Near-Constant Nausea

[Henskie]

Up until about 6 years ago I never felt nauseous unless I was sick but after one afternoon where I was cramped up in a hot auditorium I began to get nauseous whenever I was in a crowd. I got really nervous and jittery and would be extremely nauseous. Now it has gotten even worse, I feel it whenever I am the least bit nervous, approximately 2 hours after eating, and some times completely randomly. I recently have noticed that whenever I get really nauseous I have a lot of mucus and it is sometimes hard to swallow it. The times the nausea/mucus is the worst is when I am in one of my college lecture classes where it is completely packed. I have suffered through this for years and I was wondering if you had any help you could offer

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,

Your symptoms are all stress related and are due to anxiety. The feeling of anxiety always begins with a trigger that initiates a survival response from the limbic system. At the first whiff of apparent danger, your brain chemistry, blood hormones and cellular metabolism all whirl into action.This causes various emotional and physical symptoms like nausea,palpitation,sweating,dizziness,shortness of breath,tremors,twitches and headache.

I feel that you should consult a psychiatrist for your symptoms and start with the treatment of anxiety(usually antianxiety medicines like benzodiazepines and antidepressants and cognitive behaviour therapy).In addition you should eat healthy,exercise regularly and indulge in meditation and other mind relaxation techniques.

Hope it helps.Pls do keep us posted if you have any additional queries.

[Henskie]

So could anxiety also cause the mucous build up?

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,

Anxiety can lead to nausea and difficulty in swallowing thus leading to excessive mucus in the mouth.

Other causes can be sinusitis,Allergies (to dust mites,pollen,molds etc) ,GERD(gastroesophageal reflux disease) , gastritis and throat pathologies.

Pls consult an ENT specialist for evaluation.

Hope it helps.Take care and regards.

[Krissiestar22]

I have the same thing happening to me. my triggers are differnt then yours. I am on 2 kids of anxiety meds right now and I feel like they are not working. I was on Effexor 150 mg for 3 years then I think I got immune to it because it stopped working for me. Now I am on zoloft and wellbutrin and even taking both of those I still feel major anxiety. I feel very nauseous when I get nervous. sometimes making myself get sick just to feel better. I wish I had a solution for you but I am still searching for a solution for me. please keep us posted and let me know if you find something that works for you.