Can't stop swallowing

Hi Potting and welcome!

I am sorry to hear about the anxiety challenges, and this symptom that continues to bother you.

It is important to remember that you did not cause your friend's problem. It sounds as if they were predisposed to anxiety as many people are. ..and the issue would have presented in them in some form or another in time...with or without your mention of the swallowing troublel you have.

This symptom is certainly a manifestation of the anxiety...sometimes in connection with OCD tendencies...so I would ask if you've sought help for anxiety/OCD management?

Talking with your doctor about treatment options such as medication and / or therapy is a good goal. There is help and hope once you seek your recovery.:)

Please see our Resources at the top of the main forum page here for great self help material for overall stress reduction. Practicing the suggested exercises daily will make a big difference in how you feel.

Keep posting with us as well if you find it helpful. We understand, care and support is key!

Talk soon,

Scaredy Cat

Hello Scaredy Cat and Supapfunk,

Thanks for your posts and support, it means a bunch.

A little background on the story if it has interest: 4-5 years ago when we were in high school, I told my friend "Hey, I have this weird problem and if I tell you you cant stop... you wanna hear it?"... it was very stupid and thoughtless of me, but I had no idea of the implications, and of course she felt it immediately... After high school, we both took a year off from college, and I actually kinda forgot about it. Then, we started at the same college and since we are best friends we actually also now live as room-mates, so we are together everyday. In a casual way, my friend told me "hey, I still sometimes have that swallowing problem sometimes", and of course it returned to me. This is why I feel a tremendous amount of guilt and shame, and it feels as if I "set her up" for the problem, even if it was unintentional, and why I feel like the need to find a cure or something to help her too.

I have previously talked to a therapist, because my anxiety has presented itself in other versions earlier (which have now disappeared), but not about this problem. I think talking to a doctor about it, as you mention Scaredy, would be the first step - they probably don't know of it, but maybe they can recommend a therapist, help center or similar. So I will do that in one of the upcoming weeks..

Supafunk; you are right that I pay special attention to it, when I am together with her, but it has started to spread to other areas of my life as well, especially when I feel anxious. You are also right, that I am reading very much into every little sounds, especially from her as well - but I also know she still has the problem as she told me, so I feel my problem is interconnected to her

Thank you both for your support, again it means a lot (!!). I will try to check out the resources at the top and schedule time with the doctor sometime soon

Hey guys,

I am just checking in shortly. I just booked a time with my doctor pretty soon. Started to do a few meditation and relaxation exercises as well... Relaxing, not worrying etc. is helping tremendously. Unfortunately,as you know, my fear is connected to the guilt I feel for having put the problem on my friend as well..



I have been thinking about talking with my friend about "our" symptom (I guess we could call it OCD)... What do you guys think about it? She brought it up 2-3 months ago, where we barely talked about it... However, as you know, I have been feeling a tremendous amount of guilt ever since.

Positve:
- Talking about it could maybe make it less stressful - take the air out of the balloon. Talk about possibilities for treating it.

Negative:
- I have a fear of reminding hear or diagnosing her with a problem. For us, talking about us serves as an instant reminder and you will usually start swallowing right away. I am pretty confident she doesnt know what OCD is, and if I tell her, that our symptom is called OCD, it could intensify her symptom.



What do you guys think? There are both positives and negatives. I am confident she is still struggling and feel the need to help her, as I laid the problem on her shoulders.

EDIT: Thanks for your support. You do a tremendous amount of help for the users on this forum

Hi potti
You are taking very positive action regarding you swallowing issues. Keep up with the self help relaxation and meditations.
There is no way you have passed this on to your friend so try to let go of the guilt.

I know when you spend a lot of time with someone that you can sometimes pick up their habits so maybe this is why your friend has been doing it. But it is definatly nothing for you to feel any guilt about whatsoever'

Keep up your positive actions and keep us up to date with the improvements i am sure you will soon find.

Thanks you very much for the answers Scaredy Cat, gilly2 and supapfunk.

All of your answers are insight- and helpful.

I think "leading by example" is a very strong way of going. Talking about this problem, unfortunately, doesn't seem to be the solution, as the sensation of swallowing will be present in your consciousness. Nonetheless, after those 4-5 years (and me forgetting it in the meanwhile) it seems that her roots to the problem are stronger, and thus I also feel the need to help her/talk to her.

It would be nice to be able to talk about the problem. As you said, supapfunk, it could result in a person whom with you could share concerns and advice, and I definitely connect the problem with more guilt and shame than she does.

While I imagine it being a relief to talk to her about it, I also know that talking to her about it in the first instance is what triggered it in her. Her sensation, as I mentioned in my second post, started from the exact moment when I mentioned it to her, something I clearly remember. It is kinda like "stop thinking about a white elephant" and all you can think about is exactly a white elephant - that is what makes this topic so complicated. For the same reason I feel like "it has been passed on", even though, as you mention, this really shouldn't be possible - unfortunately it kinda was in my case.....

Thus, I am afraid, that mentioning it again will defeat the purpose (if she is increasingly reminded of the sensation again). I know for a fact that she is still dealing with it, and after all it was 4-5 years ago - so the idea of talking to her again is very scary because I know she is still suffering from times, and that talking about it again could maybe increase it.

To all of you, I will definitely consider what you said and include it in my thoughts while still considering, if I at all and/or how I should go about bringing it up.

So thanks a lot, I appreciate your responses and time very much. I hope your lives are taking you where you want :) I will keep you updated in future, as I try to find solutions to this problem. Love and hugs