Trouble Swallowing (Page 1)

I had the same problem since 2 years ago, I visited a famous doctor, he told me that there is nothing physical, it is psychological problem cause this disfunction, but he didn't give me xnax, look it is ok, this problem appears for me many times during the last 2 years I visited no more doctors, I had no more medicines, I tried to relaxed and having a good hours of a deep sleep and everything be ok.

I have had this problem for about 6 months. Food sticks to my throat. I have been living on mostly protein shakes since july. It helps to try very moist foods. I use chicken broth. Gravy, bbq sauce - anything to eleviate the dryness. I feel very panicky when the food will not go down. Sometimes even water is a problem. I have found that drinking warm water sometimes helps. I have had many medical tests and have been told the problem is mostly stress. I do have chronic dryness in my throat - it is a real symptom, not just in my head - which makes the problem worse. I am just hoping the problem eventually goes away. I try not to stress about it. If I do not feel like I can eat, I just drink a boost +. This is causing complications in my life - both at work and at home. I avoid social functions because of it. I would love to feel normal again. It helps to know I am not the only person with this disorder. Stress will kill us if we let it. We can not give in. Better days are ahead. Good luck

i have this problem as well. i used to smoke cigarettes so i thought it was due to that , but i've quit smoking and the problem still exists. it has to be related to stress, but i can't seem to get this in my head. sometimes we are our own worst enemies. i used to drink protein drinks all the time too, and might have to again. i also used to take pills for anxiety, as well, but that didnt help, just made me feel worse. when i am totally relaxed, this is when i can eat normally, most of the time. recently the swallowing thing has gotten worse, and it is definitely worse in public places. this i believe is due to my fear of choking in public. (which isn't really any different than choking at my own house, i guess!) anyway, if anyone has any new comments, i am all ears, but i still believe de-stressing has got to be the answer...i just need to learn how to do it.

hey , i have been through the same problem and have overcomed it many many years ago with the help of a psycotherapist . the problem is anxiety . i will explain to why it is the problem . when you fear that you might swallow you saliva , it becomes a do or die situation . this is what creates the anxiety and at that point you are telling yourself that if i swallow my saliva , i am choking and what will others think of me . this created even more pressure inside the mind . so this creates tension in the muscles inside your mouth or bcoz of the pressure and the do or die situation , you might produce your own saliva subconciously . and then you have no option but to swallow or spit it out . this becomes a problem and a loop . the solution is to let go of it . if it happens , let it happen . swallow or spit . do as you feel . dont make it an issue . accept ur anxiety , ur swallowing , ur spitting . accept all of this . it dosent matter . once you stop making this a matter of concern , there will be no more pressure on ur mind and you will return back to normal without having any more fear of swallowing or choking . also remeber " a confident person is the one who dosent care too much of what people think of him" . so dont care what people think if you choke . believe me it works . i have faced hell but now i am ok . its just that it flared up today after 7 years but i am ok after giving myself the same explanation . you will be fine . dont worry

pkay, so everytime i go out to a restaurant, i cant eat, i can eat fine at home and i just feel scared in public, when i walk in the mall i get all hyped up feeling like i cant swallow, at school people make fun of me for clearing my throat all of the time. and everytime i take a bite of food i need to sip water before i can swallow it. sometimes i get scared i cant breath. i know for a fact its all in my head, my dad suffers from anxiety too, so unluckily i got it from him and im only 13 YEARS OLD! im trying to figure out wats wrong with me, nothing is wrong with me phsically. but right now as im writing this i feel a lot better. i tell my mom, but i guess she doesnt really understand, no one understands! its all in my head, i know it! but it makes me feel better when im with my mom and dad and family and friends. sometimes when i go to restaurants with my family im just fine, but when im with people i dont know well i get scared and have trouble swallowing. and i also sing, and im performing in front of 7500 people on dec. 1 2007, and im really scared that i wont be able to swallow or something when im on stage. it makes me feel better im not the only one who suffers from this. it just makes me wonder why im the only kid who has to go through this, i mean ive never met a person in my life who has the swallowing pproblem i have. I pray to God everynight that it would please go away, so I can live my life not if fear.

did you ever find an answer because i'm the same way! i'm 21 and can't swallow anything i feel like a freak. doctors have no answers they say i'm normal. i'm thinking of trying yoga because i get so overwhelmed with food sticking that i can't breathe and my heart races.

Hello.

I know I'm a bit late on this post but I'm living with the fear of choking and have done now for 10 years. I can't even swallow my saliva because I feel I will choke. I've tried everything and can't get over it!! So glad I found this to know I'm not alone. I look terrible I'm 5"7 and 6 stone people always ask if I'm anorexic. Anyone found a cure?

I am a qualified Hypnotherapist. Assuming you have been to see medical professionals and had all of the pathological reasons for your issue ruled out, it is likely that a hypnotherapist will be able to help.
As with everything, there are no guarantees of course.
It depends on individual circumstances but, in general, I would use an analytical type of therapy to get to the route cause of the swallowing problem.
It is sometimes surprising what the cause is and it can be nothing to do with food or swallowing itself but an 'association'.
Anyway, I don't know if you have found relief but good luck if you haven't.

I ask this because I do and I always have the glob in my throat due to post nasal drip. If this is the case, there are a few good over the couter things you can buy for it. But check with your doctor first because some do not fair well with high blood pressure and some other things.

Carrie

I got swallowing problems too. It's been like this for 3+ months since it started, going crazy sometimes it gets better and I can swallow more solid foods other times I eat something and I feel it gets stuck then I can only eat blended almost liquid foods, shakes. pudding etc. Been to gastroentologist he just gave prevacid, also I am getting anxiety attacks now because of this because my heart have started racing when I am just in bed doing nothing, it's all very scary and I wish I knew when it will all just go away so I can live a normal life again.

I have had trouble swallowing for almost 6 years now.It started with
a choking incident I had one day.I started eliminating foods a little at a
time until eventually,I had to start blending all my food into liquid so I could drink it.It took my Dr a really long time to finally get me the proper help I needed.I had all the physical tests done and everything came back fine.
I still suffer with this problem.Its a fear of choking,combined with extreme anxiety.Knowing what is is however,doesnt seem to be helping me overcome it.I recently had some dental work done and because of this,I had to eat mostly liquids.This seems to have stirred up my problem again.I always feel as if Im starting over again.I did almost a year of therapy..helped a bit.I would recommend two things that helped me ..deep breathing and muscle relaxation.Also if you have had this problem for awhile,see your Dr and get some help as soon as possible.Its a frustrating and scary thing,but it is treatable.Eliminating certain foods is not the answer..Ive been down that road.

I never realized so many people suffered from this problem. I was beginning to think I was alone in this. It started about 4 years ago, suddenly I felt as though I couldn't swallow anything anymore. Some days are worse than others, but it never truly goes away. I try to drink boosts and shakes once a day, but I still try eating solid foods mostly, I just end up spitting everything back out. I'm really dreading having to puree all my foods and I don’t know what to do about it. I'm continually losing weight because of it and now I'm starting to feel that I'm getting too thin. It's such a hopeless situation. Like you, I just want to be able to eat again...

I am 46, I have had issues with this since I was 17. Seems like I focus too much on swallowing and this includes saliva as well. I hear folks talking about public places. Thats when I become self conscious and of couse when it comes to swallowing liquids or foods I have bigger problems. Swallowing is an involuntary action, however, if you think too much about it, you tend to disrupt the natural function of your body. They compare this to blinking-another involuntary action, however you may appear a bit strange by overblinking, but it doesn't make loud squishing sounds that peopel notice. I ever now and then hear others do it, I try to avoid drinking coffee at meetings at work for this environment is very stressful. I recall a few years ago someone sipping coffee in a meeting and made the same sounds I do, so its not my imagination, the sounds are quite audible. Like I said, like a "squish". I talked to a doctor who said it is stress and put me on Zoloft, however no matter how medicated I am. I still have this issue burned deep into my conscious mind, and the minute I think about the process of swallowing, it will happen. It's like your thoughts that would have been occupied with over things in your environment are interrupted and all that occupieds your mind is the fear that when you swallow you will make this sound, and then wallah, it happens. I have thought about hypnosis as a possible remedy. However one strange thing is that when I have a cold and there is plenty of mucus in my nose as a result, even when I think about swallowing, I seem to be able to swallow without the "squishing" noise which makes me tend to believe that this issue is in fact physical despite the fact that several doctors I have talked to about this say it is psychological. Which in and of itself can lead to more fixation and worry about the issue and the reasons why it is happening to me. I have gotten to the point where I fear going to any other doctors about it because it seems like no one really knows why this happens. I honestly believe this is a big issue with many people but like myself, most of them are embarrased to talk about it. Thank God for the internet. Maybe discussion groups like this be a catylist for a breakthrough. Any ideas from some out there?

I'm another one who has problems with swallowing, I'm 41 and it all started when I was about 11 years old. At first it was only around other people but for the last 20 years it has been all the time. I can't eat out or with other people and its affected my whole life, not working, no friends and of course no relationships (men always want to eat out, right?). Up until about three years ago I only had problems with food, however now the main problem is with liqiuds! I take a sip, hold it in my mouth and then can gradually swalow it ,but it can take up to four swallows to get one sip of liquid down!

I think this all stems from anxiety, have always been a shy person, uncomfortable around others, but its really frustrating to feel almost constantly hungry and also have a lot of problems with my stomach being achey after I've eaten. I've had tests done and all have come back normal so it must be psycological, but a constant nuisance! I just want a normal life, being able to eat out and enjoy eating instead of missing out on so much, so frustrating!!

I too have problems swallowing in public. I am 20 years old, in college, and it is starting to affect my everyday life. I am afraid that one day I am going to swallow the wrong way in class and possibly become nauseous. I was thinking about some sort of anti anxiety medication to make it go away but from what I am reading it does not seem like that is a solution. My Mom passed away suddenly from a stroke last year. She was my best friend and I loved her more than anything in the world. This is the only thing I can think that is contributing to this sudden strange disorder that I am experiencing. I am also stressed about my appearance and financial stuff too but this is becoming a serious problem.

It's good to hear I am not the only one with this problem, I think many people think I am crazy as they simply cannot understand my condition, mainly my husband. I have struggled swallowing food/liquids/saliva on and off for about 6years now with the last 2years getting worse and worse. I saw a doctor and shrink earlier this year but felt like they knew nothing about the condition and the only thing they did was put me on prozac and xanax, i must admit the prozac did seem to make me feel better overall, calmer but still didn't combat the problem. the problem (more) that I face now is that I am 3months pregnant, my ob advised me to come off the prozac 6weeks ago which I have done but I am loosing my mind with where to go from here, everything is hard and uncomfortable, I have trouble swallowing my saliva all day at work (open office environment) and I have to sneak around to get some fluids, yoghurt etc through the day, by the time I get home I am so worked up it is impossible to eat, if I put food in my mouth it fills up with water and I have to spit it out. I am trying to get all the nutrients the baby need by pureed things etc but I feel a mess and would love to know any advise anyone has to give at this point...thanks

Hi,

I had trouble swallowing for about a year. I told doctors and they all believed that it was psychological, but I believed that it was physical. I found that I had to stand up for myself within that year, and push and do my own research. Everytime, I ate I got sick and they thought stress triggered this reaction. It was very difficult for me to swallow and to top things off my voice would disappear for long periods of time and it would be hoarse for days. I would wake up at night and find myself running around my room with my hands to my throat trying to breathe. To make a year long scary story short, I went to the 50th doctor, a ENT Specialist and she knew what it was right away. She said that it was acid reflux, acid that was coming up in my throat and causing inflammation. Therefore, my throat became swollen and inflamed to the point where it was hard for me to swallow or talk. I also found liquids to be more difficult to swallow than solids. Funny thing was that I did not recall feeling heartburn and i had no food coming back up so I guess that threw off most doctors. She put me on Prevacid and I immediately started to feel some kind of relief. To get the inflammation down I took Apis-Homaccord, which I received from my Naturopath because conventional drugs just made things worse. I am off Prevacid, I did not take it for long because drugs scare me, especially because they tended to make me feel worse during that year, but I wanted to solve the situation, because throat cancer scares me more. I have not done research on this so please do not take this as fact, but most drugs I believe just makes acid reflux worse, because during that year, they sure did do that. I have found for me what helps now is to take a high dose of Vitamin C everyday. If I miss that Vitamin C, my voice does get slightly hoarse, but it never gets to the point where I feel that I need to call 911.

I get problems just normal swallowing. Usually at night its the worst. I feel like if I swallow my tongue will roll back. Not eating or drinking anything. Just swallowing saliva. I used to get it when I was little. But just recently it has gotten worse. I started eating a multi vitamin at the exact time it got worse. Which I suspect is the culprit to my problem. Its seems right after I eat the multi vitamin with food(maybe certain foods/liquids?) this problem starts occurring.

Hey all you fellow trouble swallowers. I offer you hope that you problem can get a lot better and even go away. I, too, had this crazy surprisingly disorder enter my life. My story is that I choked 3-4 times on my saliva(it would just get lodged in the back of my throat blocking my airway). It would clear within a minute or so but during that time I panicked. After that I started having trouble swallowing liquids. One day I said to my husband that I thought it was strange how it only bothered me with liquids and solid food was okay.Within 2 weeks some food got in a weird place in the back of my throat and I had the sensation of about to choke. That did it...after that I was done with swallowing anything! This happened 9 months ago now and I am so much better. When it first happened I lost a lot of weight within 2-3 weeks and I was scared because I knew I was in trouble. So...here is what helped me. I was checked out by a doctor and he determined that it was not physical(I knew that). He gave me what seems to be the standard "anxiety pills" and that helped a little to deal with it but just so I could think and figure out what I was going to do. I called a hypnotherapist. This helped me tremendously. You see, your brain is like software that has these belief systems that you have hardwired saying that you can't swallow. You have told yourself that somehow it is dangerous to your survival because you may choke. The opposite is true. Swallowing is vital to your health and survival. So, I did a few sessions, got a meditation cd and listened to that 1-2 times a day and started feeding my brain the things that I needed to rewire. I reprogramed, if you will, my subconscious mind. I sometimes slip back but then I just do the program over again. When I do swallow I tell myself as I am swallowing that swallowing is good. Swallowing keeps me strong and is good for my body. Maybe this sounds to simple to some of you but it is worth trying because I get all the heart felt comments about wanting to be normal. To go out with your family to dinner and enjoy the food and company without the fear. Fears can be overcome. The brain is a powerful thing--make it work for you not against you! Best to all of you out there. I hope this helps at least one person.

That is usually how my panic attack begins. The feeling of not being able to swallow then makes me panic even more. Try to visualize a calm place, remove yourself from the situation if you think that might have triggered it. Sometimes I go long periods without it happening. It helped me to realize there was nothing wrong wtih me physically so make sure a doctor rules out physical problems. Then just breath.

I suffer from Bi-Polar however I think the medication I am on, Aripiprazole, is giving my side effects of anxiety and nervousness.

I have been waking up in the night feeling I have swallowed my tongue in my sleep and today experienced the same feeling during a lecture which was very distressing. I kept having to balance my tongue behind my teeth.

Has anyone managed to overcome these anxiety related attacks?

I too suffer from this problem. I am slightly overweight and I have smoked for the last 12 years. I thought at first that something was seriously wrong so I went to the Doctor and they tested for everything they could. Nothing but a clean bill. The Doc told me that it was stress that was causing it and I am actully pretty stressed at my job and at home with a kid. At night, I have trouble breathing and when I exercise, my heart runs a million beats a min and I have trouble catching my breath. Also I have trouble swallowing all the time. I feel like I my choke and I start to panic for a breath of air. I was put on zoloff and it helps a little. If you go to WebMD and say you are having trouble swallowing and breathing, they tell you to seek immediate medical attention so that was scary. Stress is our worst enemy and its harder whan all the things you love and need in life cause major amounts of stress, like a job full of assholes or a kid that just won't be good. If you have these symtoms and you have not gone to a doctor than you should go just to make sure that you don't have cancer in your throat. People who have never smoke a cig in there life can still end up with lung cancer so its alway safe to just find out sooner. The sooner you a diagnosed with cancer, the more chance you have of surviving it. Good luck everybody.

You know, I've had panic attacks since I was a child. I've had a plethora of stressors come my way, and I'm terrified of dying. I never feel like I can swallow quite right - even liquids and it frightens me. I live in constant fear about it, thinking my throat will close suddenly. It seems my biggest fear is suffocating and I assume the lump-in-the-throat sensation is exactly that. Reading some of these stories sometimes helps, and other times just feeds the fear... Tonight, I opened a new window, went to youtube, sat in a comfy chair, and brought up Intension by Tool. The background has a bright tunnel in the center and the song is calm if not hypnotizing. If you are really freaking out try playing that song and just stare into the background. Stare until your eyes go out of focus, until you can't feel your body. Loop the song if necessary and toss any scary thoughts or feelings right into that bright light at the end of the tunnel. Occasionally close your eyes, gently sway, and BREATHE - 8 seconds in through your nose, 5 seconds out through your mouth. Any thoughts - throw them away. Imagine how you want to feel and use the light to guide you closer to that feeling of peace. Don't forget to breathe deep. I've found by using your imagination, and really convincing yourself to let go (no matter what happens) you can find some relief... See if this works for you, and tell me if it helped. You aren't crazy, and you aren't alone. Thanks for reading and good luck = )