Choking on saliva - a little TMI

[mixedmama]

Morning all

Had an awful night waking up to feeling as if i was going to choke on my own saliva.... I was actually gagging and when I woke uo this morning if i breathed in too heavily i felt like i was gagging and choking again.

Never had this with my previous pregnancy and not sure it is even pregnancy related TBH, but it was awful... anyone else experienced anything like this.

Never had this personally, but I think it is one of the standard side effects of pregnancy

Thanks will try that. Is it related to heartburn then?

hyperptyalism or something like that si the medical name.

apparenly sucking lemon helps to dry out the salicva- or sour acidy type sweets.

Can be linked to severe sickness but obv. not always.

Worth mentioning to GP, and some of the hyperemesis sites (eg blooming awful) often have tips on if that might help.

Here's what Wikipedia says:

Another form of Ptyalism is associated with pregnancy, most common in women with a condition known as Hyperemesis Gravidarium, or uncontrollable and frequent nausea and vomiting during pregnancy which is far worse than typical "morning sickness". With Hyperemesis, ptyalism is a side-effect, which is a natural response to uncontrollable vomiting. With normal vomiting, salivary glands are stimulated to lubricate the esophagus and mouth to aid in expelling of stomach contents. During a hyperemetic pregnancy, many woman complain of excessive saliva and an inability to swallow this saliva. Some women note having to carry around a "spitoon" or using a cup to spit. Swallowing their own saliva has been noted to gag and further nauseate the women making the hyperemeis that much worse.

Wow... i have had very bad morning sickness and at 30 weeks am still being sick so perhpas it is linked altho I am not sure that I got hyperemisis (sp) stage.

Thanks tho ladies, does make things a little clearer... will keep a track of it and mention at MW appointment unless it happens frequently then will revert to GP.

Fortunately my hyperemesis has cleared up now but I was carrying a bowl to spit into at the worsdt satge, you have my sympathy!

Hi mixedmama, I have only seen one severe instance and that was a midwife colleague.

Having seen her trying to cope, I feel for you.

Can't rally offer much in the way of advice but lots of sympathy being sent your way.

From the blooming awful website:

How do I deal with excessive saliva?
Excessive saliva, known medically as ptyalism ('tie-er-lizum') is a relatively rare condition but is sometimes associated with HG. It isn't common even in HG, but seems to occur with HG more often than on its own. Anyone who suffers from it will know about it - when we say excessive, we mean that there's so much the poor woman can't swallow it and has to keep spitting into a bowl or hankie and might need to put a towel on her pillow when resting. This can be very distressing - she may be very embarrassed about it and want to avoid all contact with other people.

There are several diet-based remedies that sometimes work, but homeopathy seems to provide more reliable relief. If you can manage it, try sucking on a lemon or lime wedge, or drink water with fresh lemon or lime squeezed into it. If you would like to try homeopathy, ideally you should contact a registered homeopath. If you can't find one or can't afford it, you may be able to buy a homeopathic remedy called tabacum from your local health food store or chemist.

To the best of our knowledge, there are no conventional drugs used to treat ptyalism in pregnancy

hth

Thanks so much ladies.... seems to be a lot less today so will keep track of it and i actually dont mind lemons so will revert to this if necessary.