New obsession looking for support and/or advice

[bryman]

I've had OCD for many years but this has got to be the craziest obsession I've come up with. I'm feeling really tired and depressed and just need to talk. Maybe someone else has a similar story or some comfort or advice.

I was fine 2 days ago. I sat down to dinner. As I started to eat a roll I was thinking about my saliva for some reason. I dont know why but I had a sudden rush of saliva and a drop even managed to fall out of my mouth.

I thought "Wouldnt it be awful if your mouth made that much saliva all the time?" and I began to obsess about it. Within 10-15 minutes it was all I could think about. I began to notice the salavia in my mouth constantly and the volume started to become far more than normal.

Now I'm constantly swallowing and focused on the saliva. Its driving me crazy. I keep wondering if there is something physically wrong with me or am I creating the problem by obsessing about it.

Interesting enough it disappears when I fall asleep. Once I'm asleep I make it through the night. I even woke up with a dry mouth because my mouth had been open. No drool on the pillow. This is why I think it is my conscious mind wreaking havoc with me.

As soon as I get up and get moving around I start thinking about it and it comes right back.

I worry that it will be like this forever, or that there is something wrong that is causing the problem: stroke, salivary cancer, etc....

[bottleblond]

Hi Bry

This is a very very common one amongst anxiety sufferers hun.

I have picked a post out for you to read and hope it helps but there are many many more on here.

http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7727&highlight=constant+swallowing

Hope this helps

Love Lisa
xxx

:bighug1:

[bryman]

Thanks for the link. I'm trying to stay calm about it and let it pass. I guess it can be contagious. I told a friend of mine about the problem. He told me he was lying in bed thinking about my problem. He said he had to swallow spit. Then became immediately aware of his mouth filling with spit again.

I guess it bugged him for 5-6 minutes then he fell asleep.


I took a little lorazepam for the anxiety and I'm doing a bit better. I still havent shaken the problem yet though. Hopefully I will start worrying about something else that will take my mind off it for a while.


Bill

[SuperInfinity]

I've had OCD for many years but this has got to be the craziest obsession I've come up with. I'm feeling really tired and depressed and just need to talk. Maybe someone else has a similar story or some comfort or advice.

I was fine 2 days ago. I sat down to dinner. As I started to eat a roll I was thinking about my saliva for some reason. I dont know why but I had a sudden rush of saliva and a drop even managed to fall out of my mouth.

I thought "Wouldnt it be awful if your mouth made that much saliva all the time?" and I began to obsess about it. Within 10-15 minutes it was all I could think about. I began to notice the salavia in my mouth constantly and the volume started to become far more than normal.

Yes! That's exactly what I thought. I thought wouldn't that be the most terrible thing ever. I can pinpoint the exact time it started happening to me.



Now I'm constantly swallowing and focused on the saliva. Its driving me crazy. I keep wondering if there is something physically wrong with me or am I creating the problem by obsessing about it.

Again, same with me. I can identify exactly with everything you're saying. I wouldn't rule out a physical problem.


Interesting enough it disappears when I fall asleep. Once I'm asleep I make it through the night. I even woke up with a dry mouth because my mouth had been open. No drool on the pillow. This is why I think it is my conscious mind wreaking havoc with me.

I think I may have had it worse than you. When I got it first I would have it for every second of every day. I could NEVER forget about it, partly possibly because I was extremely anxious over something. Now here's the thing: When I woke up, my mouth would be as dry as a dessert. I figured it was because I was swallowing over and over so much saliva that I had none left.... another poster here said her daughter had the problem and she could see her doing that while she slept...


As soon as I get up and get moving around I start thinking about it and it comes right back.

I worry that it will be like this forever, or that there is something wrong that is causing the problem: stroke, salivary cancer, etc....

It started with me about 5 months ago, and it's wayyyy less now than it used to be. Sometimes it bugs me still a bit.... but it doesn't really affect my mood too much anymore. *shrugs* It's the weirdest phenomenon and can be incredibly disturbing but there's probably not a lot you can do except hang in there.

[bryman]

Thanks for posting. Its good to know I'm not alone.

I'm glad to hear you are doing a lot better now. I've had other psychosomatic disorders related to anxiety. Took me a couple months to get rid of the last one. I'm hoping that by recognizing this one as OCD right away will help nip it in the bud.

I'll ask my wife if I keep swallowing in my sleep but I'm fairly sure I dont. I think that once my conscious mind is out of the way everything starts working like it should.

Some things I'm doing to try to kick this are reducing stress by quitting caffeine. Going to the gym and constantly telling myself "This isnt real. You can beat this." Also I pray a lot since I'm a Christian. Sometimes chewing gum helps me. Ususally when I chew gum my mouth is full of spit that I keep unconsciously swallowing so I feel fairly normal while chewing the gum. My jaw is getting real tired though :)

One interesting story is that I told a friend who doesnt have OCD my problem. He told me that last night he lay awake in bed for a while swallowing spit and getting annoyed as he noticed his mouth filling back up with spit. I said "How did you get over it?". He said "well I guess I got sick of thinking about it and fell asleep". I wish it was that easy for us with OCD!

[btg]

Hey man-- just as one of the above posters said, this is a really common anxiety problem. I arrived at it almost the exact same way you did, and so will many others, and so will others in the past. I'd had it for a while, and eventually decided to see a therapist about it because I really thought I was all alone and it would never go away. She said that it was common and no one she'd treated had ever had it forever.

It's really good that you're beginning to seek help when it started... I thought that just by pretending it wasn't there, but still having underlying fears about it, would solve all my problems. Unfortunately, no. What you're doing, cutting down on caffeine and exercising more is really good. I would just do more and more of that, eventually becoming %100 comfortable with it. I would look online for relaxation techniques (especially stuff to do with meditation, like observing what you are doing, breathing, swallowing, and becoming totally comfortable with that, just letting things come and go). Here's some advice I gave to another person:

1. exposure--for the next two weeks you can try swallowing as much as possible during a minute or two (no more!), just once a day, then slowing the swallowing down, watching the saliva build, swallowing when it feels right, and so on. That's just one way to become comfortable with it, though, so I wouldn't rely on it too much.
2. exercise (but not to the point where you get stressed out), take walks, bike rides, whatever, especially sports that are mind-focused.
3. busy yourself, always working towards acceptance. don't avoid situations or people. i would also avoid timing yourself and doing other 'checking' stuff like obsessing over how much you're doing it. trust me, i've been there, a lot of people have. it sucks and sucks and sucks and feels like the world is going to end, but you can strive and work yourself out of it. please feel free to PM me if you want to talk more. i've had this problem for a bit and it has proved tremendously just from changing my mentality about it, but do not expect things to change over night.

also, as I'm sure everyone who is on the board would offer, feel free to PM or anyone else going through it, as there is a lot of support if you are willing to look.

[SuperInfinity]

So how's it going for you now man?

What's shocking for me is the fact that it comes so badly, so instantly and yet it goes away incredibly slowly. Logically speaking, I would have assumed that at any second I could get it all back again just by thinking about it, but it doesn't seem to work like that. Mind you, I'm not 100% comfortable with saying that because I don't want to tempt fate if you know what I mean (ie. thinking: "wouldn't it be awful if I was completely wrong with that thing I said on the forum and it came back worse than it ever was"...)

Did you also have a massive panic attack when you first got it? I sure as hell did. Also I funnily remembered having it as a child years and years ago...

I think it's the fear of it and the memory of that fear that you had starting from the first panic attack... that's what feeds it.

[SuperInfinity]

Well I daresay things must be going alright considering you haven't replied back! I remember when I got it first I was obsessed with coming to this place asking about it. :P

[dannic1]

Hi all,

I can related to everyone on this thread. I had the whole focus on my saliva/swallowing problem first show up back in high school. It eventually went away on its own again. It showed up some 26 years late again under stress. I don't know if it's a form of OCD or just plain generalized anxiety. Whatever it is, I know it can be frustrating and it feels like it changes your life so very much. I have good and bad moments, but I do feel I'm improving some overall. I'm seeing a therapist, although I haven't been in awhile. I am going to start seeing her again, so that I can get at the root cause of my anxiety. Chewing gum helps me immensely. Even if I don't even really chew it - just to have a piece in my mouth helps me to relax my mouth and jaw and take the focus off of my swallowing. I find that if I am truly relaxed, that I don't seem to have the excessive saliva or need to swallow. I believe that relaxation and getting your mind off of it are key to helping it. I believe that exercise and good nutrition are also important. Like Bryman, I too am a Christian and pray about it daily. I believe that God can heal anything that we take to Him in prayer. For me, sometimes the caffeine, especially coffee, can help to dry me up and assist with the excessive saliva. I do believe that anxiety causes more saliva, though, as I think we produce more stomach acid when we are nervous and therefore more saliva. I definitely have acid reflux, so taking my Aciphex helps out some as well with drying me up. I seem to do really well in the mornings and into the afternoon time, but sometimes have trouble in the late evenings. Keep the faith - I have overcome this problem before and have had moments of "normalcy" even recently. God bless each and every one of you - you are in my thoughts and my prayers. danni

[Cathy V]

I think Danni is right. I think what happened to bryman is that a little more saliva was produced because he was eating a bread roll, and more saliva would be needed to help him digest it. Then because of his anxiety about it, even more saliva was produced. So began the exessive swallowing to get rid of the saliva, which would then produce more because the mouth doesnt like to be too dry. Vicious circle guys I know..xxx