Strange "lump in throat" feeling. New to this site.

[PinkSkull]

Hi everyone. Since November of last year, I've been having this strange sensation in my throat.

It's kinda strange and tricky to describe, but it's similar to when you are holding back tears, you get that tightening feeling in your throat. I can swallow with no problem, and my breathing isn't affected. Plus, my tongue just feels tense.

I don't feel it when I wake up, but it seems to slowly come back during the day. It's seems to get stronger when I'm too focused on it, and when I just focus on it, I start to feel...nervous. My mouth, slowly starts to dry up. It gets so bad, that I can't speak. The tension in my throat gets stronger, that it triggers some kind of throat spasm which I can describe to something like gagging, but I don't gag. I feel like I might, but I don't.

This seems to happen when I'm stressed, anxious, nervous, and once I feel relaxed or out of danger, it slowly goes away. For example, I take the bus to work. While I'm on the bus, my symptoms are really bad. Once I get off, I feel "relief"

Same thing happens when going home.

Two days after Christmas, I had something which I believe was some sort of panic attack? The throat feeling was so bad, and I felt something like "fear" like if something bad was going to happen. I didn't go to work that day. I just felt so awful. My mom was worried about me and insisted go to the E.R.

Suddenly, I just felt so scared, I started crying. My mom called my sis, she came over. I couldn't speak, just cried. I described what I felt, and my sister said that it sounds like what she feels when her anxiety acts up.

I guess when the episode was over, I just felt so tired. I went to bed, and slept the whole night.

I have been under a lot of stress, plus I have a habit of keeping things inside. When I was crying that day, I felt a little better. The next day though, I just felt so vulnerable, I cried for anything.

I still get that throat feeling. Some days it's bad, some days it's hardly noticeable. Does anyone else feel this way? Sorry for the long post.

[Agora1]

Hi PinkSkull, yes, I would bet most of us have felt that strange tightness and " lump in the throat" feeling including myself. It is one of the classic symptoms of anxiety. Holding our emotions within brings out that feeling. Accepting and letting go makes it go away. You got tired after that from fighting the feeling, but I'm glad you did get a whole night's sleep. The intense dry mouth comes with it because we tend to mouth breathe when afraid. Next time you feel this coming on, take sips of water to keep your mouth and throat more hydrated and try deep breathing, bring down your shoulders and think of the words calm and peace floating through you. It may help more than you think.

[Agora1]

Good Morning PinkSkull! Hope you had a good 4th of July. Now that's it's been 6 months down the road since your post, I'm hoping that the "throat" issue has settled down. Accepting that it's anxiety will shorten the duration. Feel better, stay positive and enjoy the summer x

[PinkSkull in reply to Agora1]

Sorry for the late reply.

Thank you so much for your concern. Although six months have passed, I still get the occasional lump in throat feeling, but it doesn't freak me out like it did the last time. It really scared me.

I've eliminated certain foods, such as anything spicy or greasy. It seems to have helped. I'm thinking it's a stress thing. If I start to feel overwhelmed, I just go for a walk, which helps a lot.

Thanks again! 💜