Pat:
Sounds like GERD. That stomach acid can back up your esophagus and cause some scarring and a stricture.
I suffered from the exact same thing you described and would have problems swallowing bread, pills, etc.
The Doctor put me on Protonix (which is a proton pump inhibitor like Prilosec or Prevacid which are OTC). After four days on the pump inhibitors my condition gradually reversed itself.
It may be worth a trip to the Doc to see if you have GERD or a hiatal hernia (common) or both. You might find that you need to be on a proton pump inhibitor for the rest of your life. If you ignore these symptoms and your esophagus is being scarred, it can lead to a whole host of other conditions.
In the meantime, check out some of the GERD sites and forums out there and see if the symptoms match up.