Obsessive swallowing

[RicoS]

Yes yes yes and yes

I know exactly what you are going through. When I wake up the first thing I feel is my tong and than it's swallow time.

Believe me .... I think it will pass, but it will not be overnight.... it just wil not be. Because that is to easy. I feel the same as you and believe me a lot of people with these problems are.

Sometimes I focus myself 100% on it and get depressive ... so try to do other things ...no matter how hard it is to get the energy ...but staying at home in bed does not going to help you. Because you will be even more busy with it.

You will get there....it will take time but you will get there.

This is tuff, but believe me loud tinnitus is also tuff and I got both..... so it always can get worse.

Try to stay positive and let the anxiety take over your body and don't fight it .... the more you do the harder it gets.

And no I also do not have all the answers, but this feels the same ass the onset of my tinnitus...I was in total panic mode....and now this...but after 2 weeks now I hate it still as much, but I try to not focus on it and I notice my reaction is less panic than before....but I also have a very very very long way to go.

But like I said....if you want you get there ....a lot of people dealt with it and so can we.

[GwenP]

Hi

I posted on health anxiety with no replies, I have a few problems with health anxiety after I was assaulted over a year ago, worst at moment is swallowing, coughing sinus problems I do have reflux but this is getting behind a joke

[London_Anne]

Hi everyone. I suffer with this type of OCD, I am often consciously aware of my swallowing when it's meant to be sub-concious. It is very, very distressing I'm trying hard to beat it but not having much luck. I have read Steve Seays website but I don't really understand his treatment advise. Any help would be appreciated from people that have gone through this.

Thank you. Anne

[London_Anne]

^

Anyone? I'm really suffering with this and don't know what to do

[Mrsmitchell1984]

Sorry to hear you are suffering. I have this and it is called sensorimotor ocd. The problem is the more you try to tell your brain not to concentrate on something- the more it does- so you are left with self-fullfiling anxiety. The anxiety makes your brain focus on the swallowing more.

However, when you sleep you are able to swallow- so maybe you are able to switch off of it.

If you tell yourself that it is ok to focus on your swallowing- hopefully your anxiety about it will decrease- and your mind will naturally distract itself from it.

I hope that helps a bit.

Xx

[London_Anne]

Sorry to hear you are suffering. I have this and it is called sensorimotor ocd. The problem is the more you try to tell your brain not to concentrate on something- the more it does- so you are left with self-fullfiling anxiety. The anxiety makes your brain focus on the swallowing more.

However, when you sleep you are able to swallow- so maybe you are able to switch off of it.

If you tell yourself that it is ok to focus on your swallowing- hopefully your anxiety about it will decrease- and your mind will naturally distract itself from it.

I hope that helps a bit.

Xx

Thank you. I just find it so physically uncomfortable though, it's constant throughout the day and always there on my mind. So so frustrating and distressing I guess it's pretty rare??

[Mrsmitchell1984]

I thought it was rare too- it you will probably see many of the same threads on here. I know it is awful- but keep telling your brain- it does not matter. It may take a while, but eventually your brain will think of something else. The aim though is to feel the sensation of swallowing without being worried about it- only then will your mind wander on its own again.

Please keep me posted on how you get on.

[London_Anne]

I thought it was rare too- it you will probably see many of the same threads on here. I know it is awful- but keep telling your brain- it does not matter. It may take a while, but eventually your brain will think of something else. The aim though is to feel the sensation of swallowing without being worried about it- only then will your mind wander on its own again.

Please keep me posted on how you get on.

I will x

[machassan]

I have made this fb page to contact rach other and make a group therapy online
facebook.com/salivacontrolocd

hope you all join
Good luck

[London_Anne]

So I believe I have found a cure for this!

Your brain has marked the conscious swallowing as dangerous, this explains why you keep being aware of it. For example, there will be times you may feel that you are still noticing your swallowing despite not thinking about it e.g when engrossed in a movie. I personally was literally noticing every swallow I took, the action happening around every 30 seconds, all day. Literally nothing I did could take my mind off of it.

The key to reducing this in the short term and ultimately getting rid of the problem in the long term, is to literally trick your brain into believing the obsessive swallowing is not bothering you. To do this, set aside 2 or 3 half hour slots a day (make sure you are alone and won't be interrupted) and literally lie down and purposely focus solely on your swallowing. You will need to do this every day. You will start to notice after about a week that you're not doing it quite as much as before. Gradually (and it may take months, even years) as long as you keep doing the exposure exercise, the swallowing will go back to a sub-conscious act permanently as your brain will be tricked into believing it is not bothering you anymore. Other things that you should do to help are to stop researching the problem on the internet and to keep busy in your life. Do all this and I promise you will in the end get over this!