Resolved question:
Hi,
I have an anxiety disorder that often manifests itself as health anxiety. I have been having a hard time lately, and I am having an issue today that I need some reassurance with. A week ago, I accidentally swallowed a cherry pit. Because of that, I obsessively researched "bowel obstruction" and became familiar with the symptoms. I am now aware that most ingested foreign objects cause problems with the esophagus. (I do not think I have a bowel obstruction.)
So. I also have a phobia of accidentally ingesting glass, which causes me to panic whenever a glass breaks in the kitchen as the space is very tiny and I worry about shards falling into other cups or food items. This morning, I shattered a glass in the sink.
After I cleaned it up, I had a cup of coffee. Since then, about six hours ago, I have the feeling of something stuck in my throat. I have also been having the occasional acidic burp and pain in my chest. I have tried drinking milk and eating bread, but cannot seem to clear whatever is in the back of my throat.
I am completely aware that I am combining my 2 fears and coming up with the conclusion that I accidentally swallowed glass, which is now stuck in my esophagus. I am also completely aware that the likelihood of a shard of glass falling into the coffee and me drinking it is practically nonexistent.
However, the feeling of something in my throat is 100% real and that is why I can't shake the panic. Is there any way that anxiety itself can cause my throat to feel "shut" or like there's something in it? It feels like any time I eat anything to try to clear it, that also gets a bit stuck, like I have "crumbs" in there or something. Also, if I HAD swallowed glass, would it feel like something stuck at the back of my throat? What symptoms should I be looking for?
Submitted:
4 Days
Category:
Family Physician-GP
Thanks for writing to us.
You do suffer from anxiety disorder as you rightly pointed out. These happened around 8 hours ago. If something was actually stuck in your throat you will have that feeling that something is stuck, each time you try to eat or drink water or any other fluids. You're probably just anxious and scared since you broke a glass just before having coffee.
Moreover if you ingest a piece of glass, since it has sharp edges its going to get caught in your mucosa and you will have bleeding. You will have blood coming out with your saliva. You will have extreme difficulty in swallowing anything and it will be very painful.
I believe you don't have those symptoms. Sometimes when we are too anxious about something happening, we tend to assume that some symptoms actually exist, when they don't. So don't worry about it. Since there's no bleeding and you have been able to swallow, i don't see any reason for you to be worried.
In spite of all this, if you're still worried then you can go for an endoscopy just to reassure yourself more than anything.
Do write to us for further queries,
Doctor Spring