Hi I'm new here and am so grateful for this site, it is the only place on the internet that talks common sense rather than stirring up panic. I just wanted to know if anyone else is driving themselves crazy with fear when eating and if so how they cope. I seem to think I've got a different deadly illness everyday but since a vitamin pill stuck in my throat at Christmas and I went into a coughing fit, hurt my throat and then coughed a bit of blood up, I have been obsessed with aspiration. I don't enjoy eating and either have soft food like mash or chew for so long that I am no longer hungry. I have just carefully eaten a sandwich but I can't stop forcing tiny coughs and clearing my throat every time I swallow (just to ensure I don't aspirate) the trouble is the more I do this the more I want to do it and then I did a hard forced cough and there was a sliver of blood in it so that sent me into overdrive hawking and coughing up spit to see if it was still bloody. It was for a little while but I'm sure I've caused this with the straining. Anyway I'm left now with a dry, sore throat that feels like I've something stuck there. So sick of being like this, everyone is getting sick of me. How do I get out of this? Any advice would be appreciated xx