I have started to choke spontaneously on my own saliva. Anyone else?

Hello @callalloo

I appreciate you sharing your experience with excess saliva and swallowing problems. I find that interesting and a new insight that I had not heard of before. Did the medication you mentioned help you right away or did it take time before you noticed results?

The glycopyrrolate worked pretty much immediately but it works by decreasing saliva production so one also needs to drink enough water to remain hydrated. I just took it at night when the constant feeling that I needed to swallow was annoying and the constant swallowing triggered a sore throat. And swallowing didn't even help as, within a minute, I'd have the same level of saliva anyway. The gastroenterologist used a toilet tank analogy, the salivary glands were sensing inadequate saliva (needed to rebalance oral biome) and just made more. It was oddly maddening and took overma year to, very slowly, abate. I alsom discontinued famotedine and omeprazole in case they were somehow contributing to the cycle. Oh, it was also worse when lying down lending credence to the gastroenterologist's suspicion it could be GI tract related.

You and your doctors were certainly proactive in all types of treatments! Congratulations on finding an answer, @callalloo. Persistence does pay off, doesn't it?

It really can for sure. My point of view is that I'm the one living in the body affected by treatments, drugs, etc., so I get to live with the good or bad consequences. I think that we patients shouldn't have to work so hard to find answers but then the body is incredibly complicated and medicine is tackling things today that were absolute death sentences only a few decades ago. I forgot the year that something called a virus was identified but it was relatively recently in history.

Hello @chinasvegas

I just noticed that you last posted some time ago and I was wondering how you are doing. I look forward to hearing from you again.

Are you still having swallowing problems? Have you seen an otolaryngologist and/or a speech therapist?

Happens to me but not very often.

So I finally went to the doctor about the choking, and he put a camera up my nose and down my throat. I also went for a barium exam of my throat and will report the results of both when I have them.

I appreciate the update, @chinasvegas and I'll look forward to hearing from you when you get back the test results!

Years ago, I was told by my pcp that as we age, a muscle that involves swallowing can lose strength. As a result, it may take more than one time to swallow something. That same muscle phenomenon could possibly explain the involuntary choking sensation. Recently, I have found myself occasionally coughing on my own saliva. When that happens, I discretely and hopefully quietly cough into my tissue or napkin. I think it looks worse than it is. It doesn't concern me. I consider it part of the "maturity process" and remember the size of my biceps decades ago and now.

I hope this helps.

What did the test results reveal, if I may ask?