Struggling with eating?

[AnxiousPansa]

Hi everyone
Basically I am struggling to eat though not always and always with dinner. I have a choking fear which started one evening eating dinner so I don't know if this is why dinner is the problem. Basically I seem to have really bad mucus in my throat which I can't swallow and when I cough nothing happens. My anxiety is always worse at night aswell. The problem is when I eat the thought of swallowing it makes me really anxious. I have thoughts running through my head 'what if i choke' 'what if the food gets stuck in my throat'. It also doesn't help that it feels like the food IS stuck in my throat. Its very uncomfortable and panics me and its causing me real trouble because I am hungry but can't eat! I even find it difficult to drink sometimes. Its a real problem and im not sure what to do? Any ideas?

[Sunflower2]

I have had this a few times in the past, always when something else has been stressing me out. The first time it happened I lost heaps of weight because it went on for months, but eventually it passed. Each time it's come back it seems to come back for no apparent reason and I panic. But I've learnt that ignoring it is the ONLY way it will go away. I tried to for ages and ages to find a reason why it was happening and figuring out what I was doing wrong but all that it did was make me more aware of it. Try to distract yourself when you're eating by anything at all, even if you feel like you can't stop thinking about it. Read a magazine, talk or look at pictures. But you must keep on eating and eventually when you stop paying attention it will start to go away! I thought that there was something seriously wrong with me and had no idea what to do, it was horrible but now I know it's just another part of anxiety! You can do this!!

[anthrokid]

Increased mucus production in the back of the throat and the feeling of having something stuck in your throat are a couple of the more common symptoms of anxiety. The problem is that the more you worry over this, the longer it will remain because usually it isn't actually something in your throat, it is a feeling caused by tension from anxiety. I know it's hard, but try to eat and just imagine that every mouthful is pushing the lump back down into your stomach where it belongs. Think of how many times in your life you've eaten food before - even as a toddler - without ever choking on your food. And you have a much bigger and stronger throat now than you did then :) If worst comes to worst, try eating soup and work your way back up to bigger items. You need to make sure you are still eating and getting nutrition, otherwise your body will get very tired without energy and you may get run down.