Obsessive swallowing

[MomE127SC]

Oh, thank you! I have been up all night constantly swallowing air and spitting excess saliva in cups and dry heaving belches of large air. I have aerophagia (excess belcing and stomach upset) due to this condition. I haven't slept in 32 hours. I have severe anxiety, panic, fear and phobia. I blame my worrier-what ifs personality. I have recently started taking 25 mg of Sertraline (Zoloft) and this morning had to take a 0.25 mg Xanax to calm a massive panic attack. This is an embarrassing, gross, obsessive issue. I started having this problem 3 years ago. My Husband told me he noticed I slept with my mouth open and I swallowed lots of air when I drank....and THIS is where I started paying attention to it and trying to correct/control it. I had sinus surgery, for no reason. It changed nothing, except now I am sensitive to smells, too. I was treated for anxiety 3 years ago with Zoloft 25mg daily. It worked!! All anxiety and habits, GONE! Stopped taking meds April 2007. And slowly the stress, anxiety, panic, fear, phobia and habits all came back and here I am again.....loosing my little mind and feeling like I am going die. I think it is an anxious habit for me. I only notice it when I am anxious or when I think about it. But when I try to think about it to control and stop it, I do it more. I do it alot when having dental work done. I have severe dental anxiety, not to mention all other types of anxiety, that I've had since i was like 4 years old. I am hoping meds, exercise, distractions and cognitive-behavioral therapy will help me. I hate meds and want to get off again. I am 24, have a husband and daughter and I need my life back. I'm missing out. I hope all you find what works. Here is a book I am going to buy and recommend it to you all "The Worry Cure: Ways to Stop worrying from Stopping You" Good luck to us all. Glad I am not alone!!

[nazli]

Hello everyone,

Reading about all of your experiences has been really comforting. As most of you said, I also thought I was the only person to have such an odd obsession. But I knew it was just a symptom and not the problem itself. Reaching the roots of the problem is the tricky bit. So far I haven't had much luck with that I'm afraid.
I've ben experimenting different methods though and I have a few tips.
1. Meditation- just concentrate on the route your breath follows when you inhale and exhale, nothing else.
2. chewing a gum
3. drinking plenty of water
4. exercise
5. stretching muscles

I still have the problem of over swallowing and I'm determined to overcome it. I'll focus on the four above and then see what happens.
Good luck with your battle, Cheers

[btg]

Hello all--
I have been through a fair amount of suffering with this fixation. Not as much as some, I know, but I have certainly come to terms recently with the reality of the pain. Luckily, it is not always so bad, but there are times when it becomes very difficult to see past the dark times.

I would like to offer one, support--I am open to talk about my experience with this, or just add myself as another who is out there. But also, I have been experimenting with meditation and I would highly recommend it. There are many books (one that has been mentioned on this website a fair amount is John Kabat Zinn's Full Catastrophe Living).

There are also plenty of resources on the web, used books, and community events to check into. Try typing in "OCD and meditation" in the google bar and you might find something.

Meditation is not just about relaxation, it's about controlling your mind. It can be very, very difficult, and very frustrating, but KEEP at it. Remember: there is actually no goal, not of enlightenment, not of the elimination of suffering. The results will not be immediate, but I guarantee if you keep at it, you will feel something.

On aside, for those of you with the swallowing issue, if you are meditating keep your tongue on the roof of your mouth. You will still probably be salivating, but swallow when necessary, be AWARE of it, and have an intention, but just let it pass. Like watching clouds in the sky as they say.

Any questions just PM me... I'm not full of answers but I might have some ideas.

[dannic1]

Just wondering how everyone is doing with their swallowing issues? It is true if you keep your mind occupied, that it can totally go away. I personally find that if I get my myself involved in cooking, the OCD will go away. I also recently noticed that when I took at break from work and home to travel and take care of my mom after double knee replacement surgery, I had almost no swallowing issues at all. I think I was so busy cooking, cleaning and taking care of my mom, that I didn't have time to be idle and focus on the swallowing. I also seriously think that being away from my stressful relationship at home and away from my stressful work environment, helped immensely. My boss is very verbally abusive to me, in spite of my many conversations with her to stop her behavior. I also exercised at my mom's quite a bit. They say that exercise can actually surpass the results of medication, I read. I'm not down-playing medication, though. If it works and that's what you elect to do, I'm all for it. How many on here have been helped by medication to make your swallowing issues go away? I read one post where it had helped. I'm sometimes wondering if I should have gone on medication back when this first started? Any opinions? Was it a Godsend for anyone on here? I had this same problem back in high school and then it went away on its own. Back then I didn't know it was OCD. I lived for many years without it, so it was rather frustrating when it came back, like why me again, Lord? I still keep my faith, though, in spite of everything and know that God is capable of healing anything and everything - nothing is too hard for Him. : ) Just curious how many of you on this board with the swallowing issue are able to discuss it with your family or friends? I don't want my daughter or other half to know I have it. I wouldn't want to suggest this problem to anyone, although my therapist says that she doesn't get it from me. Maybe that's part of the OCD to think we can give this to someone by just talking about it with them. It's just so difficult to explain it to someone who hasn't had it. I read these posts and it's like, "yes, that's right, that's exactly how it is". I do believe the more we try and control it or think about it, the worse it gets. Social settings are difficult for me, but I manage to somehow control it and my friends and family have never once noticed my issues. I do not want to be considered abnormal by anyone. My therapist says that talking about it is a form of exposure therapy and is good for me, because I'm not avoiding talking about it. Has anyone tried biofeedback for it? I had it done for awhile - helps alot with anxiety, but can't say that the obsessive swallowing was cured by it. I'm praying that my burdon will be lifted soon, like it was previously. God bless everyone - you are in my thoughts and my prayers. I'm going to increase my exercise again and see if that helps with my stress/anxiety levels. danni

[SuperInfinity]

I'm doing pretty well with it Dannic1, it doesn't bother me as much anymore I'm glad to say. I get it sometimes still and it really annoys me... but I think I've learned to deal with it.

[rusty97]

I just wanted to say I also suffer from obsessive/compulsive swallowing. I have come to deal with this in 4 ways. 1, I take an anitdepressant to stabilize my mood, 2, I see a cognitive behavioral therapist who is helping me to over come my anxieties associated with these intrusive thoughts. 3, I carry a bottle of water with me almost everywhere, and 4, I try and keep my mind and body busy as much as possible. Hope these suggestions help. Granted there not a cure all, more a means of coping.

[abc_03]

Hi to everyone, I have been suffering from social phobia since I was 14 and some automatic thoughts which are probably related to OCD since I was 19. Beside my SA, I started to suffer from neck tension/tighten in public at the age of 19. Then, after a severe and long lasting (3 weeks) upper respiratory tract infection, neck tension worsened and I also started to suffer from excessive swallowing at the age of 21. I was also told that I had a chronic sinusitis and deviated septum while i had that upper respiratory tract infection for 3 weeks. Finally, I started to suffer from excessive salivation at the middle age of 24. I will be 26 in this summer and I have still been suffering from neck tensions/tighten, excessive swallowing and salivation. I usually suffer from only one of them at the one time but its type and degree changes time to time. For instance I may have a mild neck tension in the morning then it may be gone and I may have a severe excessive salivation in the evening. I have been mostly suffering from excessive salivation, secondly neck tensions/tighten then excessive swallowing lately.

That was the short background of me, I ve read lots of things about SA,OCD and those 3 obsessive thoughts so far. Now, what I really want to do is doing a survey and try to see if there are some any other things which related to OCD or SA. For example according to some of the researches there may be a link between physical problems and OCD or tics. For example link between pharyngitis, throat infections and OCD, tics. Or most of us may have some similarities apart from OCD or SA. By doing this survey, we may explore some new things related to our problems even help to find new methods or ideas for treatment.

Here is the survey and my answers at the below, just beneath of it there is the survey itself without the answers so you can copy paste and fill in. If you are interested, please answer all the questions on the survey honestly. Thanks in advance, good luck and best wishes to everyone.

Nickname: abc_03
Age: 25
Gender: Male
Illness title: SA, OCD
Medicines: 20mg Paroxetine per day
Current main symptoms which you mostly suffer from: Excessive saliva, neck tensions/tighten, excessive swallowing, concentration problem, forgetfulness.
Other current symptoms, illness or problems no matter related or not to your mental disease: Chapped lips, excessive sex thoughts and libido, sinusitis and blocked nose, deviated septum, excessive yawning, easily getting startled, click voice from jaw disks, sometimes unbalanced walking, 3 teeth decay, big adams apple.
Old symptoms, illness or problems you had before no matter related or not to your mental disease with times: I was very naughty and active child in childhood, easily affected by movies or people and imitated/copied those characters in childhood, had measles at the age of 11, slowly started to be quiet, introvert and get nervous around people about at the age of 13-14, suffered from under feet pains and diagnosed as mild fallen arches about at the age of 15, I have sprained my ankles mostly in sport lots of time in my life, I have had lots of upper respiratory tract infections and pharyngitis in my life so far and diagnosed as chronic sinusitis and deviated septum at the age of 21.
Sufferers in 1st degree relatives with times and illness title detail: Mum has been suffering from schizophrenia, OCD and mild SA for about 25-30 years. One of my sister has been mentally insane since she was 14. Mum is 62 and sister is 42 years old now. Hopefully their conditions are not too bad but still they are sufferer. Btw, I have 5 siblings, 2 brothers and 3 sisters.
Medicine history: Only 50 mg Lustral/Sertralin per day from 2005 to 10/2008 then changed to 20mg Paroxetine per day only since 10/2008 so far.

Nickname:
Age:
Gender:
Illness title:
Medicines:
Current main symptoms which you mostly suffer from:
Other current symptoms, illness or problems no matter related or not to your mental disease:
Old symptoms, illness or problems you had before no matter related or not to your mental disease with times:
Sufferers in 1st degree relatives with times and illness title detail:
Medicine history:

Thank you, good luck and best wishes to everyone.

[vikingo]

I think you all are brave for posting and I must admit that I found this site because I was researching a particular medical case of interest. However, I think that case was interesting to me because I have similar, albeit, not as serious issues with saliva. I have always thought that I produce too much saliva. I worry about drooling more than anything else and each morning I wake up waiting for my wife to say something even though we've been married for 3 years and she's never brought it up. Growing up, I always thought that all that saliva was too much acid for my stomach to handle and it turns out, my present day stomach issues were probably due to stress. I have noticed that daily intake of nexium, and earlier, omeprazol, to counteract GERDs and my stomach lining issues have reduced my saliva production, but the greatest thing is that I find that if I don't think about it, it happens less. It's as if I think less about it, so I produce less saliva and because I produce less saliva I think less about it. (Maybe this is the same as the previous post's idea of keeping thier mind busy on other subjects?) I didn't even notice it was working, but thank God it does. I only noticed after reading this message board. Thank you, just for being here.

God bless you all and good luck. I'm sure there is light at the end of your tunnel.

[NatteAsbak]

I've had the same problem for years. When I was 13, I had repetitive swallowing, to the point that my throat was soar and it started to hurt. Lately, my obsession has been about choking. I always take deep breaths and every meal is hell, because I concentrate SO hard on getting the food down the right pipe.

Basicly, there were two things which made me feel comfortable and has gradually reduced the symptoms:

1. It's impossible to choke or die from conscious "throat spasms". When your really anxious, your tounge is usually curled up at the bottom of the palate. When food gets stuck, this is when you think you're choking. However, the body has defendse mechanisms for situations such as these. You will always, automatically cough or clear your throat. It's scary, but it will not kill you - I have a doctor's word on that

2. Relaxation. It sounds hard, but it's really not. The more you concentrate on these symptomps, the worse it gets. Take your time when you eat - there's no rush. Also, when you're breathing heavily and is scared that you might choke, know this: You won't! Play a game, read a book, watch a movie or do anything, that might take your mind of it. It'll help you more than you know

All the best wishes
Jarl.

[Alexy]

I have had this before, its an awful feeling:S
Does anybody ever get the feeling that their tongue is swollen? Like its too big for your mouth? And like, your mouth goes all dry? sorry if i sound mad:S xxxx