jksim
04-05-12, 20:28
Hello everyone. I'm new here. This site is wonderful and I'm so glad I found it.
I'm 40 years old and have suffered from anxiety/panic attacks for around 15 years now. I have recently developed a new symptom that just came out of the blue three months ago. I feel like I can't swallow my food. I'm talking about the starting of the swallow. Once I swallow, everything goes down fine. It's the beginning of the swallow that is the problem (the throat part). The first part of the meal is usually fine. But then I start thinking about it and the rest of the meal becomes a battle. It's as if my throat doesn't want to initiate the swallow. So, I get scared to swallow and this creates a hellish eating experience.
I will sometimes just let the food sit at the back of my throat until I psych myself up to swallow. But even this doesn't always work. Sometimes I will start the swallow and it doesn't complete itself. This is even worse than the swallowing delay. It's hard to describe. It's like pulling a lever only halfway down. They feel like half swallows or incomplete swallows where the food just moves slightly down my throat and just sits there until I quickly and fully swallow again in a panic to complete the process. I don't understand what is happening or why. But now I can't enjoy eating anymore. I can't even sit down at a meal. I have to snack mostly through the day.
Swallowing liquids is not a problem for the most part, although when I'm anxious I will sometimes get this moment of hesitation when I begin to sip as if my throat isn't going to cooperate. It's like my throat locks up for a moment and I feel like I might have to spit out the liquid. Once I get past the first sip, everything is fine and I can drink with no problem. It's just the first sip. It's very weird and it always happens when I'm anticipating it or thinking about the act of drinking.
I don't know if this is dangerous or what is going on exactly and this increases my anxiety. When these half swallows occur, is my food at a risk of going down the wrong pipe? Is this being caused by a spasm that causes my throat to lock up? I have seen a doctor and all she did was feel my throat and had me swallow. She said nothing felt swollen and seemed satisfied. She then gave me a prescription for Prozac which I have not taken because I have heard horror stories about it. I don't know if this issue is purely psychological. But I do know that anxiety makes it so much worse.
I have read some of the past threads on this topic which have helped. But I'm still fighting this and getting very tired of it. Also, the past threads are fairly dated (at least the ones that I've found were). So, I'm hoping there are some people currently out there who have dealt with this and can give me some help and insight. It helps to talk about it and would be nice to find some people who can relate to this and hopefully help me.
Thanks again for a great site and a great discussion forum!
J.K.
I'm 40 years old and have suffered from anxiety/panic attacks for around 15 years now. I have recently developed a new symptom that just came out of the blue three months ago. I feel like I can't swallow my food. I'm talking about the starting of the swallow. Once I swallow, everything goes down fine. It's the beginning of the swallow that is the problem (the throat part). The first part of the meal is usually fine. But then I start thinking about it and the rest of the meal becomes a battle. It's as if my throat doesn't want to initiate the swallow. So, I get scared to swallow and this creates a hellish eating experience.
I will sometimes just let the food sit at the back of my throat until I psych myself up to swallow. But even this doesn't always work. Sometimes I will start the swallow and it doesn't complete itself. This is even worse than the swallowing delay. It's hard to describe. It's like pulling a lever only halfway down. They feel like half swallows or incomplete swallows where the food just moves slightly down my throat and just sits there until I quickly and fully swallow again in a panic to complete the process. I don't understand what is happening or why. But now I can't enjoy eating anymore. I can't even sit down at a meal. I have to snack mostly through the day.
Swallowing liquids is not a problem for the most part, although when I'm anxious I will sometimes get this moment of hesitation when I begin to sip as if my throat isn't going to cooperate. It's like my throat locks up for a moment and I feel like I might have to spit out the liquid. Once I get past the first sip, everything is fine and I can drink with no problem. It's just the first sip. It's very weird and it always happens when I'm anticipating it or thinking about the act of drinking.
I don't know if this is dangerous or what is going on exactly and this increases my anxiety. When these half swallows occur, is my food at a risk of going down the wrong pipe? Is this being caused by a spasm that causes my throat to lock up? I have seen a doctor and all she did was feel my throat and had me swallow. She said nothing felt swollen and seemed satisfied. She then gave me a prescription for Prozac which I have not taken because I have heard horror stories about it. I don't know if this issue is purely psychological. But I do know that anxiety makes it so much worse.
I have read some of the past threads on this topic which have helped. But I'm still fighting this and getting very tired of it. Also, the past threads are fairly dated (at least the ones that I've found were). So, I'm hoping there are some people currently out there who have dealt with this and can give me some help and insight. It helps to talk about it and would be nice to find some people who can relate to this and hopefully help me.
Thanks again for a great site and a great discussion forum!
J.K.