Anxiety - fear of gagging/choking/throwing up

Hi oh my goodness this forum exists.

I'm 16 years old and I have social anxiety initially pertaining to just public eating. It's been 3 years now and it started off with fear of choking/gagging on my food in public. As far as I remember I've always had this irrational fear since I was super young but it didn't manifest to an exclusively disruptive level. Only about 3 years ago I had my first ever panic attack at a canteen and it snowballed from there. Within months from the first attack I got to a stage where my brain associated food with fear so the sight/smell of it makes me want to gag. I went on a school break n things got better mostly Bc I simply avoided situations I feared. So here I am 3 years later- new school, new people. The anxiety is back on full force n I've jus started seeing docs for CBT. Within this month of "relapse" my initial fear has deviated to situations OUTSIDE of public eating eg. taking a test this morn, going for pysch appts. I Feel depressed n hopeless I even get panicky for no APPARENT reason. Life sux
Sorry it's lengthy I just wanna get it out there see if there R alike Ppl Bc that helps a whole ton.

Breath, first have you been to a MD and been checked out?
Thats kind of a first item for those who want to help you, yes we have many people who suffer the same
problem you have, on a positive note, if you weren't upset about these feelings you would be abnormal, so
dont worry you will find the answers and you will get well, Peace

Larry ***

Welcome to the Anxiety forum, I'm so happy you found us but sorry you are dealing with anxiety, it is no fun to deal with and sorry you have to go thru this at such a young age. The good news is you are not alone, Most of us deal with daily anxiety here, we do have a couple members that post that have beaten anxiety and post to give us encouragement. We do care and understand and if you'd like will walk this journey with you.

I'm happy to hear you are in CBT therapy as we find that and Mindfulness therapies the best on treating anxiety. I do have to ask the same question as Larry though and have you been checked out by a regular doctor for anything physical going on?

Take a look at our resources, there you will find links about anxiety and self help links, there is also some self help CBT stuff there.
www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=9&m=104206

I'm so sorry you are experiencing this. I get it, because I choke on everything I eat. I was tested for Myasthenia Gravis, but no antibodies showed in my blood. While you can still have MG without the antibodies, my surgeon thinks it may be related to my curved spine, and muscles/nerves being out of whack.

No matter the cause, it is very stressful. I do hate to eat in public, for fear of completely embarrassing myself. I've imagined someone performing the Heimlich maneuver on me, which is not necessary, because I always am able to get it out eventually.

I hope you find the answers you need, and we will be here as you take your journey. Post anytime, and if you need to relax, use the coping skills in the resource thread.

Hi JakesMom
Yes shame/embarassment is very much a part of anxiety I noticed :/
But thank you for sharing your story it makes me feel less alone :)
I hope you too find answers to whatever problems you have on your plate.
P.s I'm new here so the medical conditions many ppl here input at the bottom of their response....are those of theirs?

despite of all that youre still SO full of love and caring darn YOU ARE STRONG I got loads to learn from you

If food is the cause of your anxiety it must be that food is the problem. You must put in your mind that the food you place in front of you is good food and you would like to eat. If you do not like the food do not put the food in front of you, have food you like. If you had depression because of weight or not, you may want to get counseling to introduce you back to food without getting you sick.