choking sensation, difficulty swallowing?

Has anyone had the sensation like their neck is being choked? Like an invisible tension in the center of your throat. I've been dealing with swallowing issues, feeling like certain foods are getting stuck (which I think they actually are and I have to swallow twice), and lots of pressure on my neck, jaw, and below my ear...mostly on the right side, but the choked feeling is sort of all over the neck.

I'm going to have my GP check my right ear on Monday, as I had issues with fluid behind the eardrum back in the spring. I also have my first GI appointment on Thursday, as all of this started with GI-type issues for me, I just want to try to rule-out anything I can. I am nearly 7 months off of an 8 month fling with benzos....(3 months - Xanax, 5 months Clonazepam)

Thanks,

moto joe

I have been having extreme pressure in my head and neck. A chiropractor did a cranial adjustment today and the pressure went away. I still have some tension in my muscles,  but the pressure being gone helps.  I was skeptical at first as this was my first time seeing a chiropractor. 

He is also doing functional bio-analysis as well to help determine what nutrients are depleted in my body. He is tailoring the nutrients to my body as well as a diet to build up my entire system so that I am in better shape physicallly to taper off of the Clonazepam.  Anyway,  it is just a suggestion in case nothing else works. 

Wishing you the best,

Shaani

longdistancerunner,

What kind of reflux was it?  I'm wondering if this is more like silent reflux/LPR.  I don't get the traditional GERD heartburn.  But, this seems to come and go.  I always seem to feel worse after eating though.

Thanks,

moto joe

Shaani,

What kind of cranial adjustment was it?  Like, what did they do?  I've been seeing a chiropractor for several months.  She is very supportive and seems pretty knowledgeable.  She does this thing where she sort of pulls my head/stretches out my neck.  She also some kind of lumbar machine that rolls up and down across my back and shoulders.  She puts a formed pad under my neck, to help stretch it out (I work on a computer all day and she said that the hunched forward stance makes us lose the natural curvature in our neck and causes issues that way).

Thanks,

moto joe

Has anyone had the sensation like their neck is being choked? Like an invisible tension in the center of your throat.

moto joe

I had the symptoms about choking too. My GP prescribed propranolol and it went away within a couple of weeks. Propranolol is a beta blocker, normally used to regulate your heart beat and to lower your blood pressure. It is mentioned by prof. Heather Aston in the Manual: http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzcha03.htm

VN

Hi moto joe

Sounds like globus hystericus. Have you looked that up? It's nothing serious, just uncomfortable and annoying. I used to have it really badly. I've got silent reflux, either of those can cause that sensation.

longdistancerunner,

 

What kind of reflux was it?  I'm wondering if this is more like silent reflux/LPR.  I don't get the traditional GERD heartburn.  But, this seems to come and go.  I always seem to feel worse after eating though.

 

Thanks,

 

moto joe

 

Hey moto joe,

I had trouble breathing a bit, it felt tight in the neck. The ENT put a camera down my nose and told me that it's really red in there due to reflux. I don't know what kind.

VanNelle,

OK.  Do you have any bad side effects with the propanol?  My blood pressure is normal, but on the low side of normal already.  I do get migraines though, so I've considered beta blockers from that aspect, but the migraines themselves haven't been bad/frequent enough to warrant that kind of treatment yet.

Dvm,

I was looking into it.  It just seems odd that "sticky" food like oatmeal and pretzels feel like they are actually getting stuck and need to be swallowed twice.  But sometimes it's a lump in my throat feeling just swallowing normal saliva.  I wouldn't be surprised if I have reflux of some type.

longdistancerunner,

OK, what do you take for it?  A PPI like prevacid or Prilosec?  Or something else?

I have an upcoming appointment with GI for the first time...but I can't get in with an ENT for awhile.  I'm hoping the GI guy can at least help if it's a stomach acid sort of problem...but hopefully he can still look down my throat...maybe just not down my nose.

Did you have to have a separate appointment to have the scope/camera done?  I'm thinking they sedate you a bit...

Thanks everyone!

moto joe

 

longdistancerunner,

 

OK, what do you take for it?  A PPI like prevacid or Prilosec?  Or something else?

 

I have an upcoming appointment with GI for the first time...but I can't get in with an ENT for awhile.  I'm hoping the GI guy can at least help if it's a stomach acid sort of problem...but hopefully he can still look down my throat...maybe just not down my nose.

 

Did you have to have a separate appointment to have the scope/camera done?  I'm thinking they sedate you a bit...

 

 

 

Thanks everyone!

 

moto joe

Hey motojoe,

No extra appointment and no sedation. They just spray a numbing spray in your nose and throat so it doesn't feel so weird. It's still a strange sensation, but a very quick procedure. Yes, the treatment is a PPI (like Prilosec), otherwise you can take Zantac or something. The first time it happened to me it was really bad, I woke up in the middle of the night feeling like someone was choking me. Most recent episode was just difficulty breathing as well and some swallowing issue. 

Good luck! 

VanNelle,

 

OK.  Do you have any bad side effects with the propanol?  My blood pressure is normal, but on the low side of normal already.  I do get migraines though, so I've considered beta blockers from that aspect, but the migraines themselves haven't been bad/frequent enough to warrant that kind of treatment yet.

Thanks everyone!

moto joe

Moto Joe,

I had no bad site effects. You should start with a low dose, say a half tablet and after a few days the est of the tablet (all depends on how much mg/tabl. The amount of tablets is to be considered with your length and weight. Your GP should know. It takes some time to be effective allthough it is not working for everybody. When you stop with it it is better to taper it in 7 days instead of CT as it can change your heart beat / blood pressure. But as said, I had and have no (bad) side effects.

VN

It is not always a result of reflux:

"The actress Glenda Jackson, who was not on benzodiazepines, described them as follows: "God, those panic attacks. You think you're dying; your heart pounds so strongly it feels like it's going to jump out of your chest; you choke and begin to feel you can't breathe - and all this is accompanied by terrible shaking and tremor, and feeling freezing cold" (Sunday Times Magazine p.15, October 17, 1999). These attacks are characteristic of some anxiety states and are the result of storms of central and peripheral nervous system hyperactivity, especially the centres normally concerned with fear and flight reactions in response to emergencies. The brain centres that control these fear reactions have been damped down by benzodiazepines and may rebound with renewed vigour as the benzodiazepines leave the body."

And:

"A few people have difficulty in swallowing food - the throat seems to tighten up especially if eating in company. This is usually a sign of anxiety and is well-known in anxiety states. Practising relaxation, eating alone, taking small well chewed mouthfuls with sips of liquid and not hurrying make things easier and the symptom settles as anxiety levels decline."

Aston Manual: http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzcha03.htm

Hey moto joe

Really sounds more like the globus thing. It's often caused by stress and anxiety, even if you're feeling perfectly calm at the time. I had the same difficulty with food regardless of the type of food I was eating. And then just as you say, it felt like there was a lump even when swallowing saliva. I'm sure reflux can add to the discomfort, but when the globus started for me I didn't have any reflux and it felt just as you describe.

Hi Moto Joe,

Thought I would pipe in to share my own experience with these  sxs. I actually had all three discussed here. The swallowing , breathing and acid reflux were the first of my physical sxs.... All occuring in T/w... Had a Dx of an esphegeal web ( surgery actually ) Sxs continued even after surgery  , a Dx of COPD for breathing issues and of course acid reflux for the acid problem. Good news at 8 months out on June 5th ... All sxs are gone. 

VanNelle,

Thank you for the info!

Dvm,

OK, thanks...I was looking at your signature....how are you doing these days then?  I don't know how long I can go like this.  I can't tell if things are getting better or worse at this point. 

Mary333,

Thank you for your experience.  Do you take medication for the acid reflux?  Or now that the symptoms disappeared, do you still take medication for acid reflux or have you stopped that as well?

Thanks everyone...these side effects/symptoms really started hitting me about 2 weeks ago with panic attacks out of the blue.  I haven't had panic attacks like this, since the early days of Xanax, almost 1-1/2 years ago.  What's more frustrating is that my life-situation has improved greatly (my little daughter had health issues that may have caused my initial anxiety...I went to my doc with GI symptoms and after checking my gallbladder, he thought maybe I was having anxiety instead...he started me on Ativan....I was on it for 2 weeks, then Celexa was added in, and I ended up having a weird bad migraine (I was having trouble pronouncing words).  The hospital did a full stroke work-up and came back with the diagnosis of complex migraine.  They had me stop the Ativan and 2 days later I had my first panic attack...that got me put on Xanax....with up and down periods and panic attacks, then I was switched to clonazepam to help steady things out, which it did, but I still never felt good on it....so I have no idea what is my natural anxiety (which I never had physical symptoms of before all this), what is the benzos, or what might even be migraine-driven or something...

It just seems odd that I was doing so well after stopping the Clonazepam, now around the 6 month mark, these panic attacks and now the swallowing issues (which I never had before and seem to occur even when I'm not feeling anxious) have flared up.

Thanks,

moto joe

I've got other health problems, so I might be more healed than I'm feeling right now. It's hard to know what's going on anymore!

I'm sorry you're struggling so much and had such a horrible time with all those meds. Of course if you're concerned about something you should always get it checked out.. but I will say that my swallowing issues also seemed to come out of nowhere, and were there when I wasn't anxious at all. The fact that you've been having panic attacks makes the globus thing even more plausible. Are you taking any meds or started taking anything new that could have set off the panic attacks? I never had panic attacks before withdrawal and I do remember going through months without them, only to have them come back again out of nowhere. You've come so far, you can get through this 

Dvm,

I am not on anything else.  I haven't since finishing the clonazepam about 7 months ago.  But, this is becoming a daily issue of not feeling well.  I work full-time...I've been at my job for 15 years and don't really want to get to the point where I lose it.  They are understanding, but I've left a couple times now via ambulance, because of these changing panic attacks that feel like so much more.  The worst one was a few weeks ago...I hyperventilated and the whole thing lasted about 2 hours.  I don't know how I could have gotten through the day pretending to not be having it, for that long of a period.  Sometimes things seem worse right after I eat something or eat lunch...which is why I wonder if it's not being triggered somewhat by GI stuff...but, like you said...panic attacks apparently can come out of nowhere, even if you are feeling good.  I know that I can mainly get through them, but I don't like that I've been having almost daily issues.

I'm seriously debating trying something like Buspar.  I don't quite know what to do now.  Don't get me wrong...I'm not bed-ridden or anything...I can tolerate exercise and such.  But, I have a family to take care of (my daughter is 3-1/2 years old) and it's hard when feeling so up and down each day, pretty much everyday.  And like I've explained to others...it comes over me like nausea.  One minute I'm fine, laughing and joking with people, and the next I just feel it come over me.  I wasn't WORRYING about anything at the time...

Thanks again for all the input,

It's hard not to develop a "what's next?" mentality....

moto joe

I can imagine how tough this is for you. Well done for working while going though all of this though! I'm afraid I can't write much tonight as I'm feeling awful and my brain is fried. But I agree that your gut could be playing a part in this. The food you eat could be playing a part. I don't have panic attacks anymore, but I remember them seemingly coming out of nowhere. We're just not consciously worrying about something.

I don't know anything about Buspar, but there are other ways to successfully get rid of panic attacks. Have you tried anything like mindfulness, meditation, breathing exercises? I can't say enough how much spiritual teachers like Ram Dass, Eckhart Tolle, Adyashanti etc have helped me.

I know all too well about the "what's next" mentality. Practicing presence every day helps me.

I'm sorry I can't be of much help tonight. Hopefully someone else will chime in with some insight for you.

I hope you find relief soon.

VanNelle,

 

Thank you for the info!

 

 

 

Dvm,

 

OK, thanks...I was looking at your signature....how are you doing these days then?  I don't know how long I can go like this.  I can't tell if things are getting better or worse at this point. 

 

 

Mary333,

 

Thank you for your experience.  Do you take medication for the acid reflux?  Or now that the symptoms disappeared, do you still take medication for acid reflux or have you stopped that as well?

 

 

 

Thanks everyone...these side effects/symptoms really started hitting me about 2 weeks ago with panic attacks out of the blue.  I haven't had panic attacks like this, since the early days of Xanax, almost 1-1/2 years ago.  What's more frustrating is that my life-situation has improved greatly (my little daughter had health issues that may have caused my initial anxiety...I went to my doc with GI symptoms and after checking my gallbladder, he thought maybe I was having anxiety instead...he started me on Ativan....I was on it for 2 weeks, then Celexa was added in, and I ended up having a weird bad migraine (I was having trouble pronouncing words).  The hospital did a full stroke work-up and came back with the diagnosis of complex migraine.  They had me stop the Ativan and 2 days later I had my first panic attack...that got me put on Xanax....with up and down periods and panic attacks, then I was switched to clonazepam to help steady things out, which it did, but I still never felt good on it....so I have no idea what is my natural anxiety (which I never had physical symptoms of before all this), what is the benzos, or what might even be migraine-driven or something...

 

It just seems odd that I was doing so well after stopping the Clonazepam, now around the 6 month mark, these panic attacks and now the swallowing issues (which I never had before and seem to occur even when I'm not feeling anxious) have flared up.

 

Thanks,

 

moto joe

Moto Joe

I m so sorry for all you are going through . I can empathize with all of your struggle . The acid is no longer a problem for me. I chalk it all up to the Ativan . I was on Prilosec up until months 3 off . Began shortly after Ativan was prescribed . Hang in there. You sound like one very strong man !