Extreme trouble swallowing, anyone?

[Blah7886]

No matter what it is, I can't swallow normally -liquids or solids, but liquids are a little easier for me. This is one of my more annoying symptoms  ...It's like I "forget" how to swallow. When I eat, I just keep food in my mouth until I feel like I'm ready to swallow, sometimes this takes minutes. I also do a stupid throat clearing this before EVERY swallow to make sure there's nothing blocking my food from going down and getting caught I guess. It's rather embarrassing, although I don't think anyone has really noticed..probably because of the fact that I try not to eat in public. However, I very rarely eat when I'm alone (usually I make sure my bf is home) in fear of choking. I never finish a meal...ever. When I eat I struggle the entire time...then after about ten swallows, my throat seems to get really tight and "close up" and it gets harder for me to actually swallow so I just throw the rest of my food away. Sometimes I really can't even get a swallow in and I walk to the bathroom and spit my food out... I don't know if this is a real problem or it's just me and my anxiety. I saw an ENT last week for a persistent sore throat and they said my throat was definitely red and irritated, probably from GERD, which I know I have, and she said my vocal chords are working right...This has been going on for over a year and I just hate it...I mean, I've swallowed for 25 years, why the hell can't I get it right now? It's beyond ridiculous. I also want to add that sometimes when I am "swishing" food around in my mouth before getting ready to swallow, if it gets too far back, my throat automatically swallows for me and some food goes down. This probably means my throat is working correctly, right? And maybe it possibly is just my anxiety and fear of choking..? Anyway, just curious if anyone else experiences this...I'm really embarrassed of it and just want to get better 

[Blah7886]

Bump...

[scottkaye]

This is a very common anxiety symptom that I have seen posted several times... it is not one I had personally, but when I did the CBT MAP-3 program, it was something my therapist went over with me as he was testing me for different anxiety reactions.

There was a very specific exercise he went over with me to test for this anxiety and to do exposures for it.  It was basically swallowing (not with any food in your mouth) several times in a row... it gets progressively more difficult just because you can't generate enough saliva.. the idea behind the exposure was to do this and experience the anxiety from it, until you become desensitized to the experience and thus become less stressed about swallowing in general, so you don't experience the same fear when you swallow with food. 

Be assured this is a VERY common anxiety symptom!

Hope this helps

[marc]

I get the same thing myself sometimes. My doctor said it can be stress, sinus issues and the like. At your young
age, anything serious is very remote.

[Blah7886]

I really can't take this anymore. I don't eat hardly ever now because i can't swallow...it's ridiculous how bad this has gotten. I am beyond hungry and i just want to eat like a normal person.

[newbie01]

i know this post is from a long time ago , but im just starting to have the swallowing isssues , and wondered how u are getting along 6 months on

[Xocnagem]

I seriously thought i was the only one to have this. My fear really is that I'm going to choke. I can't eat when I'm alone. I think about choking WAY too much which causes me to not be able to swallow. Same with when I'm in the car. It's a weird irrational fear that i have.

[Fenway77]

Yup!  I have had this "issue" off and on a couple of times.  It's not a lot of fun.  If you think about it...swallowing is an automatic function.  Your tongue pushes food to the back of your throat and your body automatically swallows it.  You don't have to think about it...but when you do think about it...when you become hyper aware of the process...you can mess it up because you're thinking about something that should be automatic.  You're causing your brain to think about it before it does it...almost like putting a hiccup into the process.

[PennyPanic]

Oh yeah!  Me too.  I've had this issue on and off for at least 20 years.  sometimes it is so bad I can't even seem to swallow my own spit, and then it build up in my mouth and then ...oh so gross.  Just thinking about it makes me not be able to swallow.  My sister has this too.  I've never asked a doc about it...I guess I assumed it was all anxiety related. 

[aunjypoo]

My throat does it when my sinsues act up, the past couple days for instance.. My throat is dry and scratchy and that doubled with the drainage makes it difficult.. I just drink lots of water to keep my throat moist.. It helps.