Can't Swallow.. anyone experience this before??

[Kristamayla]

Hello everyone! For about a month now, I have noticed that when I am eating.. I sometimes can't swallow. I chew my food up really well and then when I go to swallow, I can't, and then food get's a little stuck and I start to freak out in my head and then finally I swallow. It started happening when I was out at restaurants but now it's happening at home too. I avoid going out with friends to eat anything because I am so scared it will happen. I can't even go out with family because it happens too. I have done some research and this tends to happen when you are stressed. I am stressed but this is making me so much more stressed. This really doesn't have anything to do with v*ing but I am sure a lot of people on here experience anxiety and stress. I have set up an appointment to see a therapist to help with the stressful stuff I am going through right now and of course I will bring this issue up but my appt isn't for two weeks and this is rapidly getting worse. Has anyone experienced this before? Any tips for it not to continue happening?

[Rebecca85]

Sounds like globus (which is where the muscles in your throat tighten up). However, I also used to get a lump in my throat and difficulty swallowing when I started getting acid reflux. I used Pepcid 2/ Pepcid complete for a week and my throat got better. I would check with your doctor to rule out a physical problem.

You could try making sure you eat moist food (maybe put gravy on, or sip water with it) as this will go down better. Meats are probably hardest to swallow, you could try blending soups or casseroles etc to get meat into your diet. And with most other foods, try just chewing and not swallowing, you will find it breaks up so much the food just 'disappears', so if you don't think about swallowing and just keep putting more food in, you might swallow some without realising. Finally, you could try nutrition shakes if you don't feel you're eating enough.

[Jay417]

I do this exact thing from time to time. I have asthma, and the medicine I take causes my anxiety to increase and when it does I get this issue with swallowing. You are not alone.

[Aayaya6]

YES!!!!

It terrifies me. It happens a lot when I eat, i have to pause for a moment before I swallow. I have no clue what it is, but maybe it has to do with anxiety? I am so glad to know I'm not alone!

[emmalinda]

yer this used to happen to me and still does sometimes. i think its anxiety related

[kristinak]

This used to happen to me when I was younger before I ever knew I suffered from anxiety. It is 100 percent anxiety related

[Jill in Apartment 413]

So I have this problem on occasion (now that my emet is better not so much) but I also have a hiatal hernia and it comes with the territory. Now are you talking about actually not being able to swallow or getting anxiety before swallowing? Such as, I can swallow but sometimes my brain thinks the food is bad and I just can't get myself to work it out LoL!