I just wanted to know if there is some way, besides not eating with other people around, that I can stop this horrible anxiety that causes me to choke. It is something that is not going away and needs to be resolved before a business lunch turns disasterous. It's not just solid food either, I can't get water down sometimes. I have a history of anorexia and bulemia, but that was years ago. Anyone have some tricks they use to help their anxiety. I think sometimes resting an arm on the table helps, but people notice when I suddenly put my arm down and when I overchew food. Got anything?

Thanks

I have been diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder and I can relate to what you are saying. It use to happen to me when I was with a group of people I was not very familiar with. I used to excuse myself to the bathroom and put some cool water on my face and take sometime to breath and think about how I was feeling. Some times it helped, other times not as much.

Finally went on meds and things like that have been much better.

You may want to talk to your doc about it.

What is the worse tat could happen? I promise you, you will not choke. Unless you have a physical disabilty that affect your swallowing reflex your body will cope with the food. If you think about swallowing/breathing you can make yourself feel like it is not working properly. I think you shouldn't worry so much about it and go for it! You will not choke.
I had a similar fear when I was younger about eating around people and that was because my parents never used to make us eat at the table, so eating with others at a table was a terrifying thought which made me feel like I couldn't swallow my food properly. I got myself over it by forcing myself to eat out with lots of people...it went away.