Over Active Gag Reflex when swallowing anything, even water!

This is a thought that I've been meaning to elaborate on for a long time, and this isn't entirely the best time/place, but I figured I probably would never do it otherwise.

I apologize if I'm coming across as pushy. I should probably write this when I'm in a better mood. I know there aren't solid solutions, and none of the below may be helpful. But it might be worth considering.

One thing to consider, when a doctor doesn't have a good answer, is to do the research. The doctor can only run on what you tell them, and usually a patient (me included) can only communicate a part of the issue. History, things that you think are unrelated, and nuances you didn't realize up front go unknown to the doctor. Once you understand how it works, you can much better communicate with the doctor, collaborate, and even come up with your own solutions. My research has saved me years of chronic pain, and arguably helped to save my life.

That being said, let me think through some of my research on the topic, and see if anything helps. Consider where your gag reflex is - at the back of the throat. The gag reflex is triggered by the nerves back there. So it's a matter of either avoiding them, or getting the to calm down.

The latter, either by trying to desensitize them, or by numbing them. A lot of throat lozenges have a bit of a numbing agent in them. If you can reason it through, show the lack of results in other methods, the doctor might give you something stronger.

Avoiding the gag reflex, I realized from a personal issue. This I can't verify, but if the size of the throat requires food to push past the gag reflex, or the gag reflex is too far forward/back that food presses it on the way down, that could be an issue. Swelling, from TMJ, sinuses, allergies, other could potentially cause the throat to narrow. Malocclusion (your bottom jaw not matching, in this case displaced too far back), could shift things arround exposing your gag reflex to more food. It's unlikely, I know, but bear with me.
1. If malocclusion, try moving your bottom jaw forward, when you swallow ( I know hard to explain let alone do. )
2. Your massater (jaw muscle) is the strongest in the body - seriously! It causes a lot of tension headaches, and most people don't realize it's tense. If you grind at night, get headaches, etc, it could potentially cause swelling. This theory is a long shot, and I'm an anomaly , but it's playing a part in my situation. Relaxation excercises, pressure points, massage, etc. Hot drinks, depending on the situation, can help relax it as well.
3. Research. Understand how it works. Then experiment. Can you get liquids down? If desperate, can you swallow food when surrounded by lots of liquid? Like how you do pills? Try utilizing gateway theory (google will explain it better), or along the same lines with something like "spray and stretch"

Well, that's how I've been tackling my mystery diagnosis for the past 7+ years, and am thankfully slowly getting out of it. Research saved my tail.

Best of luck!

Have you tried enteric coated peppermint oil? The enteric coating ensures that it gets into the small intestine before getting digested allowing it to be more effective. There's solid clinical trials backing it's efficacy.

Have you tested for SIBO? Just about anyone with IBS get it and goes 90% undiagnosed, is easy to diagnose, and just requires antibiotics to treat. It stands for Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth. Essentially, the healthy bacteria get bored because your GI tract isn't processing food fast enough. The get over eager and crawl up the stream to get to work. But up the stream is off limits for a reason, and causes gas, bloating, and lots of other fun symptoms. Put them back in their place, and although it won't solve the original problem, it'll alleviate a lot of the unpleasant symptoms. I apologize for being so abrupt and if I'm coming off as rude. I'm late, gotta run! Best of luck!

if you haven't heard of oil of oregano look it up it is a miracle herb! I take it for almost everything. I had a severe case of bronchitis and was on a breathing machine. then I started takeing oil of oregano and I do not need the breathing machine anymore!

I have the same problem I am 17 about 3 or 4 weeks ago I got poorly started to slowly go of food lost lot of weight putting someone on slowly now am gagging alot and I am very highly stress casue of it and I have panket attack most of the day went doctors they said relax try and eat give meds try and help got to go to a spical list at hospital friday going to check inside my body and talk to me duble check note causing it if not then could be the brian if its the brian give something to carlm it down abit.

(but for now till I see spical list got to stay relaxed try eat and drink keep weight on I know how it feels gag put's you of food and that the KEYS STAY CARLM TRY EAT AND DRINK MUCH YOU CAN AND TRY STAY RELAXED) I hope we all get better soon)

1) go see a specialist to rule out anything serious

2) if it isn't serious, it is probably anxiety

The cycle you are in is probably caused by a thought of or actual gagging. This made you enter an anxiety cycle. Once you fear gagging, you start to focus on any sign of possible gagging. You become overly sensitive to the gagging reflex. You therefore fear it and bang... the cycle has started. Any extra stress will enforce the sensitization of your nervous system and this gagging symptom will get worse, on the other hand, when you are more relaxed than normal it will probably be easier to swallow.

The key to break this cycle is to decondition yourself. I am sure there are psychologists who can help you with this. They will try to relax you and before you realize it, you will have swallowed food. This is the first step, realizing that you are physically able to swallow without gagging. Once that is sorted, you should start realizing that you don't need to fear the gagging. What is the worst that could happen? Really, would you die from it? Would people start to throw rocks at you? As with any anxiety, facing your fears is crucial. 

Slowly you will break the cycle and stop focussing on how you swallow or might gag.

One book I recommend is Claire Weekes, Essential help for your nerves. Her words are worth gold and she has helped millions with numerous nervous disorders.

to any people with children I advise you to see a psychologist to help you learn him/her to not fear food in a calm and relaxed way.

 

good luck all

ps don't feel bad about this, anxiety like this is part of many, many people's lifes. I had it with fear of loosing my balance. By approaching it the way I described, it all died down.

Hi i am 46 and first suffered this problem when i was in my early 20's.  Back then i had to take very small bites of food and chew, chew and chew.  I was very stressed at the time and i believe it was triggered at the time by a book i was reading, Stephen Kings Christine!  In the book someone chokes and the Heimlich Manoeuvre is performed.  I didnt know what this was and it freaked me out as i thought that if i didnt know then would anyone else? I think i suffered for a few months but then it passed.  Sadly though i think once you suffer such a thing it stays with you and since then whenever i am very stressed it can be the choking thing or hyperventilating.  More recently i have suffered now on and off for the past six or more years.  My weight dropped dramatically to the point where i had to tell myself to get my act together and eat.  This was preferable to the gastroscopy that i was booked in for, i just couldnt bear the thought of something going down my throat but as i am phobic of medications i knew i couldnt be sedated without freaking out.  

My problem at the moment is i am past the gag reflex, i can brush the back of my tongue etc. the problem now is lower down in the throat so that when eating i can feel the food going all the way down.  Afterwards i can feel it just sitting there (though i know this is not the case).  

The sad thing is i can have a glass or two of wine and i am fine but of course that is leading to alcohol dependency.  But it does prove to me that the problem is psychological.  Its always in the back of my mind that maybe there's a growth or something but then after six years and it being intermittent i would have suffered more symptoms.  

I read Claire Weekes books years ago and they really helped me at the time, thanks for reminding me!

Sounds Similar to me. My whole life I have had to tip toe around certain foods and avoid social situations involving going out to eat. I have even been called out in a large group of people for not eating something. How embarrassing. But what can I do? certain textures bother be so much that I gag no matter how much I try to stop it. And its food that I really need to eat to be healthy! Its not like I'm being a wimp I have tried so many time s to just power through a bite but end up on the verge of vomiting. 

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So so SOOOO glad I found this article!! I have been like this for a long time. I'm not a big eater at all but thats just me. I have a small stomach. Im 5ft7 and like 98lbs, which I know is underweight, but I am most definately NOT annorexic or anything similar. I think I just have a high metabolism (thats a whole other story).I HATE eating out or at friends/my bfs, because they always give me HUGE portions of food which gets me stressed out and worried anyway because I know I wont eat it all. Then I usually get through a couple of mouthfuls and dont feel full, but the gagging thing starts kicking in and I start getting panicy that I'm gonna puke. I usually then end up having to finish most of my meals by forcing it down with whatever Im drinking!I've had times where I've genuinely thought I was gonna puke in the middle of a resturant sometimes :SIts recently just started with hot drinks too. I take a mouthful of tea and genuinely cant seem to force it down untill I make a massive effort to tell myself to swallow.Im so glad I found other people with the same problem, because its really embarassing and makes me panic even more about food when Im out than I already do.I think for me it must be some kind of mental thing, due to anxiety at being served large meals.It would be amazing to be able to go out for a meal with all you guys and know Im not going to be the last to finish or anything as I'm such a slow eater as well ^.^

xcountmeinx, I think we can be the best of friends! I absolutely hate eating as well. I used to go out with friends every Friday for dinner but due to this gagging problem, I have stopped eating out with them. And just the thought of family & friends saying, "let's go out for lunch/dinner!" makes me cringe, panic, and sweat. I'm not sure when or how this happened but ever since I got it, I haven't been eating like a normal person. I've dropped to 95 lbs and I'm 5'5". I am definitely NOT anorexic either! I would love to meet all of you as well because it feels like I can finally relate with all of you who are experiencing the same thing as I do.

I had a friend with this same problem and it turned out her esophagus (spell?) didn't close. She had surgery and it fixed it right up and she never had a problem after that. It's like a valve that didn't close so all her food and drinks would come right back up again after eating and drinking. It had nothing to do with stress, which I feel a lot of doctors tend to use as an excuse for symptoms. That's her story and I thought I would share it in case this is something that you could have checked out. Good luck and I hope you get to the bottom of this.

i have the same damn thing happeing to me my doctor doest know what is it he gave me pills that does work please help me

yeah, i have the same thing, but its strange, i dont exactly throw up, i just gag pretty much all the time if i swallow something, not exactly liquids though, this only really recently happened and i feel like it is most likely down to stress. I have previously had eating problems, for instance, when i was younger; eating anything would make me feel physically sick, i couldnt bring myself to do it and would sometimes go for days without eating anything because it made me feel so sick, also the fact that sick is like one of my worst fears does not help in the slightest. i hope that it gets better for you soon, i am only fifteen so i cannot imagine what it would be like to be living with this for as long as you have, but i will keep on looking around for an answer as it is quite depressing when it comes to eating out and you cant even bring yourself to do it.

I just get nervous to eat and only when I am very hungry it doesn't happen. I think you should try and give him some mashed foods so it is like baby food.

I am italian and I should eat like my family does. I hate to eat because I feel like I am going to gag. I am always never eating when it it time to. I just get so nervous that I am going to gag. I don't like going to eat anywhere. I like to eat at home. It doesn't happen when I am very hungry. I have my yearly checkup coming up and I will tell him. Hopefully I get some good results.