Swallowing Issues

[jksim]

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.

[Inapickle]

hi jksim, iv been through this having food at the back of my throat then losing my swallow sending a surge of panic all the way through me it is awful but it will get better, mine was all due to anxiety and a horrible husband.i ended up only eating clear soup and lost a lot of weight but when the anxiety lifted i was able to eat more starting with easy food to swallow to now being able to eat a full Sunday roast. it only happens now when im really stressed like now but i know it will go away again which it will for you too. wishing you all the best

[diane07]

I remember this one so well,

The way i dealt with this is to stop making meal times such an issue, easier said than done at the time, i used to watch comedy's while eating, just anything other than focus on the eating.

I stopped eating solids for two years at one point and this did me no favours, my advice would be, distract your mind while eating, if you focus on a phobia it will intensify it.

Reading your story reminded me so much of my own, rest assured, there is hope and light at the end of the tunnel.

di xxx

[jksim]

Thank you for your replies and encouragement I am trying my best to distract myself and work through this. I know stress definitely makes it worse. I'm sitting here trying to eat macaroni and cheese without thinking too much about it, haha. yes, easier said than done.

That dreaded incomplete swallow thing keeps trying to happen. It totally freaks me out. I guess this is just the whole tightening of the throat thing not allowing the swallow to complete itself. It just feels so weird and makes me fixate on every swallow.

Thanks again for the help. It is much appreciated.

[diane07]

you won't be cured overnight, you will know that, but put things into practise, the best thing for me at first was distraction, you will get over this, i'm only just back here on nmp after five months and i will help you as much as i can once i've found my feet again

[jaynehal]

Hi I had this for a good 6 months or so a few years back and it was horrible I was never away from the docs! Anyway once I started Cbt it eventually went, apparently your throat muscles all go very tense and cause the swallowing problem with anxiety! Xx

[Beyonderz]

Hey Jksim, I hope you feel well soon. It's a great idea to distract your thoughts when eating. If you are close to a TV, watching something is good idea just as Diane07 mentioned. And do not worry, it will never go to the wrong pipe
That swallowing mechanism in our throat works perfect and automatically, so when food is in a process to be pushed down by muscles there, the flap that covers entrance to the air pipe will never open. As long as you don't try to take breath when eating

If you don't feel ok with Prozac, I can recommend you to ask your doctor a medicine with Sertraline in it. Discuss it with your doc.
Hope you feel better soon.