't appreciate it - They may actually be having a heart attack. Imagine the obituary - "Died in agony with a paper bag over his head in the Taj Mahal Restaurant".
KEEPING CALM usually helps a bit - I pre-warn people not to panic if I can;t speak for a minute or two - it'll go away if I just stop eating, relax, suffer the pain, trying not to alarm anyone - last thing you want is them ringing an ambulance unless you really need one.
NEVER TRIED the arms above head thing, which sounds promising, except now I'm picturing myself in a restaurant looking like the person opposite me is pointing a gun at me - That can't be good for trade.
Why are all the solutions embarrassing? I'm half expecting someone to suggest the pain goes if you drop your trousers.
This is my contribution to medical science.
Steve
@stevetwosheds,
You might try rice porridge or congee. I like mine with Chinese sausage.
@stevetwosheds,
I agree that drinking to wash it down is a big mistake. My best solution is to hum. I know, sounds funny, and not likely to be tried in company. I learned it from my godmother for when we got spasms from eating ice cream or Popsicles too quickly. The " ice cream headache ". She would tell us to hum, and the vibration would counter the spasm. I have found it works when I forget, and eat rice too quickly. I get the spasm and before I knew what do do, it could get very strong and go into my back or chest.
I now hum very strongly and focus on steady breathing and as low and as long and extend humming that I can maintain. It helps stop it from getting worse, and can help stop it.
Yep - I wish this rice thing had a name. I relate to nearly all the descriptions:
Eat a couple bites of rice (usually white, worse if it's not freshly cooked), the rice goes down, but a few seconds later I feel a slow, creeping tightness as if a balloon is slowly expanding in my chest or like a large burp is stuck, lots of saliva/phlegm, trouble speaking or breathing but not because of throat closure, just pressure. Water makes it worse. I sweat, sometimes shake and sometimes get moments of blurred vision (these symptoms I attributed to nerves/getting scared). This painful 'stuck burp' feeling lasts a few minutes, while I stand very still. Eventually the feeling just slips away, but I do often have a lot of burping afterward.
Just got home from the allergist and ruled that out - no histamine response to rice. I didn't think it was an allergy because it is definitely not every time I eat rice. However, I have noticed that it seems more frequent during my seasonal allergy season (grass- may-July in western Oregon).
Would love to hear of any breakthroughs anyone has had before I shell out more money to a variety of specialists, therapies, etc. My biggest concern (after the feeling that I'm having a hear attack), is that the whole thing is a symptom of some bigger problem (leaky gut, esophagus, thyroid, etc...)
@Fromoregon,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_allergy
As Asians, we have eaten rice since we were young. Some eat rice three meals a day.
As we grow older, we become accustomed to eating western foods, and wean off of rice as a regular diet.
I still enjoy rice, but eat it about once-a-week.
@susief,
Thank goodness I stumbled across this forum! I get this too! It started about three years ago but it took me a while to associate it with rice. One time I couldn't breathe and ended up throwing up, but mostly it's just a really uncomfortable feeling of having something painfully stuck just behind my breastbone and not being able to swallow. I can actually feel it clear slowly, and it's such a relief when it does. I try to keep calm and breathe slowly (reminding myself that if I can breathe I'm not about to die) but have been avoiding rice for the last couple of years, which is sad because I love Chinese food. (Cauliflower rice is a good substitute with other dishes, though.)
I shall see my doctor and mention hiatal hernia and thyroid.
@susief,
Yes, I agree completely! I discovered I had this very same issue after a jaw deformity left me able to take only beverages and soft solids like scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes, and rice, etc. Had eaten rice before but not to any large amount or even very often - and so never realized I had this problem. But boy did I discover it fast!!! I ate my rice and suddenly I was in agony. Swallowing was not as issue, but right after swallowing - whack! It quite literally felt as if the rice had suddenly stopped on the way down, backed up into a tight ball of rice and stuck there in the middle of my chest just above the stomach. Boy did it hurt! It would cause me to belch heavily as it tried to work free and break up. I would drink large amounts of juice to try to wash it down. I found hot beverage such as coffee worked better, but really it was so painful. I never figured out the solution of raising arms to lengthen the esophagus but it makes sense. At first I hesitated to say anything to anyone about the rice issue thinking people would laugh and think I was nuts - but I found just the opposite was true. So many people immediately responded with almost relief to discover I had the issue because they'd had it and suffered in silence for so long. How odd! I found really the only solution for me was to take the rice in much, much smaller size bites at a time. I only put a few grains of rice on my spoon at a time. If I forgot myself, I was reminded real quickly! I am so appreciative to know the scientific explanation finally for this. But it really only happens to me with rice - any kind of rice! I wonder if the Japanese ever found this to be an issue?
I know the original post is years old but I have had this same problem for many years and was happy to see it when I googled my problem. I actually had to stop eating rice because every single time I would have to make myself throw up just to get air back into my throat. Drinking on top of the rice, to try to push it down, made it worse and that's when I had to throw it up. I have not been checked for any difficulties medically in regards to it and always assumed I was just taking too big of bites or eating too fast, but even after changing those things it still continues. I will try chewing the heck out of it, but am curious as to how thyroid affects the swallowing of rice. Years ago I was tested for thyroid problems and it was positive. After about a year the Dr said I didn't have a thyroid problem any more. Didn't know it could just disappear like that. Maybe I will get rechecked for it again. Thank you for the original post and comments though. At least I know I'm not alone and not crazy. Lol
@susief,
may be you rice are dryer than you thing so produce saliva to keep it wetter to easily swallow and try to eat slowly with small bites
@Region Philbis,
Same here. Used to be mild but now i am afraid to eat rice again. 😕 I love the stuff but just cant swallow it any more. Last time was at Manchu wok and tried to wash it down with orange pop...lol...i was like a human volcano. Went back to the table to try again thinking it was gone but just got worse...back to the bathroom running...human volcano.
@paulwjsmith,
None of my family or friends had that problem. As an Asian, unable to eat rice is like no apple pie for many. As a matter of fact, my wife and I were at a bakery yesterday where they had apple turnovers; ate a bunch in my younger days. Plan to go back there soon.
