My husband can’t eat
Sep 21, 2008
FEELING pain in the chest while swallowing, also known as odinophagia, is usually caused by a fungal infection in the oesophagus. This is referred to as oesophageal candidiasis and it makes one feel pain behind the sternum while swallowing.
Face HIV with Dr. Watiti
Dear doctor,
My husband who is HIV positive but not yet on ARVs is having problems swallowing. He feels a lot of pain in the chest when swallowing and now he cannot even take the Seprin or any other drugs. What could be the problem and how can we help him because he is starving?
Jane
Dear Jane,
FEELING pain in the chest while swallowing, also known as odinophagia, is usually caused by a fungal infection in the oesophagus. This is referred to as oesophageal candidiasis and it makes one feel pain behind the sternum while swallowing.
Sometimes the same patient may have oral candidiasis or thrush at the same time, which appears as a whitish coating on the tongue and roof of the mouth known as the soft palate.
Both oral and oesophageal candidiasis can be treated using antifungal drugs such as Fluconazole or Nizoral which should be prescribed by a qualified medical practitioner.
It is important that this is treated urgently otherwise the patient may fail to swallow food and medicine like what is happening to your husband.
Pain also makes the patient feel helpless and hopeless and no one should be left to suffer pain during this era when we have strong painkillers like morphine, which should be used if the usual drugs like Paracetamol or Panadol fail to control it.
Lastly, patients who have HIV plus oral thrush or oesophageal thrush should be assessed and put on ARVs because according to WHO staging of HIV infection it means the patients are in stage three and four respectively meaning they are severely immune-suppressed and should be treated with ARVs regardless of their CD4 count.
So your husband should be assessed and put on ARVs to prevent further deterioration.
Dear doctor,
My husband who is HIV positive but not yet on ARVs is having problems swallowing. He feels a lot of pain in the chest when swallowing and now he cannot even take the Seprin or any other drugs. What could be the problem and how can we help him because he is starving?
Jane
Dear Jane,
FEELING pain in the chest while swallowing, also known as odinophagia, is usually caused by a fungal infection in the oesophagus. This is referred to as oesophageal candidiasis and it makes one feel pain behind the sternum while swallowing.
Sometimes the same patient may have oral candidiasis or thrush at the same time, which appears as a whitish coating on the tongue and roof of the mouth known as the soft palate.
Both oral and oesophageal candidiasis can be treated using antifungal drugs such as Fluconazole or Nizoral which should be prescribed by a qualified medical practitioner.
It is important that this is treated urgently otherwise the patient may fail to swallow food and medicine like what is happening to your husband.
Pain also makes the patient feel helpless and hopeless and no one should be left to suffer pain during this era when we have strong painkillers like morphine, which should be used if the usual drugs like Paracetamol or Panadol fail to control it.
Lastly, patients who have HIV plus oral thrush or oesophageal thrush should be assessed and put on ARVs because according to WHO staging of HIV infection it means the patients are in stage three and four respectively meaning they are severely immune-suppressed and should be treated with ARVs regardless of their CD4 count.
So your husband should be assessed and put on ARVs to prevent further deterioration.