My throat

[missfoxC]

Mainly at night or early morning my throat feels like its swollen And I have to keep coughing! Of course my first though is its swollen and I'm gonna stop breathing. It happens many times a day and nothing ever happens. Right now I have some acid reflux and heartburn. I heard this causes this feeling but why??? I'm so worried! I won't sleep all night! Ugh.

[dazza]

Muscles tense during flight or fight mode. These include the neck & muscles surrounding the throat.

Although it feels awful, it's just a new or unusual sensation - therefore we tend to think the worst of it.

The sensations that you've felt are the worst they'll get. Just accept it when it happens and remember that it's all just part of a normal body reaction to what would be a dangerous situation.

A few theories I've heard are:

1/ Imagine being attacked by a wild animal - such as a Lion.
The animal would tend to go for your throat to kill you. This is possibly the reaosn why the muscles in your neck tense and harden - for protection.

2/ Apparently, in our very early days (pre-historic man) we'd often take to water (for food and so forth). Because of this, our throats were adapted such that they would prevent us from swallowing water.
I.e. it would deliberately close somewhat when we were submerged in water.

I've heard a theory that it is these same muscles that tense during our panic attacks.

The upshot is... don't panic. It's perfectly normal for us anxious folk.

[bhamlaxy]

Great post Dazza- It's amazing how the fight or flight system can describe literally every single anxiety symptom, no matter how weird it is, and usually in the unique ways that you describe.

Missfox- In addition to what Dazza said, remember your throat will NOT close. Think about it- you can breath fine in a coma, while you are sleeping, or even when you aren't thinking about it. When's the last time you read a news article saying "Man dies after throat randomly closes" or "Woman get's acid reflux- dies after throat closes up"?

Maybe it's a bit sore from the heartburn, but it's not going to close up. Repeat that over and over to yourself when it makes you anxious.