When I touch fuzzy things I get a swallow reflex and can't talk or breathe correctly
Posted , 35 users are following.
This happens on a semi-regular basis. When I touch certain "fuzzy" things like velvet or fleece I just start swallowing involuntarily. It's hard to talk since it looks like I'm having breathing issues to a 3rd party and I probably look like a crazy person. Even if I am thinking about possibly touching these things I can be triggered. I can try and withstand the urge but it is almost impossible to stop it completely.
It seems to happen when I am "dry" like with dry skin or when their is low humidity like in the winter. I absolutely hate the feel of lotion on my hands or chapstick on my lips or that might be a helpful fix. I almost feel the lotion brings the same urge to me. Some days it's worse and some days I have no problem with it at all. It seems to happen in the colder weather more, probably because I am in contact with more fabrics of this nature. I have never heard of anyone with this same condition. I get really frustrated with it when it happens at work and I have to talk to people all day. I'd like ot at least know why it happens or what it's called. A solution to this condition would be even better.
0 likes, 44 replies
vicky60291 robert79693
Posted
Sounds almost like haphephobia . . Being touched or touching something . although in different situation people have phobias they live wuth daily , whether spiders , snakes , riding in a vehicle , etc it can cause the same reaction . It can be by something unpleasant from younger days that holds in the back of your mind ,that is triggered when touching , seeing , smelling ,hearing . One treatment for this is to put a small piece of material in you hone somewhere , everytime you pass it gently touch it and move on to what you were going to do . You will notice it gets easier to do ,and it dont bother you as much . Do this until you can touch it without any reactions .
robert79693 vicky60291
Posted
Thanks for replying. The swallowing is triggered by the sensation of touching or thinking about specific fuzzy things. Some fuzzy things I love and don't bother me ever like our sherpa blanket. Its not scary and I'm not repulsed by fuzzy things at all. It just sort of happens and the sensation is just uncomfortable. Its a good suggestion to keep touching these things to desensitize. There are some things I already touch every day that trigger me only sometimes and I would have hoped they would have already done the trick. Maybe I just need to just live with it.
Mamabearkc robert79693
Posted
i have anxiety, phobias, and ocd and i didnt get these exact symptoms as you but similar things. i would say your best way to get over this is to allow your body to have all these feeling while you are touching something until your anxiety symptoms dissipate. i would google some techniques to be sure you are doing it properly. the first step would be to recognize these symptoms as inly anxiety and not actually harmful to you in any way. then you have to "float" through them until you start to come back down from the feelings. your brain will learn that there is no danger. it will be extremely uncomfortable and scary but you can do it. then all fear should be done away with.
Amz87 robert79693
Posted
omg my husband it the same except its all the time for him he cant touch wool, cotton balls or velvet it makes him gag and his skin crawl. Even the baby blankets that we have that are fuzzy he cant touch.
robert79693 Amz87
Posted
Well if you find an answer before I do please let me know!
vicky60291 robert79693
Posted
Robert the answer is your own phobia , the only cure for you is not over the counter or prescribed unfortunately .. You can do things to help yourself to get over your phobia .. First place a small piece of fuzzy fabric around your home . It must be small so you can see you are bigger than it . Touch that fabric time to time in the passing ,, as each week passes touch it a little longer each time . Second keep telling yourself its like petting a kitten or puppy , give them names . Third dont ever think you are strange or anything like that as more people have these such phobias as you thunk . Whether its spiders , mice , riding in vehicles , heights , etc . These are no different .
sebrina08974 robert79693
Posted
hi robert, i know its an old post, iv been looking everywhere to try and find someone else talking about the same thing. i know exactly what you mean.. i dont think its a phobia, did you ever find out what it was?
robert79693 sebrina08974
Posted
No I haven't. Not other than what other people posted about it as suggestions. I've learned to live with it for most of my life. It's probably just some deep seeded thing happening in my brain. I'll forever detest the touch velvet and many other similar feeling items I guess lol.
matt31548 sebrina08974
Posted
no way 4 of us randomly googled the same symptoms and it's some childhood phobia lol has to be an allergy or something
alexandria16 sebrina08974
Posted
Hello,
I just want to say, I agree with Sabrina. I dont believe it's a phobia either. My mom and I also have this issue although it doesn't seem to be nearly as often as you. For us it's extremely random but it somethimes happens when we touch really soft things or when our fingertips are really dry, mostly in the winter though like you mentioned Robert. I feel it's not a phobia though because it's not like we're scared of it or like we're even thinking about it when it happens it just happens and the way we describe it is like it stifles us and we immediately let go of whatever it is or we wet our fingers lol.
Like the both of you, we've never met anyone with the same issues or anyone that even knows of anyone with the same issues. Usually people just look at us like we're nuts when it happens. lol
If either of you happen to find a name for it though, please share because this forum is the only one I've found so far with someone asking about the same thing we've been wondering about forever.
Have a great day though, and I hope it gets easier for you to deal with.
Nicki1988 robert79693
Posted
i get this too and it is very annoying. I also don't see it as a phobia. it sometimes happens at the most inconvenient times for example, when i was giving a member of my team a one to one performance review!! it is extremely off-putting. i have to wet my hands and drink some water for the swallow reflex and dryness to go away. it is usually fuzzy materials that triggers this reaction too. i've had it for as long as i can remember and im now 32...
i would love to find out why that particular reaction happens and if you have any other techniques that you use to get rid of it when it happens to you? i have not spoken to anyone outwith my friends and family about this and we generally laugh about it as nobody else i know experiences this so it seems bizarre, however it is becoming more frequent to the point it is now becoming a bigger problem for me.
joakim42948 robert79693
Posted
Hi guys, i get this thing also with different types of fabric. I remember very vividly the first time it happened to me when i was maybe 6-7 and i was with my parents in an carpet store.
I am now 30 and i wonder about this all the time.
My only theory that i have had is that i though i might be allergic to some things and that my body is trying to prevent it from breathing in something. I know that this is not it and that it's pretty illogical, but that is the only thing that i have thought of. It is however pretty annoying and i want answers.
randy41812 joakim42948
Posted
Sometimes it not an allergy , but a memory , maybe something happened to you ,that at the time you touched something similar. that feeling comes back , but not the total memory. Say I broke my leg and the smell of strawberries was in the air. Everytime after that when I smell strawberries , I feel weird. you have an association to the feeling of something , to a memory that maybe wasn't so great so it makes you feel strange.
randy41812 robert79693
Edited
I used to get panic attacks from picking up kittens and feeling there heart going fast. It's weird how certain things set it off. We seem to all have our triggers that for some reason set off anxiety. yours is fuzzy things , mine is kittens with racing hearts, some one else can be spiders, heights , snakes, and almost anything. I know someone who panics when they see a clown. Sometimes there is no reason to what sets off an attack.
robert79693 randy41812
Posted
I really don't understand after explaining it time and again that there is no anxiety involved at all but everyone continues to talk about anxiety from it. All that happens is I touch the item and I involuntarily swallow and the sensation of touching it is off putting. I have zero anxiety. It's like someone likes orange juice but not cranberry but also gets a physical reaction while tasting the flavor.
randy41812 robert79693
Posted
Your swallow response is anxiety, your feeling in your throat is anxiety. that is anxiety. Sorry I don't think you understand what anxiety is. You have developed a phobia to touching fuzzy things. your reaction the involuntary swallow and other response is a fight or flight response to something that frightens you. you fear for some reason touching fuzzy things. Anxiety doesn't have to be your heart racing , My guess you avoid touching fuzzy things unless you have to.
robert79693 randy41812
Edited
Well I'm not a doctor in this area or studied up on mental conditions and I'd assume you aren't as well, but I don't attest this to anxiety. I feel it's like when someone hits your knee with a medical hammer and your leg flinches. It's a physical/mental reaction to stimuli. Like my previous example or if one was to not want to touch a cactus. You wouldn't be anxious, you just don't want to feel the pain from being pricked.
matt31548 robert79693
Edited
whatever it is, it's physical, not anxiety. I literally googled this trying to understand what it is. It led me here where you described it exactly. it's a physical response to certain materials, usually softer fuzzy ones. The muscle or whatever in your throat clenches, like you're about to swallow, but stays like that and you can't breathe. It feels dry almost, having wet hands helps or rinsing them after.
i wish i knew what it was too man but i hope you read this so you know you're not crazy, i try to describe this and people have never heard of it and say it's probably in your head. it's not. The odds that you, I, and other people I've read having the exact same thing? it's some undiagnosed condition or allergy.