yes this is anxiety. this was my very first symptom that i ever got with my anxiety. it is a terrible feeling. try taking some slow deep breaths when this occurs. best of luck

yes its anxiety...the first time i realized i had anxiety..i felt tightness in my throat..as if something was lodged...it lingered for a while and then went away...unfortunately over the years it has been replaced with other funny symptoms which has been going back to the dr each time bc i being a hypo i never know when its anxiety or a medical problem...

The problem is that "tight throat can't get enough air in my lungs", feeling is there all the time lately. I am terrified I have lung cancer or something.

[quote]" whoah whoah whoa! YOU do NOT, repeat NOT have lung cancer or the something, OK? this is anxiety, nothing more!
Lets look at your statement for self suggestion.
"hey I don't have the choking feeling anymore"
you are manifesting this symptom with this suggestion because the phrase "choking feeling" is in there, eg dont think of your favourite food (you just did, right?) but i told you 'dont'. This is because the mind noes not register negatives hardly at all!
The key to this is that when you are busy, your mind does not produce the feeling, after all if it was cancer etc the feeling would be constant, right?
Do as cls1998 says and breathe deeply, relax shoulders, hands and the rest of your body and my tip for the day, SIGH! yes sigh in a relieved way, just like youve just sat down after a hard day! but most importantly CHANGE YOUR LANGUAGE!!! eg "I feel fine" and if you happen to get a little throaty then imagine the muscles of your throat as loose floppy rubber bands, releasing, relaxing, calming (see the GOOD words i use?)
always say how you DO want to be, but say it as if you are already "I am relaxed and happy, aaahhh!! "I can breathe easily and smoothly" "today i will be relaxed" "i am healthy" get it? you MUST MUST MUST train your mind to think like this, and if you do accidently think a negative' 'flip it' to a positive quickly eg "i am tense BUT i am beginning to relax" "i am scared BUT i can calm down now"
read this over and over until it sinks in! "[/quote]


First of all I want to say "thank you for that!". Thank you to everyone of course but sometimes you really need a harsh slap of common sense to get you thinking straight again. I guess I just worry about anything and everything. I have for as long as I can remember. I seem to pick a symptom every once in awhile and obsesses constantly about it until I find something new to obsesses about.


I am still getting that choking feeling and trying to train your mind to stop obsessing is hard but I know it's worth it. I just happen to be going through some extra hard times right not due to my sister dying very unexpectedly from a brain tumor she never knew she had.If she had any symptoms she never told anyone or even acknowledged them herself.It was horribly traumatic and very heartbreaking.

Try using an inhaler

I have this happen to me all the time when i have anxiety, however you need to get your throid checked. I found out i have tumors on my throid, that are not cancerous. go see your doctor about it. most likely anxiety, but check it out to be sure.

Wow... when that sensation started for me.. I thought I was going nuts and no one else had that feeling. In a weird way its nice to know someone else who has that symptom during anxious times. The best thing I have learned to do.. is don't think about it and when you do feel it... know that it won't hurt you, you ARE getting enough air and that it will eventually go away. Its uncomfortable but its bearable once you learn not to be scared of it. Good luck!

I get the same thing lately, for about 3 months. Better now buit it's still alarming to have because you feel suffocating and have icy dread attached to it..... I upped my Klonopin to 1 mg at bedtime and 0.25 during the day at noon... seems to be helping it's less dreadful...... god bless!

Hi! This is such a common thing in anxiety sufferers. I used to have it myself. What happens is that because we spend so much time inside our own heads, we become hyper-aware of every sensation in our body. We especially become aware of sensations in our head, neck and chest. Because these are the areas of our body that can kill us if something goes wrong. We often get worried about a pain in the head (Am I having an aneurysm or stroke?), pain in the chest (I am having a heart attack!), or sensations of the throat (I can't breathe or I am choking!).

The reason for this is because those of us with anxiety are control freaks with a very strong sense of survival. We also don't trust the world very much and are always afraid something is going to go wrong. Put all these together and you get a hypochondriac who worries and obsesses about every twinge and sensation in those areas of the body. What you are feeling is no different than the way your throat has been feeling your whole life. But you are so focused on it now that it feels different or foreign to you. Have you ever repeated a word over and over until it started sounding weird or funny? Well the same thing is happening with your throat. You have to stop thinking about it. Quit caring about it. Get your mind on something else. If something was wrong..you would have known by now. Read a book or count to 100 in French or whatever you have to do to get your mind off your throat. But do NOT allow yourself to think about it. Keep saying "I don't care", even if you don't believe it. And eventually you will forget about your throat.
Good Luck!!!

Hi -- when i get anxious my mouth gets really dry, and that makes it harder for me to swallow. This contributes to a tightness in my throat, that I think may be similar to what you have. I usually have a bottle of water in my car or at my desk, in case I get stressed and this symptom appears. Like most everyone said, and based on what you wrote, it's yet another unpleasant symptom of anxiety. I've dealt with several of them, and while it's not fun, things definitely get better in time.

Dang it just when I master making my throat relax I am getting the feeling of not being able to get enough air into my lungs. I thought that would go away with the tight throat.

Called plum pit qi in Chinese medicine.