Stress Related Excess Swallowing/Burping and Twitching

[Justin28]

Hello,

My first post here, been reading through the forums for a while now and its been in a way very relieving to see that there are a lot of others like me out there.

I have had a form of health anxiety for many years, but became much worse when covid news started spreading back in March 2020. At the same time I also developed a lot of gastro issues to overuse of antibiotics, so between the covid anxiety and the gut issues I was having my anxiety got out of control. From there i started developing new pains and symptoms and constantly going to doctors for reassurance and luckily nothing major came back, did MRIs, colonoscopies, blood tests etc... a few things here and there but nothing serious.

Two things I seem to have persistent however that I noticed are the following:

- Since my extreme anxiety started I noticed I am always bloated and I always have a lump feeling in my throat, it causes me to burp very often. I also noticed I salivate and swallow a lot more. Does this happen to anyone? I noticed I can actually hear the gas bubbles in my throat often right after I swallow as well
- Also recently I started developing body wide twitching, it can come on randomly at any part of my body. I of course googled this and ended up with the worse diagnoses. I ended up doing a test to rule out any neuro issues and thankfully nothing worrying came back.

Does anyone else get these issues due to stress?

 

[mollyfin]

- Since my extreme anxiety started I noticed I am always bloated and I always have a lump feeling in my throat, it causes me to burp very often. I also noticed I salivate and swallow a lot more. Does this happen to anyone? I noticed I can actually hear the gas bubbles in my throat often right after I swallow as well

Sounds like GERD. Unpleasant but treatable.

 

[Justin28]

Sounds like GERD. Unpleasant but treatable.

thanks for the response mollyfin, i definitely do have GERD, was diagnosed over 10 years ago and take PPIs for it. I know the feeling of GERD, its different to this, plus I have definitely noticed increase need to constantly swallow

 

[Phillies Phan]

Also, the lump in throat and twitching are classic anxiety symptoms. I have the throat lump feeling, known as globus sensation. If not anxiety, it’s caused by things like post nasal drip, allergies and the like. I’ve had mine for as long as I can remember.

You‘re fine. Just consider treating your GERD and try to lessen anxiety, of course that’s tough for folks like us to do.

 

[bin_tenn]

All symptoms mentioned can indeed be caused by anxiety. Many of them can also be due to GERD, and it's even possible that those symptoms are caused by GERD and *exacerbated* by anxiety. Is it anxiety and/or GERD? Of course we don't know for sure, but based on my own experiences that's what it sounds like.

 

[Justin28]

Thank you both for the response. Along with the throat tightness feeling do you ever get a bitter taste in the mouth?

 

[bin_tenn]

Yes, with GERD that's typically due to the acid regurgitation. Even if it's mild, it can leave a bad taste in the mouth.

 

[Watermelon]

Hello,

My first post here, been reading through the forums for a while now and its been in a way very relieving to see that there are a lot of others like me out there.

I have had a form of health anxiety for many years, but became much worse when covid news started spreading back in March 2020. At the same time I also developed a lot of gastro issues to overuse of antibiotics, so between the covid anxiety and the gut issues I was having my anxiety got out of control. From there i started developing new pains and symptoms and constantly going to doctors for reassurance and luckily nothing major came back, did MRIs, colonoscopies, blood tests etc... a few things here and there but nothing serious.

Two things I seem to have persistent however that I noticed are the following:

- Since my extreme anxiety started I noticed I am always bloated and I always have a lump feeling in my throat, it causes me to burp very often. I also noticed I salivate and swallow a lot more. Does this happen to anyone? I noticed I can actually hear the gas bubbles in my throat often right after I swallow as well
- Also recently I started developing body wide twitching, it can come on randomly at any part of my body. I of course googled this and ended up with the worse diagnoses. I ended up doing a test to rule out any neuro issues and thankfully nothing worrying came back.

Does anyone else get these issues due to stress?

I get a lump in my throat feeling every night (never during the day oddly enough) I twitch very often unfortunately, I use to try to stop it by holding myself tense but it made it worse! It’s like the adrenaline finding a way to release. I yawn loads even when I’m not physically tired. I have so many anxiety symptoms that I write a list so that if I get them again and have forgot I can refer back to my list and put my mind at rest a little

Thank you both for the response. Along with the throat tightness feeling do you ever get a bitter taste in the mouth?

That’s your tummy acting up defo causing acid to build up and go into your throat. Horrible feeling and I defo get taut when I have had anxiety for a long period of time. It upsets your tummy

 

[Jason75]

Hello,

My first post here, been reading through the forums for a while now and its been in a way very relieving to see that there are a lot of others like me out there.

I have had a form of health anxiety for many years, but became much worse when covid news started spreading back in March 2020. At the same time I also developed a lot of gastro issues to overuse of antibiotics, so between the covid anxiety and the gut issues I was having my anxiety got out of control. From there i started developing new pains and symptoms and constantly going to doctors for reassurance and luckily nothing major came back, did MRIs, colonoscopies, blood tests etc... a few things here and there but nothing serious.

Two things I seem to have persistent however that I noticed are the following:

- Since my extreme anxiety started I noticed I am always bloated and I always have a lump feeling in my throat, it causes me to burp very often. I also noticed I salivate and swallow a lot more. Does this happen to anyone? I noticed I can actually hear the gas bubbles in my throat often right after I swallow as well
- Also recently I started developing body wide twitching, it can come on randomly at any part of my body. I of course googled this and ended up with the worse diagnoses. I ended up doing a test to rule out any neuro issues and thankfully nothing worrying came back.

Does anyone else get these issues due to stress?

I can relate to everything you have posted here except for the bloating. I have had this excessive saliva going on 2 weeks now and constant swallowing. Annoying to say the least. A lot of times when I swallow I feel like I have to burp afterwards like I am swallowing air too..

I have body-wide twitching for over 10 years now. Sometimes it will last weeks and days and other times it will disappear. I don't think I have GERD but who knows... I don't experience acid reflux much, only when I drink sometimes. I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions. Seems like we have a lot of similar symptoms.

 

[Doug97]

Yes I've had both of those symptoms, feeling of a lump in the throat and body-wide twitching.

The first was globus hystericus, a non-dangerous condition caused by anxiety.

The second was Benign Fasciculation Syndrome, also caused by anxiety.

 

[Justin28]

I can relate to everything you have posted here except for the bloating. I have had this excessive saliva going on 2 weeks now and constant swallowing. Annoying to say the least. A lot of times when I swallow I feel like I have to burp afterwards like I am swallowing air too..

I have body-wide twitching for over 10 years now. Sometimes it will last weeks and days and other times it will disappear. I don't think I have GERD but who knows... I don't experience acid reflux much, only when I drink sometimes. I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions. Seems like we have a lot of similar symptoms.

thanks for that and sorry for the late response, we do seem to have similar symptoms, and in a way its reassuring to know its all just anxiety. I cant seem to figure what my trigger is, been having horrible sleep lately and my symptoms seem to be coming back.

I get a lump in my throat feeling every night (never during the day oddly enough) I twitch very often unfortunately, I use to try to stop it by holding myself tense but it made it worse! It’s like the adrenaline finding a way to release. I yawn loads even when I’m not physically tired. I have so many anxiety symptoms that I write a list so that if I get them again and have forgot I can refer back to my list and put my mind at rest a little

That’s your tummy acting up defo causing acid to build up and go into your throat. Horrible feeling and I defo get taut when I have had anxiety for a long period of time. It upsets your tummy

thank you for your response, i completely relate to the part about trying to hold tense but it makes it worse! twitching always freaks me out because of Dr. Google.