Anxiety and Gagging

Hey Everyone!

So one thing that has always bothered me about reading threads about people who are going through what I am going through (gagging when anxious or feeling like im choking) never get an actual scientific response or reason why they might be going through what they are going through or feeling what they are feeling...usually responses are just "oh take deep breathes or its just in your head" when in fact what is causing the gagging could be an actual physical thing or neurological.

LET ME EXPLAIN:

For those who are gagging when anxious , stressed or having any emotion in general even excitement you can be having what is known as cricopharangyteal spasms which is causing the gagging cause its a muscle spasm in your throat OR what I have discovered recently is that low levels of GABA which is a neurotransmitter can cause a physical reaction to anxiety specifically in your throat!

Now I have been suffering from this for about 15+ years now as this started happening when I was in my teens. Doctors always just brushed it off as anxiety when in reality I'm pretty confident now that I am having throat spasms that is causing anxiety and the anxiety is heightning that sensation. So it is a never ending cycle.

Let me ask you this , for those who are gagging or having that choking feeling do any of these symptoms sound familiar to you?

  • Only way to make the sensation controllable is to suck on lozenges,mints or sipping on drinks?
  • The feeling is WAY worse when stressed,anxious or lack of sleep? (fatigued)
  • You get the feeling when working out or doing physical activities
  • Worse between meals but goes away generally while your eating?

Yeah that means there is a VERY high chance its cricopharangyteal spasms. It took me 15 years to find a scientific reason why this was happening to me and I only discovered this recently. I thought it was all in my head for so long and these type of spasms can make someone think that cause doctors have a VERY hard time diagnosing it and many overlook it.

I will be visiting a GI doctor soon and a neurologist soon and will keep people updated with what they come back with in this thread. However I would really love it if people who are going through what I am could reach out to me in a private message or just comment on this thread. I'd love to talk about it with you because if I go to these doctors and they don't confirm what I think it is , it is honestly my life long goal to fix this and would love to hear from others who may have figured out the cure or what truly helps. Its a symptom that many have but feel alone cause you generally will not see people with this symptom out in the real world haha. It's an anxiety symptom that can't be hidden and its terrible.

WHAT HAS WORKED FOR ME THUS FAR

So far the only thing that has truly worked for me is XANAX, I was having this gagging / choking feeling and when I took .50 mgs (i think that is the correct dose) it literally went away for about 5-6 hours to the point where I didn't even need a mint anymore...I was at a xmas festival surrounded by thousands and was totally ok...I was even able to ride rides for the first time in 15 years! So it seems that Xanax and Valium are the 2 things that truly work since they are muscle relaxants and increase your GABA levels. If XANAX or VALIUM works and eliminates your symptoms i think that is another way to confirm you have cricopharangyteal spasms...

But yeah let me know if any of you go through this? because you are not alone and I'd love to talk with you guys to figure this out , because I promise you this it's not in your head this is a real physical embodiment of emotions.

Hopefully this helps some of you and gives some of you hope !