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I can't stop panicking and worrying

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Shanny1997
Shanny1997

I suffer from Silent Reflux where everytime I eat something, it mostly feels like the food is stuck inside my throat which concerns me since it really does feel like the food is there as I would feel the sensation immediately and it would feel that way for two weeks until that feeling goes away on it's own. I ate some soft chicken today and I'm worried that I haven't finished chewing it properly before my throat decides to automatically swallow the food for me when I was over chewing, I eat rather slow now to avoid possibly choking and I get so embarrassed when food gets caught in my throat that I rush to the ER due to my anxiety and doctors would examine my throat with x-rays and says nothing is there. I always feel the food stuck on the side of my throat, more on the right side and it's such an uncomfortable feeling. I would also get throat pain sometimes too which makes it more believable that I might be in danger. I can't stop stressing and worrying about it, this is my third day still feeling the food there, as I tried talking to my family on my struggles of eating and they will try to calm me down and tell me to relax, that I will be fine and nothing is really there since they understand that I have GERD and silent reflux. What can I do to stop worrying about this? I'm taking meds from what my ENT doctor recommends and I'm on my 5th day now, I have another week to go before seeing him again to see if the meds are working for my GERD. Any tips on how to relax?

0 likes, 3 replies

3 Replies

  • jan34534
    jan34534 Shanny1997

    Edited

    give the medication a chance to work and in the meantime practice some mindfulness breathing meditations that you could find on YouTube. It teaches you how to relax and stay in the present moment. There are many great meditations on there for anxiety. Also keep yourself as busy as you can while you are waiting for your appointment. That way you won’t be constantly thinking about this. Keep reminding yourself that although it feels like there’s food in the throat there’s actually none there. But I can tell you that that slow focused deep breathing really helps to relax everything including the throat. Check those out ! Once you get yourself relaxed that way, you will feel a lot better.

    it’s important to bring your mind down to a more relaxed State.

    You’re going to be OK just take one day at a time and know that there’s actually nothing really wrong. Take care

  • jamie42038
    jamie42038 Shanny1997

    Edited

    Hi

    i have suffered from this, it is called Globus Sensation and is completely harmless. but i understand how hard that is to believe when it is happening to you.

    And as hard as it is, dont keep swallowing just to see if the feeling is still there as it will make it feel worse. Try vocal exercise to help relax your throat muscles. Also, eating food helps (chewing and swallowing actions)

    i hope this helps you

    take care

    jamie x

  • athol91131
    athol91131 Shanny1997

    Edited

    Hi Shanny. Sorry to hear about your distress. Try to remember that your body has evolved over millions of years to take care of itself. Sure, you might decide to walk over there or drink a cup of tea but all the difficult stuff is being done for you. You don't have to tell your liver what enzymes to produce, you don't have to keep your blood flowing round your body or your lungs to breathe. It is all taken care of , quite brilliantly, every day. You don't have to even think about it. And that's part of the problem with anxiety, we over-monitor our system looking for any little thing that might indicate TO US that something is wrong, and then we tend to interfere or over-worry about it, causing us, and our body, more distress. Your body has a much better idea than you do what's going on and what to do about it and it's doing this thousands of times a day quite happily, thank you. So let it do it's job. It really doesn't need your help. Try to trust your own body. It will take care of you. Your body, I'm sure, would like you to relax and not interfere so much but if you can't, then that's okay too. Your body can work round any anxiety you create quite happily. It might be distressing and uncomfortable FOR YOU but your body will just carry on looking after you anyway. That's it's job and it does it much better than you can so just let it get on with it. Meanwhile you might try to be more kind to yourself, take a warm bath, read a book, meditate, go for a walk occupy yourself with some simple tasks. Chill as much as you are able to, and this way you will be helping your body rather than interfering. Your throat, I'm sure, is just fine and your obsessing about it is just fine too. It's okay to be anxious. Nothing bad is going to happen to you. It's just anxiety and all anxiety is, is nervous arousal. No harm will come to you whether you carry on worrying about it or not. Have you tried singing? or find somewhere private and shout, sing , or make funny noises with your throat. It will help relax your throat but it doesn't matter if you don't do it. You will still be okay. Best Wishes xx

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