Throat feels tight.

[ImHere_Again]

Has anyone experienced a feeling where you feel like your throat is closing/tight or its difficult to swallow due to anxiety. Im about to go to bed but I'm getting more and more anxious because I'm afraid I'm going to choke during my sleep. I feel like I need to swallow my saliva every minute. I haven't heard of anyone feeling this way, so I'm curious to know if it's common. Also, I want reassurance that it's just me making a big deal out of it.

[jkl5500]

If you're really worried about this, you can always go the ER and get it looked at. I am not a doctor, but I know that anxiety can cause lots of different symptoms.

[ImHere_Again in reply to jkl5500]

I knew the feeling was probably anxiety, so I tried to just ignore it especially since I was so sleepy. Thankfully, for this anxious feeling, ignoring the problem helped. Perhaps not the best way to cope with it. Still, thank you, very much, for your relpy. It feels good to know that I'm not just writing into space.

[Agora1]

Hi "ImHere_Again", once you are diagnosed with Anxiety be ready for anything it may throw your way. And it will. It keeps us second guessing what it means.

Know this, in that it starts with a thought and once we respond with fear, our muscles throughout out body tighten up giving us that off balance feeling, that choky feeling and anything else our body responds to.

Muscles are the first thing to respond to stress. There are tools you can use in releasing the tense and tight muscles. Something as simple as deep breathing can immediately calm both your mind and your body. Breathe. Relax your shoulders Breathe

I go to YouTube and listen to a 3 minute Meditation/Deep Breathing which helps in guiding you to a safe place in your mind.

It is nothing to worry about, just this game that anxiety plays with us. But games are meant to be won. Don't allow anxiety to take control. Be a winner. Breathe xx

[ImHere_Again in reply to Agora1]

Thank you for your response. I think I was focused on the feeling too much that it was making me nervous. I was sleepy so I just tried to ignore the feeling and luckly it worked because I fell asleep. It's morning now and I don't have the feeling anymore. I tend to ignore my anxious feelings instead of coping with them. It gets to a point where sometimes I can't ignore it, making it worse. I have not looked at youtube videos about deep breathing to help me relax, so I think I'll do that right now. Thank you so so so much for your comment and the suggestion!

[jessiejakes in reply to ImHere_Again]

Hi when my anxiety was really bad I to started to get this tight feeling in my throat it happened when I was watching a film at cinema.I had to get out and go to the bathroom and splashed my face with water and took about ten minutes to try and swallow a diazepam to calm me down.I kept getting repeated episodes of feeling like I couldn't swallow then I realised I was over thinking about swallowing ! And trying to swallow before I needed to.so I tried not to swallow for as long as I could.then my body's own reflex kicked in and I swallowed the same way we automatically breath when we are asleep .so whenever I get this over swallowing sensation I do the opposite and try not to swallow and hey ho ! My own reflex kicks in and I swallow as normal.anxiety was making me swallow to much and making me feel like I couldn't swallow.hope you understand what I'm trying to say ? I lost my fear of it and if it starts up I do the opposite and don't swallow then your body will do it for you.

[lorianxiety in reply to jessiejakes]

Absolutely,i experienced this sort of thing for a few months ,still fear its return so wont say too much ;its horrendous.how a certain thought/fear triggers the anxiety.

[jessiejakes in reply to lorianxiety]

Please don't fear it if it happens just say to yourself I'm over thinking this and try not to swallow .its like yawning try not to yawn ! You can't you body does it automatically .so practice not swallowing and you body will do it for you.

[lorianxiety in reply to jessiejakes]

thanks,im sure your right.i can swallow though im too aware now of various functions that I never paid attention to before,and swallowing is an important part of living ,im off to bed hoping I will sleep quite soon ,thankyou again.

[jessiejakes in reply to lorianxiety]

Swallowing is quite a common problem of anxiety you are not alone it will go as your anxiety improves .

[Jeff1943]

ImHere_Again, if you believe in safety in numbers then you are indeed safe as at least three times a week someone presents here with exactly your symptoms and it is a very common symptom of anxiety disorder. It even has it's own medical description: Globus Hystericus but recently this has been shortened to Globus perhaps so as not to offend us with the suggestion that we are hysterical😊

I had it 20 years ago and got as far as having a barium meal x-ray of my throat. They reported all was well, by then I had long realised it was a symptom of anxiety disorder. I had bigger fish to fry, more important symptoms to concern me, and I forgot about the Globus whereupon the feeling of a lump in my throat deserted me. So accept the symptom for the time being, don't stress or obsess about it, it is irritating but harmless, and in time the syptom will resolve itself.

[jessiejakes in reply to Jeff1943]

Very true I lost my fear of it !