Throat actually closing... going to the Dr. on Monday.

[cnote]

26 male. Anxiety sufferer. Been having IBS symptoms and on and off minor flank pain for about 2 months or so... and for about 4 weeks now I've been suffering from a tight throat... and a sensitive gag reflex...  Everyone was telling me its anxiety... even my Dr. ... he put me on paxil 10mg... and ativan .5mg as needed... the ativan helps chill me out... but I really don't believe my throat issue is 100% anxiety...

ive noticed the past few days... when i breath in through my nose... and my mouth is closed... and im having the tightness in my throat... my upper palate in the back of my mouth/throat will go up! and i cant breath for a split second! It goes up involuntarily. It's scary! And I think it's my upper palate thats also making my gag reflex so bad!

When I take ativan... it helps a lot... probably chills out the muscles... but doesnt completely eliminate it!

The thing is too, is that I'm not having anxiety really! I'm not having nervousness... or anything... I've got my appetite back! I'm having fun! Good days! Except.. my throat is still doing this thing!

It just stinks. Do I think I'm dying? No... do I think it could be allergy related? Possibly... Ragweed is REALLY high here now and everyone is suffering...

Do I think it could be from smoking? maybe? doubt it...

Could it be from acid reflux!?? Big possibility... b/c that may explain some of my IBS symptoms too.

Could it be an anxiety symptom? Maybe... Muscle spasms in the throat could mean anywhere in the throat i guess.

I just want my Dr. to take a look at it... or do some sort of test... to rule out anything esle...

You see, it's hard for me to believe my Dr. all the time, which I do most of the time... but when I started seeing him... I saw him for anxiety... and now everytime I go see him... he says my symptoms are prob. anxiety... but does nothing more than a regular blood check up...

I must say, all the other times I've seen him... and he did say it was anxiety... it was... and my symptoms left... but I'm not having really any anxiety! And with the meds... and stuff... its not stopping this throat thing.

Seems like when it gets bad, all I can do is pop a couple of ativan... and it feels better. But it ALWAYS comes back.

I've been trying to distract myself... playing the nintendo wii... rock band... playing my guitar... going to the park with my wife and kids... and its still there... and when I work out... it's the worst!

So, I just want peace of mind from the Dr. B/c I can understand Globus Hystericas... but I don't feel like there is a lump in my throat or anything... it just feels tight... and my upper palate sometimes closes up, and blocks off air for a second! And that freaks me out...

Will keep ya updated. =)

[cj29]

I am glad you are being proactive with your health....just try not to overanalyze it, in my opinion.  During the summer, I sometimes have horrible allergies and I can feel like my throat is closed off...let us know how it goes.  

[cnote]

I will for sure.

[cnote]

I'm probably over analyzing it a lot... but its def. real. I'm not imagining it...  

but my mom said her upper soft palate closes up sometimes too when she's trying to breath... especially when she's got lots of sinus drainage etc. going on.

I'm having lots of post nasal drip... and thick saliva... so maybe this could be part of it? But its just wierd b/c I've never had this happen before.

I must say its getting BETTER! My sensitive gag reflex is pretty much gone! And the tightness doesnt last all day... or if it does its not as bad during the day... and may get kinda bad at night... but ativan seems to help some.

But anyways, I just want to have my Dr. check it out for real... instead of just calling it anxiety without looking at it... or doing some sort of x-ray/ct scan, whatever they do for that...

is an upper GI a terrible thing? Or do they knock you out?

[Paxiled]

An upper GI is nothing.  You drink some radioactive liquid and they take pictures.  Nothing intrusive.

[cnote]

what about an scope down the throat? is that terrible? lol. I'm scared about that, thats if he wants to do it.

[Kinger14]

Hey I've been having the same symptoms lately, so let me know how it turns out.  I know what you mean by the back of your throat closing up and the pallet feeling swollen.

I've also had tightness in my sides and stomach...

hope things work out!

[nursegirl6572]

What did the doc say?  My own personal opinion would be that the next step would be to see an ENT doc...if you have to have an endoscopy (scope down your throat)..they give you a mild sedative...so you're awake but not AWAKE.  Not the most pleasant thing...but not horrendous either by any means.

Let us know what the doctor said!

[cnote]

Decided just to wait for my scheduled appt next Monday.

[sumihari]

I have had something similar to what you have described, and it has been going on for  nearly 2 years, some days worse than others. My neck gets so tight and and my jaw locks  and I can barely breathe, of course then I get a bit scared which can lead to more tension, so I have tried my best not to panic during such situations. Yes panic and anxiety can cause more tension and therefore more throat closing. But it is like telling someone with undiagnosed asthma , oh it is only anxiety. I am fed up of people telling it is anxiety, because it may not. I had posted my symptoms in the expert forum Sleep Apnea and the doctor had some very good comments. He is extremely knowledgeable.

Sometimes one has to take control of ones own problem and not just blindly accept it is all  anxiety, which means that you may come across as a difficult patient. Not being able to breathe well, with throat closing often is not being hypochondriac either.  There are many reasons which could cause breathing problems, not just anxiety - and the ignorance of this is widespread unfortunately. So you need to see an ENT or some other specialist to see whether there is any underlying cause for the breathing problems. It can be even the way one sits, can cause compression in the neck and chest.

Do you have asthma and are you taking any new medication which may cause some allergies. I have mild asthma , usually not a worry but I recall many years ago I started drinking chamomile tea as it was supposed to have calming and relaxing properties. But everytime I drank this, I had severe throat closing and mild wheezing. I had similar reactions to a few other common foods and it took finally an understanding and experienced dermatologist to figure out this.

Hope this post helps you.