I have gotten stuck a few times, and it is usually from trying to eat too fast. You start to figure out what you can process easily and what you can't. I cannot eat bread on its own, but I can tolerate it as a sandwich. Chicken breast is the devil for me and so are scrambled eggs (boiled, poached, over-easy are all fine). Sometimes it doesn't matter how well you chew it or how slowly you eat it, some foods will just be trouble. I will always re-try foods that I have had trouble with in the past just to make sure I wasn't eating too fast. But yeah, the hiccups, the tightness, they are definite symptoms. I have never tried the papaya thing, but water certainly does NOT work for me....jumping up and down doesn't either. I have just had to suffer a few long periods of time for it to pass, or been able to let it come back up (sometimes it won't). Fear of it happening should only make you eat carefully, but not limit the healthy ranges of foods we should be eating to get good nutrients into our bodies.