{"id":9219,"date":"2020-07-03T14:00:39","date_gmt":"2020-07-03T21:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.everywomanover29.com\/blog\/?p=9219"},"modified":"2020-07-03T23:11:11","modified_gmt":"2020-07-04T06:11:11","slug":"anxiety-and-globus-pharyngeus-lump-in-the-throat-gaba-to-the-rescue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.everywomanover29.com\/blog\/anxiety-and-globus-pharyngeus-lump-in-the-throat-gaba-to-the-rescue\/","title":{"rendered":"Anxiety and globus pharyngeus (lump in the throat): GABA to the rescue?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"globus<\/p>\n

Low levels of GABA, a calming neurotransmitter can lead to anxiety, fears and panic attacks. With low GABA, the anxiety is a physical kind of anxiety with muscle tension or muscle spasms.\u00a0 Today you\u2019ll read how low GABA may be one possible root cause of globus pharyngeus, which you may have experienced as a rather scary golf-ball-like lump or constriction in the throat.<\/p>\n

Let me describe globus pharyngeus and then I\u2019ll share my story with globus pharyngeus, why low GABA may be a factor (and supplemental sublingual GABA to the rescue) and other possible root causes that should be considered.<\/p>\n

This 2015 paper, Globus pharyngeus: an update for general practice<\/a>, defines it as follows:<\/p>\n

Globus pharyngeus or globus sensation is the painless sensation of a lump in the throat and may be described as a foreign body sensation, a tightening or choking feeling.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Globus means globe or sphere and it can actually feel like you have a golf-ball sized object in your throat.<\/p>\n

You may have experienced it without even knowing the medical name. Only a few of my clients and those in my community have ever heard the term. I also only learned about the name many years after my episode.<\/p>\n

What is very surprising is that, according to the above paper, up to 45% of the population have experienced it.<\/p>\n

My story with globus pharyngeus<\/h2>\n

I\u2019m one of the 45% and for me it was a terrifying experience.\u00a0 As you may know, I experienced anxiety, PMS, fears and panic attacks in my late 30s and early 40s (it\u2019s why I do this work).<\/p>\n

Fortunately I only had one episode. It truly felt like I had a golf-ball in my throat and was horrifying. I knew I needed to swallow so I could get rid of this obstruction but at the same time I was terrified to swallow in case it got stuck and choked and killed me.<\/p>\n

I remember going to the mirror to try and see this golf-ball sized object in my throat. I was so surprised that I couldn\u2019t see anything.<\/p>\n

Looking back, I suspect the addition of GABA Calm<\/a>\u00a0to my protocol prevented further episodes. I was also using progesterone cream at the time and this promotes GABA production too.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve had many clients report that looking back they also realized their episodes stopped once they addressed their low GABA levels.<\/p>\n

I was also under a great deal of stress at the time: work stress (long hours and my adrenals were a mess) and physical stress (due to amalgam removal, gluten issues, perimenopausal changes and much more).<\/p>\n

Globus pharyngeus and GABA<\/h2>\n

The fact that the throat or pharynx<\/a>\u00a0\u201cis a muscular tube that runs from the back of your nose down into your neck<\/em>\u201d is one reason for considering a muscle spasm and low GABA as a root cause.<\/p>\n

The amino acid GABA, when used sublingually, eases muscle spasms within 15 seconds to 2 minutes. Some examples where we see this:<\/p>\n