Post Nasal drip, acid relfux, anxiety?

[yarray]

I have had this problem for about a year now. I have this problem with gagging, what seems to be caused by post nasal drip. When i wake up i tend to have a dry mucus build up in the post nasal area of my throat. The thing is when i gagg, trying to free the mucus from my throat, nothing seems to loosen up, which makes me have this feeling of vomiting. These symptoms are 10 fold when i am in any social situation, or have to tend to any type of stressfull situation. I always bring water with me, just for the fact that if i dont sip on anything while im out, i start to panic (and when i mean panic, i have had panic attacks due to this, mostly anxiety attacks now) This situation makes me wonder if i have some kind of disorder affiliated with anxiety or anxiety is just being manifested because of the mucus. My anxiety only seems to go away if i vomit, and i usually do end up vomiting due to the gagging. Usually during the evining hours the mucus tends to flow constantly from the post nasal area.
When i take deep relaxing breaths i can feel stomach muscles below my rib cage tense up and release, but i am not sure if it is my stomach muscles or posibly acid relfux. It feels as if something at the bottom of my esophegous is contracting and releasing, or rising and falling, every time i take deep breaths. Only when i take deep breaths does it seem that my stomach relaxes fully, but goes back to tense almost imidiatly. When the gagging and gastro problem combind together it makes me not want to live.I am 20 years old and have given up smoking about a month ago.Underweight due to prob

[yarray]

Sry bout not following up on the post.. but anyways

Do you have a feeling of tension near your gag reflex meaning does it always seem like you have to gag to releve this tension?? I just don't knw if i have a problem with phlem near my gag relex or if it is just manifested because of stress(stress like you said dosn't have to be stressfull at all , just the ack of sitting in a car near my friends i just feel the urge to gag and get what ever it is outa my nasal area)

I want to try and help both of us here but i just dont have any answers

I said i quit smoking but i bought a pack of smokes the other day it seems to me when i don't have a smoke for that day all i think about is having a smoke and having the feeling of gagging due to the smoke in my gag relfex. It rly is driving me insane. I fear having panic attacks due to this again. I just need to kick the habbit for good and forget about smoking but it is so hard to do because when evr i am out, everyone around me smokes, i hate it but nicotine helps me calm my nerves, i just need an alternative to smoking because i think this is the root of evil for me.
I just dont understand how i can make myself feel as if i gag but  in reality there might be nothing their. That kinda scares me, but i just don't understand it.

[ploggin]

Yarray, as I mentioned, if I don't have the "gaggy" feeling in my throat, it is always on the brink as well.  When I get stressed and it doesn't have to be much stress, it will get way worse and I even start dry-heaving.

Also, do you lips and mouth feel really dry with this?  Mine almost even feel numb at times and even the area around my mouth - it feels like I hit my head on something is a way to describe the weird feeling.  If I put my tongue on the roof of my mouth it will literally "stick" to it, it is so dry.  

With all of this, I've started grinding my teeth a lot as well.  People tell you not to stress, but its pretty hard to just "stop" when you feel terrible every day.

[yarray]

Thanks ploggin for the reply
"Another odd thing is that when I go to sleep, I will generally wake up feeling bad, even if it wasn't that bad on going to sleep."

I also feel the same way, i usually wake up and start gagging, and if i don't i tend to regret it. Even if i have something to eat, or a hot steamy shower, nothing seems to just make the mucus disapear. The weird thing for me is when i am in social situations, it is the worst. Lets say a friend came over the house, i will automatically go into a state of unwanted anxiety.Now im not talking about mental worring, im talking about physical tension around the mucus. I have a feeling of gagging in my throat that is more sever than when i am alone. Which makes me wonder if i have a sever mucus problem or if i go into a anxiety driven state of mind which makes it seem worse than it realy is. I just cannot put my finger on it. I have just came to the conclusion that it is both. (the point im trying to make here is the mucus and gagging is always worse when under stress)

"I think I know how you feel, although I don't know the severity of your problems. I am unable (for the past year and a half) to work a normal day because of it. I don't work full 8 hour days, and the times when I do work, I feel sick usually."

I do not work, i refuse to work due to this condition. I had a week of panicattacks due to the overwhelming feeling of gagging on this mucus. I will never go threw that again in my life, because frankly ppl just don't give a ****. I am not going to go to work and have these bastards tell me i am not allowed a Fing drink while i slave drive for them. (just venting =]) But anyways  
alot of ppl tend to point the "lazzy" finger at me, i just tend to give them the "middle" finger back, because as i stated earlier nobody cares if u are sick.

I also stated that i quit smoking cigaretes, and i have but i have seen no improvment what so ever. i have had a few smokes here and there for social needs but other than that none. I dont think smoking is related but it might possibly be a huge factor, the thing is i just don't know.

[ploggin]

Hi Yarray,

I have a very similar problem, at least I think based on what you've said.  How did your problems start, just all of a sudden or did they come on gradually?

I have been feeling terrible for about 3 years. Right now, I also have a very gaggy feeling in my throat.  I'm not sure if its post-nasal drip (I am guessing so), but it it there daily and seems to vary in severity throughout the day.  When I get it, I tend to have mucous production (usually clear unless I have a cold) in my throat and esophagus.  I end up coughing to try and relieve it, sometimes it helps, sometimes not.  But I do know that mucous is forming, whatever it is, and often first thing in the morning I cough mucous as well.  I also get a lot of burning and tightness in my chest with this, and lots of nausea at times (comes and goes in severity).  This whole thing seems to be digestive related, not so much in my respiratory system.

Like you, this is much worse when I am stressed.  With it are other sympoms as well, such as it feels like a "knot" forms in my abdomen with it often.  Also, I get what feels like burning at the back of my neck at times, headaches, and a general "woozy" or "queasy" feeling.  Of course, this also will be at its worst when I am stressed or undertake physical activity.  And it doesn't take much stress.

I also have dry mouth and dry lips.  I initially thought that a lot of my symptoms could be attributed to acid reflux, but the meds did not work and so I underwent the fundoplication surgery, but it didn't solve it.  All it did was cause me to lose more weight and now I am struggling with being underweight as well.

I think I know how you feel, although I don't know the severity of your problems.  I am unable (for the past year and a half) to work a normal day because of it.  I don't work full  8 hour days, and the times when I do work, I feel sick usually.

Another odd thing is that when I go to sleep, I will generally wake up feeling bad, even if it wasn't that bad on going to sleep.

No diagnosis has been made, and I am unsure of what it could be - possibly allergy related at least somewhat, some stress/anxiety likely, but really I don't know for sure.  Of course stress will always make  a condition or problem worse.

Let me know more about your situation. I will try and offer any help where I can, but like I say it's a struggle for me as well right now.

[yarray]

continued, I also feel as if i have a tight chest, due to the "acid reflux" or "post nasal drip or "anxiety" , all of the symptoms i have described are constant from the time i wake up to the time i go to bed, and 10 times worse when i have to deal with anything else. Never had any problems socialy untill these problems started.  
Any solutions would due a great for me, thanks.