Throat, coping and distractions... ?

[mjh74]

Hi all,

I'm sure you've read my posts about my throat issues. Thanks to the Cipralex that I'm taking I'm able to get through the days easier than before, as long as I'm chewing it's bearable. The thing is, the second I lapse and stop chewing or try to relax for 5 minutes, the symptoms start to get unbearable again and it's a constant battle to try and fend it off. I know it's something that I'm creating but I don't know how to stop it :(. I just want to continually swallow and my throat feels despirate as if I want to gag like I can't bear just having it there, this leads to the muscles becoming tense and things get worse from there. I am always concious of the dangly bit and the surround flaps of skin near your tonsils and I feel like heaving when I speak. I have been fighting this for 7 months now and I don't know how to relieve the symptoms. I'm having CBT sessions at the minute 1 to 1 and tomorrow I talk about exposure. I'm not sure if this involves me speaking until I heave and vomit to overcome my emetaphobia or what. I guess I will soon find out.
I would love to get back to work and be over this altogther. I do pop in once or twice a week as advised by occupational health but by the time I've been there for my hour my throat has had about as much as it can take and aches, this leaves me feeling exhausted for the rest of the day too.
I keep reading posts on here from fellow throat sufferers but theirs seems to go away or is controllable, what is the secret?

Sorry to ramble... I know things are a LOT better over the past month or two than they have been all year but if the throat is getting any better it's such a miniscule change I'm not really appreciating it. My worry is the longer that it goes on, the many years to come I will have it looming in the background whenever I feel a bit off.

If any throat sufferer has any more coping strategies I'd love to hear them. I've tried sucking boiled sweets, chewing gum, mints, hot drinks, cold drinks, breathing exercises, distraction and they all help to a degree but they are also quite short lived. It also seems that when I become physically more active, it gets worse.

Mark

[angieb]

Hiya Mike

Fellow throatie as you know. My throat thing is all but finished, had one two hour session one night in France but it went.

There is one thing you don't seem to have tried and I don't want to sound harsh but what worked for me was acceptance.

I said to myself, you have had the throat thing for two months, not choked, not died so maybe you will have it for ever so learn to live with it lady. I promise you Mike as soon as I changed my attitude to it withing a week I felt it subsisiding. First it went during the evening, then during the day, then was only there when I was in a public place then it just went. It does not even cross my mind now.

Take care Mike, I do really feel your anxiety on this one, it is horrible.

Hig hug...Angie

[alexis]

Hi Mark, when I was at my worse, I felt as if I didnt swallow every few minutes i would choke, to cut a long story short I drank water continuously and I coped,then decided this was not always acceptable so decided to space it out. At first I would allow myself a drink every 5 minutes,then gradually I increased to 7 mins 9 mins etc. I now always have water with me but do not drink anymore than most, if Im bad and my throat gets "sticky" I will have it more often again.
Hope this helps a bit, Love Alexis,x

[mjh74]

Thanks for your replies angie and alexis....

The problem with my throat thing is that it's reinforced with my phobia of vomitting. I could probably handle the way it feels a bit better if that wasn't on my mind too. I manage to spasm it enough to make speaking feel unpleasant from 10 minutes after waking. From then on, it depends on how brave I feel as to how things go. It I try to talk as much as I can I end up with the lump in the throat which sends pain right down my gullet and into my back for the day. If I'm not speaking much, it doesn't feel too bad until I eventually do have to speak and then I feel like heaving which leaves me feeling the need to swallow over and over again until my throat feels like it locks. Both feelings set my heart racings so I feel certain levels of anxiety every day. I went to see the CBT guy today who has referred me for some exposure therapy. This starts where I have to listen to people being sick and heaving until I'm in full panic, I have to ride out the panic come what may until it dies down. I then have to move onto watching people vomitting on video until the same happens, then last but not least I have to make myself vomit :(. This is over a course of 16 weeks. I get the feeling it will either make or break me..... ~Fingers crossed~ [B)]