Can anxiety cause thick saliva and phlegm in your throat?

Posted , 16 users are following.

I seem to constantly have thick saliva and phlegm in my throat, drinking water doesn't seem to help at all, I know that dairy products cause it but I haven't had any dairy products, I have excess phlegm in my throat and it's getting on my nerves almost feels like I'm going to choke

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  • Posted

    First and foremost, as always, you should check with a doctor to make sure that it isn't something.  Generally excess or thick saliva isn't serious unless it's red.  It's usually sinus/allergy, or a reflux disease.  To answer your question, absolutely anxiety can cause that in a few ways.  One is that anxiety can really mess your stomach up and cause more acid, to which your body will naturally respond by overproducing mucus.  Also anxiety has a link to dehydration, which can also cause excessive or thick saliva, etc.  It can also be the other way around, that dehydration causes anxiety and the above symptoms.  Make sure you're drinking enough water, talk to a doctor to rule out reflux and allergies or sinus problems, and you're pretty much left with anxiety being the cause after ruling the other things out.  

    • Posted

      I do have GERD, I also get what feels like air trapped in my stomach and feels like something stuck in my throat, I also feel like I always have to clear my throat, what I don't understand is why I sometimes wake up feeling like I can't take a deep breath and my stomach feels bloated

    • Posted

      That happens to me sometimes too.  I don't have GERD, but it might be related to yours.  I really don't know about that part.  The GERD could be part of the thickness, and anxiety could be making it worse or playing along in bad ways.

    • Posted

      Anxiety is cruel, once I start feeling as if I can't breathe my anxiety gets even worse, I often feel like my throat is closing

    • Posted

      Yeah, it's horrible if you have any sort of condition already.  My wife has asthma.  She has to be very careful with stress, because if stress causes an asthma attack, she will panic, and then definitely can't breathe at all.

    • Posted

      As far as I know I don't have anything like asthma, when I was at my doctors last I told him about my chest feeling tight and like I couldn't breathe and he listened to my lungs and said they are clear, when I feel like I can't breathe my back and sector muscles are tight but if put a heating pad on my back then after a couple minutes I can breathe again

    • Posted

      That sounds like tense muscles from the anxiety and stress.  I believe your GERD and anxiety are just being really mean to you.  Do you have treatment for either one? 
    • Posted

      I take fluextine 40mg for my anxiety, for my stomach I mostly watch what I eat now, garlic and onions really seems to set it off these days, I don't drink very much pop these days anymore I try to stick with water and apple juice, I appreciate your response it has really helped put me at ease

    • Posted

      Hi Aaron, I’m suffering from the same thing as Brandon. It’s been going on for weeks. Did ENT endoscopy and found nothing. However I’m taking antiacid now don’t know if it’s gonna make any difference. My throat and my mouth feels dry and glue-like, but when I open my mouth I can see saliva there(maybe it just got sticky somehow)

       I feel so scared of those symptoms and I was even shivering hard when they first occurred. ) You believe those are connected to anxiety? Have you ever been through the same thing before?

  • Posted

    I believe you are experiencing the wonderful combination of effects from your GERD and your anxiety. GERD, something I have had since I was a child, can cause so many more symptoms than people realize. It isn't just heartburn like most people think. Unfortunately coupled with anxiety it will make you feel like you are choking on something that isn't there and start a wonderful cycle of the what ifs and make you think you must be having some crazy allergic reaction and your throat is closing up and you are going to die. All of which are not true at all, but that is what anxiety does. It makes us go to the extreme with whatever symptoms we have. My best advice is try your hardest to control the GERD symptoms, avoid all the foods you should, no caffeine and blah blah blah. Then if you haven't already start treating the anxiety, it is just as real a disease as the GERD itself. A good therapist and psychiatrist can make all the difference in the world. Good Luck!!!

  • Edited

    Hi Brandon, are you better now? I just wrote posts about this since I’m having exactly the same thing for 2 weeks. Feels like glue stuck in my back throat and back nose. And my saliva feels really sticky too, which gives me a dry mouth feeling. It affected my eating when I tried to swallow food...I didn’t the ENT endoscopy didn’t show that I have rhinitis or any irritation. ENT specialist also didn’t believed that I have GERD. However I took some antiacid, didn’t seem to do anything...so I’m also wondering if it’s anxiety related.
    • Posted

      I'm still having it, I also have trouble with excessive bloating especially after I eat

    • Posted

      Gosh I’m still suffering...glue like mucus stuck in the back of nose and top of my throat, and my saliva feels very sticky I don’t know which causes which. It’s just getting harder and harder to stay positive and “try not to focus on it”.

      I did the gastroscopy few days ago and didn’t find any acid reflux so I believe it’s related to my nose. But the ENT endoscopy didn’t find anything neither...maybe I should also take an X ray or CT scan? I really don’t know...

      I know anxiety can make things worse. But if the symptoms are just “all in my head”, it’s too much, can’t be convinced. I can actually feel the mucus/phlegm slowly dripping down and if I’m so lucky I can hack it up(most time it just stuck there). It’s white clear coloured and very sticky.

      Are you getting any better now? Have you talked to a doctor or found any help?

    • Posted

      I'm still struggling with it, I recently found out that I'm lactose intolerant now and since I have eliminated dairy it hasn't been as bad

    • Posted

      I'm having similar symptoms as you guys, thick mucus constantly in the back of my throat no matter how much water I drink or how many times I spit it out. Throat feels incredibly sore and so does my chest. I've had multiple sinus infections this past year so I believe it must have something to do with it. However, I've done many tests and nothing has come up. I've seen at least 10 doctors and they've all told me it's stress related no matter how much I'm trying to deny it I think it. Hope you guys are feeling better. I'm going to try and see a therapist soon, hopefully my situation will get better too.

    • Edited

      Hi, I have had all these symptoms before and can confirm that they are caused by anxiety in most people. I have struggled with anxiety for about three years now with my first two years being the most intense. I have overcome panic attacks and no longer get the full hyperventilating deal as I got so fed up with myself and how pathetic I personally thought i was being. I have had anxiety where I could not swallow, that I cannot breathe, and even the mucus in the throat (even though I do have acid reflux mine is mostly caused by stress).If you have seen a doctor and you have no irritation, or any other symptoms then this is completely anxiety. I've discovered that using a combination of confidence, and getting very angry at yourself for having the anxiety, can actually help (at least for me). Separate that little voice in your head making you compulsively think about your worries and you as two different people and your bad thoughts are just the roommate you do not like. tell yourself that the only thing between you and a normal life is that voice and conspire against it. Whenever doing something out of your comfort zone and you start to feel anxious replace the thoughts with anger at yourself and then have confidence in your task. I hope I helped in some and you did not read an essay for nothing.

    • Posted

      I Have felt this same thing. physical mucus is usually you doing something to upset your stomach or larynx. Whether it be alcohol, dairy, smoking, hell even vitamin c. take all these away for maybe a few days and see if there are any changes.

    • Posted

      If not those than it may be triggered by stress and your anxiety. try a social interaction with a friend or someone. usually not people you are too too comfortable around. See if you get these symptoms then. If you do try a harder interaction. Someone where you're more worried about you slipping on a word or saying something "weird" around.

    • Posted

      Could also be cause by allergies

    • Posted

      hi im the same at the moment i know this was a long time ago but did you ever get any answers please thanks

    • Posted

      hi i got sinus infection from this.cant seem to relax.will it ever pass?what did u do to reduce the stress?sinus infection treated by amtibiotics and then i still had some flegms but transparetn went to ent said to me u had a minor sinusitis gave me an allergy cream to put in my nostrils for 3 days.my gp said is from high anxiety.its driving me crazy because i always had anxiety but never believed it would cross the line and become physical and that freaking me out.pls help

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