Can someone advise on tight throat muscles, yawning and gagging please?

[bwmelbs]

hello. i gag almost every time i try to yawn and generally struggle to get a full breath in. my shoulders go up towards my ears, upper abdomen / diaphragm tightens and cramps up. it often happens when i'm really tired and want to relax and but my body or brain doesn't let me - it tries to hold on to the energy, mostly because i live a pretty busy lifestyle. can someone tell me why i'm cramping up and not able to get a nice full breath in?

if i place my fingers gently on my throat around my larynx i can feel the gag reflex get stimulated. it feels like the whole throat region needs to be massaged to be made to relax and not happen - does this sound right?

can tight muscles in other body areas cause this breathing difficulty as well?
like back muscles and stomach muscles being tight?

i don't understand what's going on, it's been happening for months and i'm told by doctors it's anxiety. i have no known health issues and live a healthy lifestyle otherwise. no smoking, no drinking, not overweight. not on meds but not sure what i can do.

many thanks.
bw

[kellyzac]

A doc told me that your throat muscles criss cross so when they are tense they tighten and you feel like you cant swallow or breathe but you can. Try when it happens to just lie down take a deep breathe in hold it for 4 sec then breathe out to 8 secs keep doing this while telling yourself you can breathe its just your anxiety causing this. It may not work the first time but stick at it and it will start to work. Try to have a period everyday to relax wether it be reading a book a hot bath (to help relax your muscles) or listening to a tape and over time it will work. I f you try to remove the fear from the cycle like you getr tight throat or gag you fear what it could cause and the panic cycle begins accept it is anxiety at play and just tell yourself it cant hurt you and it will start to ease. Hope this helps.