I have had a fear of swallowing for the past 3 months. After a year of difficulties due to esophagus erosions, I have acquired a habit of hesistating whenever food is about to be swallowed. Now that my esophagus is back to normal, the habits still exist, and cause me to panic. Instead of the normal swallowing routine, chew and swallow, mine is more of chew, stop, slowly gather myself, mentally prepare to attempt to swallow, hoping and praying that i dont choke, then swallow, only to hesistate, panic, calm myself down, either fight down or cough up the food, and throw away the rest of my dinner. This is really holding me back. I cannot work or even leave the house because of it. I have undergone hypnosis and am currently taking Risperdal but nothing seems to get me back to normal. I can drink and swallow my saliva (because of the medication) but the food is still as hard to swallow as ever. i have to chew it into liquid just to have any kind of chance of getting it down. That still doesnt work too well. Everytime there is food around me, and I think to myself im going to eat it, my heart starts racing and I tremble. I have lost 30 lbs in the past 8 weeks and I am feel extremely dizzy and tired. No energy nor hope. It seems like it will never get better. I need suggestions. What is the best medication to take, what kind of doctor is the best to talk to, what type of therapy is most effective, etc. PLEASE, I am so hungry!!!
