Get the Support You Need

Learn from thousands of users who have made their way through our courses. Need help getting started? Watch this short video.

today's top discussions:

logo

New Year's Resolutions

Lynn123

2024-03-18 10:20 PM

Managing Drinking Community

logo

Water

Ashley -> Health Educator

2024-03-17 1:24 PM

Healthy Weight Community

logo

What motivates you?

Ashley -> Health Educator

2024-03-10 6:30 PM

Quit Smoking Community

logo

Myth or Fact

Ashley -> Health Educator

2024-02-23 3:25 PM

Quit Smoking Community

This Month’s Leaders:

Most Supportive

DM555 1 1

Most Loved

Browse through 411.740 posts in 47.052 threads.

160,396 Members

Please welcome our newest members: GRHODA MAUI MARIE, Enordin, IRN, MNICOLE, AYNA NICOLE

Extremely frustrated...


15 years ago 0 3 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
I'm not sure if it's ok to do this but I want to type out a quote in a book of mine "Freedom From Fear" by Howard Liebgold, M.D. about the fear of choking. He is a psychiatrist and pain management specialist and an expert on phobias. Mods I understand if you need to remove this if it goes against any rules...
 
"Indeed, unless you suppress your cough reflex with an inordinate amount of alcohol and then ingest an unchewed piece of meat 2 x 3 inches you cannot choke to death."
 
He then explains in his book why that is the case. It's not that easy. That coughing reflex is very powerful. Hopefully this brings a peace of mind to you.
 
 
15 years ago 0 778 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Not silly at all DM . I have been constantly like that for months now . Some days are easier than others .  I now carry a packet of polo's in my pocket.
They are mints . I find that i have a dry mouth all the time and sucking one of them not only makes it moist . It also makes you feel your breath .
 
Koneko , i didnt eat chilli last night i ate spag bol . I blended the sauce till it was a soft mush (made out to my husband it was for the kids sake lol)
 
Well half it was next time i will blend half the sauce ! Anyway i only eat a small dinner and towards the end i got abit of the spaghetti cuaght in my throat .
Whoahhhhhhh i nearly freaked didnt but heart went beserk .
 
 

15 years ago 0 313 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Hi everyone
 
Although this isn't a usual symptom of my anxiety I have had that AWFUL of not knowing how to swallow.. or thinking I'm forgetting how.. kind of hard to explain ..but the panic just sky rockets at that moment.  In those times I have found sipping water / juice etc. always gets me back on track.
 
I have had problems in the past though of not being able to eat food that I was unsure if someone touched or tampered with.. a bit ridiculous but true... sometimes the thoughts just run off on their own... not sure how they start but in the midst an awful thing.
 
A lot of great advice here..
 
15 years ago 0 76 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Oh, I've found having safe foods has helped me ALOT, someone posted about it in another forum.  I have several foods I can eat without feeling like I'm going to panic.
 
 
Yogurt, toast, soup, bananas, baby food, Carnation instant breakfast (if you don't have it it's basically a drink mix you mix with milk and it's chock full of vitamins, iron etc, makes me feel a bit better like taking a daily supplement,)any softer foods, really.  If this helps anyone else out, great.  Safe foods are really helping me wean myself back on to all the foods I loved, same with trying a "new" food every few days.

15 years ago 0 76 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
I can't eat oats or take pills :(  I have to be very selective with what I eat atm or I find I won't be able to eat all.  I had a small bowl of chili last night and had to stop eating right at the end and spit out what was left in my mouth because it felt like a piece of kidney bean got stuck and I freaked out.  Even the first few days after my first big panic attack I had a hard time with soup and water even.  It's a good suggestion but for me (atm) oats are out :(  Thank you for all your kind words and support, it's all very helpful and reassuring to know that I can work my way back to my old self!
 
I'm stuck on soup and less grainy foods for now until I can control my panic attacks.  It's a shame because I love sushi and my fiancee wants to take me for sushi in a neighbouring town on the weekend but I don't think I could eat it atm. :(

15 years ago 0 778 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Hey there Minnesota .
 
Oats are really good for filling you , and the goodness . But they make me quite gaggy . In England we have something called Readybrek . 
oats but very very . Just add hot milk and Vola sugar and eat yummy and not so thick and very filling .
 
They do say breakfast is the most important meal of the day . Weet-a-bix is also filling , again dont know if you have it there . 
 
Hey docs scales must be wrong lol !!!

15 years ago 0 341 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
HI Cornish-dee.  its good to eat smaller meals more often, If I dont eat like that I feel sick to my stomach.  Especially when i'm
working out or biking.  I used to have a piece of toast for breakfast, thinking i'd gain weight by having more.  Then i'd be burnt out by 11:00 am
my sister got me into eating oats, or oatbran for breakfast, or sometimes i have plain yoghurt with cereal and fruits.
I've lost weight by eating a more filling breakfast, it feels good.  Wit h the meds i'm gaiining a bit, so i'm trying to keep a little off, tho when I go
to the doc each time she weighs me, and 'm gaining, but feel ike i'm losing as my pants are loose..does that make any sense.;)
Then i have a bunch of smaller meals during the day, and I dont feel dizzy, or nauseous,  Keep us posted:)
15 years ago 0 778 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Hello there Koneko . I have been like this for a few months now myself . I understand what you are saying completely . Now i was a large lady 
and have lost a fair bit of weight now . 
 
I actually have trouble on the swallowing side , even water believe it or not . Someone here told me to eat little and very very often whch i now do .
 
I started off with soup , scrambled eggs and easy dinners like curries etc . Because they are easier to swallow . I am now trying different dinners 
but tiny ones and chew forever each mouthful !!
 
I do feel very sick and anxious everytime i do but its better than being realy dizzy like i was before when i wasnt eating at all .
 
Like you i am looking forward to eating NORMALLY again . Oh it will come back , this happened to me two years ago , not so severe but it took 
along time to happen but i did eat properly again . So hold on to that because i am
15 years ago 0 76 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
My problem is the fear of choking. I know food isn't getting stuck in my throat but it feels like it is. What makes this even more frustrating is that I know it isn't but I still worry about it. I have no problem eating when I'm starving but I don't want to only be able to eat when I'm starving. I had a good day the other day, I was able to eat when I wanted. I don't totally understand how I can go from being fine 2 wks ago to being like this. I'm very afraid of not being able to eat, I'm already a skinny person and I'm worried that I'm going to fade to nothing or destroy my body. I used to be physically active but now I won't go back to it until I can eat properly again. I know that if I don't start eating properly I'll hurt my body, I KNOW this. I don't WANT to hurt myself so why am I like this? How can you go one day being normal to back to the same problem? It's frustrating.
15 years ago 0 8760 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Koneko,
 
This is also known as the panic cycle. One anxious thought feeds into your anxiety, creating more thoughts and so on and so forth. The individual will usually avoid or walk away from the trigger in order to get relief.
 
Please don't be too hard on yourself and keep working through the program.
 
The next time you sit down to eat, use the following exercise to help combat those anxious thoughts:
 
When you have a negative thought, try to answer these 10 questions:

1.     What’s the evidence that the thought is true?
2.     What’s the evidence that the thought is not true?
3.     What is the worst possible thing that could happen and how would you cope if it  did happen?
4.     What’s the best possible thing that could happen?
5.     What would most likely happen and how would you cope if that happened?
6.     What’s another way of thinking about this situation? What else could be going on?
7.     What would you tell a friend of yours if they were in this situation and had the same negative thought?
8.     What’s the effect of believing the negative thought?
9.     What would happen if you didn’t believe the negative thought?
10.     What are some alternative thoughts in this situation?
 
Hope this helps.
 


Danielle, Bilingual Health Educator

Reading this thread: