Mysteries of the mighty gag reflex

[mjh74]

Hi All,

Although I've suffered from anxiety from as far back as the age of 7, it had never been accompanied with the urge to gag until about 7 years ago after a tough time at work. One day I found my throat tightening and began to gag, being an emetophobe made this a highly traumatic experience. I managed to come through that after a very tough year out of work.

2 months ago our department went through a management of change and I didn't know if I'd still have a job or not, little did I know it was going to send my anxiety through the roof again. Sadly the tight through and urge to gag were the first symptoms to come back.

I've now managed to come through the panic attacks and haven't got such an intense level of anxiety on a daily basis but what I can't understand is the random urge to still gag. Initially the stress would cause anxiety and that anxiety would be the trigger for wanting to gag but now, I can be sitting here feeling relatively calm, the urge to gag comes along and makes me feel anxious. The symptoms have 'sort of' reversed. I do have quite a lot of stomach acid so I'm guessing that could be contributing to it though I also get that from being anxious (catch22). I've been given some tablets from my GP for the stomach but it's the gag reflex thing I find crippling. It sometimes stops me mid sentence where I have to stop to fight off a gag.

I've read most of the gag related posts here but a lot don't really fit in to what I experience. I don't even feel nauseous when I have the urge to gag and it can last for the whole day sometimes.

Can anyone relate to any of this?

Thanks for reading!

Mark :wacko:

[M155anthr0p3]

I can relate to this - I gag all the time! :roflmao:

I used to actually gag so much I was sick but I can contain it a bit better now.
I am terrible...my Dad thinks it's hilarious. Which I suppose it does to anyone else.
I know it's in my head because the more I concentrate on it the more I gag. I have to laugh at myself now though (or chew gum loooool)

[sarahblonde32]

my a fellow gag sufferer!! i have this all the time, i really beleived it was anxiety related but now im not so sure, it comes on at such random moments, i cant pinpoint a link. talking is the main one for me, it happens during a conversation and its so hard to continue, the only small thing i found that helps a little is a tic tac in the mouth. im thinking it maybe food related, like a reflux or something.
it's been 2 years now and i cant find a cure or a reason for it, it is beiginning to ruin certain things, i rarely go out to pubs and clubs because i cant shout or chat for long times, i cant do my dancing anymore because i kept gagging, i have managed to slightly supress it, and its better when im totally relaxed, chilled at home etc. i cant describe it...its like a 'sick' feeling in the throat and you have to swallow it away or just gag it up...
i really have tried everything and cannot think of what it is...
sarahxx

[mjh74]

Hi both and thanks for the replies!

@M155anthr0p3
Like you if I chew gum it helps massively, if I'm feeling uneasy and I don't have gum, my mouth and throat feel naked and the urge begins. As soon as I chew gum, I feel a lot better (so it shows it's in my mind). Oh wow I guess I'm like a baby with a dummy! lol

@Sarah
Everything you describe is me (apart from the dancing lol). As soon as I'm spoken to and I have to respond, I instantly think of my gag reflex and when I do reply, I find I'm despirately trying to stifle a gag. If I'm sitting still and don't have to speak I'm usually ok but if I'm walking around, even on my own, it's a lot worse. I've never worked out why that is, maybe because my first attack was when out walking. I wish I knew!
What I can say is that I had a period of about 5 or 6 years where I'd put it to the back of my mind and didn't even think about it anymore. I've got to try and get there again!


Mark x

[sarahblonde32]

yup the same for me, i can go a couple of days when i have nothing, yet suddenly something will trigger it...im usually fine on my own and i prefer to do stuff on my own to avoid conversation, such as driving anywhere..ill always meet them there etc,but i do sometimes get it just on my own. do you have a really sensitive gag reflex anyway? anything can make me gag, hate things near my neck, anything disgusting, smells, dentists can me gag...
have you tried tictacs?pop one in your mouth when you think you might need it and keep in there...helps....most of the time!
s x

[BigDaz]

I get this a lot during a stressful period. It's just a natural body reaction I think. However sometimes an episode of gagging and burping can be a good stress reliever.

[sarahblonde32]

i don't find it a stress reliever!! i hate it, feels like being sick which is awful : (

[sarahblonde32]

aarggh damn gag....go away!!

[mjh74]

I tend to chew gum when I'm having a bad day and that helps a lot. I don't know how to say this but if I could put my hand on the inside of my throat to comfort it, I'd be fine <lol I know that sounds really weird>. I guess what I'm trying to say is that my throat feels vulnerable and sensitive because I'm concentrating on it, if the part of the body I was sensitising was my leg or my arm, at least I could rub it to try and make it feel better!
So I guess chewing gum or a mint/tictac is the closest we have to give our mouths/throat something to do.

I've never had a weak gag reflex, just the opposite infact but when I'm having a bad day, I can imagine all sorts of objects stuck in there which makes me feel like choking my guts up! Pebbles are a good one, peach stones, clothes pegs, money, a golf ball! I've looked at or handled any one of these objects and had the notion that it's in my throat. Nuts huh! :blush:

Like BigDaz, if I have gagged, even though it feels terrible at the time, it also feels like a relief too!

[sarahblonde32]

i'd like to know how it works and what triggers it, why talking? i can understand the need to gag when something is in the mouth or too far in the throat as the gag reflex is there to stop choking...but i dont understand why i have it, why talking or stress triggers it, and how the hell to stop it! i also try and distract my throat with sweets and mints, (chewing gum is ok until it starts to make me gag!)
so yours is more about thinking something is in the throat.....that could be related to a choking thing....
mines more of a 'sick' feeling...starts further back in the throat...
weird...!
sarah

[mjh74]

This is what's annoying the hell out of me. What has talking got to do with my gag reflex??
I do understand what you mean about the sick feeling in the throat though. I think that's just the feeling your throat gets when the muscles are tense.
A big problem I have is that sometimes, I can give myself the notion that I'm going to gag and it starts the panics. I panic so much over what might be it's rediculous. If someone could actually stop my gag reflex from functioning by some sort of operation, I'm pretty certain I'd have very low anxiety if any at all!

[The_UA1]

Stuff that has worked for me. (Disclaimer - I am not a doctor. Also, no Doctors told me to do a lot of these things. No doctors have been able to help me so far. All of these things I've found through self experimenting. These are mostly things that help relieve the symptom, but the cause is still fuzzy for sure.)


Kratom
was the first thing I tried that had any noticeable effect. Used to try to drink it, but that didn't last long because the taste is so bad that eventually the smell will make me throw up, so I recommend the capsules. Play with the doses to find what fits. I still take this about once a week, but it wrecks my voice and since I'm a singer I had to make this only an option on my non show days. Definitely, start with low doses because if you take too much you will throw up and everyone's different. The lower doses have more of a stimulant effect and higher dosages are more of a depressant/opioid -type effect. It actually activates opioid receptors, but is non addictive, because you will just puke if you take too much and the doses to get the desired effect are so high that its a super chore to take it.

CBD Oil
was the second thing I tried after I realized that there are substances that can help. Tried for drops under the tongue with little to no effect, but eventually started vaping it with much better results. Also, I find the CBD edibles to be helpful as well, but take awhile to digest and kick in. You can find both at most local smoke shots.

Regular Marijuana
Helps sometimes, but it really depends on the strain and your setting and if you can get it. I usually just vape the oils and eat edibles. I find a little sativa can work ok, but it's a slippery road, because slightly more can make you very anxious and as most of you notice, anxiety exacerbates the problem. So indica is usually the way to go.

NOTE: I hadn't tried weed for the first 28 years of my life, but after having this issue for 5 plus years, I was willing to try anything to help. If you aren't a regular user of this substance in can be scary by accidentally smoking too much or eating too many edibles. Edibles are always a little bit of a wild card. There have been times where I've have ate or vaped too much and has ruined whole nights where I almost never wanted to do it again, but if you stick in there for the first few months, you develop more of a know how and tolerance to help you with what you need it for. I find this helps, but is not a cure by any means.

The best things about all these substances is they are all natural, so you can't do much damage by trying them. Kratom and CBD are legal in all 50 states and there's no risk of overdosing with any of the first 3 things substances. Though I will say if you vape a lot of CBD and weed and have cavities, this will eventually hurt your cavities. CBD seems to be worse on the cavities.

Phenibut
is a drug I'm not sure of in a lot of ways. It's a substance you have to be super careful with. If you are depressed at all, do not take this. I repeat, do not take this if you are depressed. If you do take this stuff, just be super regimented with it. You have to taper down and on the come downs I usually try to taper with Kratom to counter it. It's completely legal and super cheap, but there are some great things about it and some not so great things about it. Its the best over the counter anti-anxiety medicine I've ever taken. It makes you feel great. It puts you in the best mood. I've never been great in crowds, but this stuff makes me enjoy it and makes me much more outgoing. I honestly think it makes me the best version of myself and definitely helps with the gagging as well. Now here are the cons and listen close. Your tolerance goes up super fast and its super easy to get addicted. If you get up to like 4 (500mg) pills to get you where you need to be and then you don't taper off, you will feel super depressed over the next few days. Like the worse I've ever felt.

Gum
Is my go to. Mint gum always eases the gagging quite a bit. I'm not sure if it's the chewing that relaxes your jaw and throat, the mint that sort of numbs the gag reflex, or both, but now it's more of a comfort thing too, because as most of you know there's a lot of mental parts to this problem, though I don't think it's the root cause.

Caffeine
exacerbates the problem. As a person that works full time and is also a working musician, this is a tough one. There were times where I'd be drinking like 4 energy drinks a day and this definitely makes the gagging worse. I've cut down to about one a day in the morning only and on the days I do that, it seems to help a little. Caffeine ultimately makes you more anxious and high strung, so this is probably why its no good for this condition.

Taking pills
Also, makes the situation worse for me. Some days if I take a lot of pills it feels like they are all stuck in my throat and then that feeling
can last all day making it difficult to have regular conversations with people. When I'm extra gaggy this is always a tough thing though. So minimize taking pills if possible.

The Cold
seems to make it worse, because everything is clenched tighter. I do still have issues in the summer, but seems to be worse in the winter. I find that sitting in a sauna helps relax your throat. (I just use 2 space heater in a small room with sweats)

Omeperazole
Helps a little sometimes I guess. I think ultimately the root cause of all this are digestive issues or throat problems and it did seem to help alot at first right away, but none of these are really cures, just ways to help.

Digestive enzymes
I've been taking papaya enzyme, probiotics, and activated charcoal and this does seem to help slightly as well. But you have to be careful because the more pills you take the worse that can make it also.

Burping
Is a weird one that's been helping me a lot lately. Whenever I've felt gaggy in the past, burping would always provide temporary relief, but I'm noticing lately that if I drink a soda when I'm feeling the extra gaggy, it will make me burp like a thousand times which makes me wonder if that's one of the main issues. Like your body isn't releasing the gas in your belly or throat properly, so that builds up so much pressure that it makes you feel like gagging. I notice this with taking pills a lot too. When I take a pill it seems like the pill is blocking me from burping, so it's hard to continue to take any more pills until after I burp. This is the standout for me lately.

Exercises
There are some exercises that have helped me sometimes as well. When I'm feeling gaggy, I try to move my tongue across my bottom row of teeth to help relax it and my throat. Moving my jaw around too helps in the same way. If you stretch your neck around in a a full circle. When your head is circling be sure to keep your mouth opened and relaxed and do it in both directions multiple times. Regular cardio exercising helps a lot too, probably because it helps with anxiety. You can also try to lesson your gag reflex by exposure, mostly done with your toothbrush on your tongue every day when brushing to make the reflex less intense. I've Also tried hypnosis, but only through YouTube. It may have helped a little for awhile, but its tough to tell for sure.

Moldy water
This one never really worked for me I don't think, but I include it because it was one of the few answers on this issue I've ever seen posted on any of these forums. I think when most people figure something out, they probably just never post any answers, because they just forget that there's a bunch of people out there still suffering with this problem. In this persons description they stopped drinking water from the faucet, even filtered water, because their pipes were old and moldy and the mold would even get in the filter I guess. Completely cured the problem for him he said. I still do this, but I'm not sure how much effect it's having.

These are all things that have helped me or helped others with the same problem. I'm a singer and perform over a hundred shows a year. When this started happening I thought it would pass eventually or maybe I was just sick. I've been dealing with this issue now for about 7 years. Making music is my love and my life, so when this started happening to me it scared to my core and still scares me to this day. I've read thousands of articles and forums on this. I went to an ENT and was told I have acid reflux and GERD like everyone else. I even had part of my elongated uvula (hangy ball in back mouth) cut down, because for awhile I was convinced that was the solution. Which ultimately costed me more money than a person of my income can afford and also made me feel super helpless since, in the end, it wasn't fixed. I'm not sure there's a complete solution to this. Maybe diet plays a big role, because I've only tried a little of changing my diet around (cut down on spicy foods, don't eat before bed). But in my search for a solution, these are the things that have provided relief. When this starts, it's just gagging, after you have it for awhile, you start to get anxiety about gagging. Especially for me since I have to perform with my throat in front of a lot of people on a regular basis. So it's very much a mental problem, as well as a physical problem. The first like 4 things I've suggested here are more for dealing with the anxiety this causes which makes this problem worse. One of the main things I've learned from all this is to be more open minded about things. And also, what's working for you this week might not work next week. This fact comes with a lot of disappointments and let downs, but just keep on fighting the good fight and searching (but don't forget to post any findings if they help you). Don't give up. And for all the people that go to the doctor/ENT and aren't taken seriously, just know they are just being lazy or stupid. Just because they've never dealt with this before and don't have a solution for you, doesn't mean you should have to feel stupid or unheard or helpless or like you are making it up. These forums clearly show that these are real problems for thousands of people. Hopefully this can help you guys in one way or another. Good luck on your journey! And again, don't forget to post any solutions you find, because it could help a lot of people. Just because it's solved for you, doesn't mean it's not excruciating for thousand or millions of other people everyday.