trouble swallowing

[suzie135]

hey there my name is sue im 23 years old and suffer really badly from anxiety. it al started when i was about 14 after i choked and i saw a specialist ant it went but after the birth of my son it has reterned about 10 times worse i find swallow really difficult and dread meal times i get worked up and panicky lyk an hour before i eat and when im eating when i swallow my whole body jilts an i have to grab hold of some thing. it feels lyk i have trouble to get food in my stomach. its affecting my whole body i cant breath get heaaches feel like im going to pass out feel sick hav IBS tight chest raceing heart tightness under my ribs above my stomach its a nigtmare and im starting to get depressed about it. and feel so on my own lykim theonly person with it in the world.any avice would be greatly appreciated its ruining my life thanks sue x

[suzie135]

please somone answer :( x

[Nigel]

Hi Sue

to NMP!

Please don’t feel you’re the only person in the world with this. In fact it’s such a common anxiety symptom that there’s a whole section here about throat and swallowing problems.

Part of the problem is that when a person is anxious their muscles become tense, and that includes the muscles in the neck, which slightly press on the throat. It feels strange and they start to worry about it, and that worrying keeps the anxiety and the whole thing going. And if you had a nasty experience when you were 14, it probably taps into those old memories too.

Another thing is that when this happens it makes a person think a lot about their throat and how they swallow. The trouble is, they don’t really know how to do it. It’s an automatic subconscious action. I don’t have this problem myself, but even for me, if I start thinking about how I’m swallowing it gets rather awkward. Focussing on it is like taking over control of your swallowing from your subconscious mind, but your subconscious is far better at doing it than you are. It’s a bit like switching off the auto pilot on a plane and taking over the controls for a while.

Have a read of some of the posts in that section I suggested, and try not to worry about it. Everything is alright, and the less you worry about it the easier it becomes.

Take care
Nigel

[mr badger]

Hi Suzie

I've nothing practical to add but welcome to the forum. Like Nigel says, have a look round and yo'll find some good support here.

TJ

[PrinceOfWorry]

when I was a younger man, I had "trouble swallowing" but I think it was more psychological than physiological. It was like I had trouble communicating the swallow reflex to the muscles in my throat. It was scary. Even when I wasn't eating, things were tough. It just took time and getting my mind away from the idea of my throat, away from being hyper-aware of it, to get my life back to normal.

[suzie135]

heya thanks guys the posts are very useful xx