What to do if my swallowed supplement entered the wrong pipe and caused choking and hoarse rasp?

Hi doctor,

I swallowed 600 mg of NAC supplements three hours ago. It went down the wrong pipe, and I could not cough it back up. I had choking, which was scary, and my mother made me sit down and calm down and take sips of water. I did this, then tried burping and choking it up, and a tiny piece came back up. So things calmed down a bit. But it is now three hours later, and if I breathe in deep with my throat, I feel a little of the hoarse rasp noise. I am scared that I will die. My doctor said that this does not seem severe. It has been three hours still have a constant sensation of needing to cough, and nothing happens. I still feel it if I do a heavy inhale or exhale. I am scared that it may enter the lungs and cause havoc. Kindly help.

Hi doctor,

Thank you for the reply. My paramedic said my heart rate was higher, like 120 to 140 beats per minute, and there was a crackling sound on lung examination. My paramedic suggested I take a chest X-ray. Does the pill in me eventually work its way out wherever it is? I still have some coughing and hoarse when breathing out. Will the X-ray show up the tiny supplement? Kindly help.

Hi doctor,

Thank you for the reply. Chest X-ray came back normal. I am worried, though. I did four blood tests, and my doctor said the white blood cells were the only ones that came back slightly elevated with inflammation. It only began when choking on the 600 mg NAC supplement by accident. But my doctor tried to tell me that I had some chest infections before, but I certainly did not have any. He has prescribed me Doxycycline 200 mg then 100 mg for four days. I simply cannot take this antibiotic as it is ototoxic, and besides, the common side effects are tinnitus. Three months ago, I suffered a horrible acoustic trauma causing catastrophic tinnitus and severe hyperacusis. I am slowly healing, and there is no way I can risk my tinnitus worsening. In addition, I am allergic to penicillin. I am trying to call my doctor today to ask for advice, and I am worried about aspiration pneumonia. I lay on my side, and the awful hoarse rasp noises are so noisy, and the sensations are horrible, making me cough. I slept, and I woke up in near silence about my tinnitus, so I would not risk any medicine that would impact this; I would fall apart. I am slowly trying to heal my fragile ears. I have suffered terrible anxiety since this situation. My chest and stomach feel some tightness, pressure, or slight pain, and I get cold a bit. My temperature was average at 36.7 °C. Also, when I yawn, it hurts, and when I try to burp, it feels like I can no longer burp like there is a heavy block feeling, and I am forcing it. I am so frightened this is permanent damage. I am unsure if the product is still there as I still have hoarseness. The chest X-ray does not show anything, but it's early days, and you may not pick it up. I also did an ECG for my heart, and it was normal. I am uncertain why all the interpretations, such as sinus tachycardia, possible right atrial enlargement (0.25 mV, peaked P wave), abnormal rhythm ECG, is based on a default age of 40 years. Kindly help.

Hi doctor,

Thank you for the reply. I do not know how to calm down as I do not have complete answers. My doctor said my white blood cells were slightly elevated due to some inflammation. And heart rate on ECG was 99 beats per minute. But when monitored constantly by a paramedic, it was 140 beats per minute. I am struggling as I am not willing to take certain medicines and waiting for my physician to call me back this afternoon about it. I am worried it is causing problems in my body. I am afraid it has turned into an infection or virus just from swallowing a supplement wrong. The choking subsided. And what if the X-ray missed something like aspirin pneumonia. I ordered a heart and oxygen monitor online, which arrived today. The chest and below feel some pressure and slight pain. I still think of coughing and that rasp hoarseness. Sometimes, I feel cold. I also believe that I cannot burp properly anymore. It all happened four days back. Kindly help.

Hello doctor,

I decided to take the Doxycycline Hyclate just in case. I am nervous about this because of my tinnitus. I am hoping it is not ototoxic and will not damage my inner ears etc. I took two tablets of 200 mg yesterday, and I will take one tablet of 100 mg for the next four days. I felt I had to do something due to symptoms and to be on the safe side. I still wake up with the symptoms. I take the tablet in the afternoon time. Also, this afternoon, I visited a pulmonologist. He said that he can arrange a CT for my chest and lungs. Also, for the last two days, my vision is more blurry. I am really worried as this is causing some permanent damage and infection to me. I am struggling with all of these symptoms. I am not choking. I do cough, sometimes more than others. Hoarseness is still there and the raspiness and more, in certain positions. My chest feels cold, and if I breathe in deep, there is some slight pain. Yesterday, I noticed pain in my back and chest area when cleaning dishes and bending. I still have issues with burping, it feels difficult to do so, and there is heaviness. I really hope there is no permanent damage to my refluxes or anything. I am young and healthy. I never had issues like this in my life. All this happened just because of a simple mistake of swallowing a supplement wrong and choking etc. The NAC supplement also burnt my throat a lot when the incident happened. I am wondering if I take the antibiotic Doxycycline then it will heal any infection even if it is aspiration pneumonia or something else. My mother said yesterday that before taking the medicines, I had rosy cheeks, and a very slight temperature, although when measured on the thermometer, I was 36.7 degrees Celcius sometimes or less. I took paracetamol tablets also. I really hope I have not got scarred lungs or tissue damage or anything. I worry because it has been three days now and these symptoms are still there. I decided to take the antibiotics because my white blood cells were slightly elevated at 14.9 per microliter which signifies some infection. The doctors found it strange that it happened so quickly after the swallowing incident. I wish I knew exactly what this was. I also hope the capsule of NAC is not going to cause severe issues. Thank you so much for your help. Warm regards.

Hi doctor,

Please do not worry about the times. I wanted to update you about the specific situation that unfolded last week for me. It has been eight days now. CT scan revealed the NAC capsule on the right windpipe area/lung and some inflammation. I consulted my lung specialist as well as the hospital respiratory team who said that they do not wish to remove it as it is a disintegrating capsule of gelatine. I had put a capsule in the water last week and it is slowly dissolving but the gelatine seems to be taking forever. It is swollen and raised but still not dissolving and I am anxious. There is still some coughing and symptoms. I have been doing some steaming. I am also trying to lay down and breathe deep then huffing hardly, but it does not always work. I cannot get it out. How long do you think this will take to dissolve? They have put me on a 30 mg prednisone tablet and the same antibiotics until next week. I really hope this condition completely heals because it is unpleasant. And when the powder escapes the capsule, the little grains from the product will also dissolve because I cannot get that backup. I am just scared and do not want to live on these medicines too long and also do not want aspiration pneumonia or any infection to occur. Kind regards.