What is the connection between anxiety and dry mouth?

The relationship between anxiety and dry mouth is a complex matter that includes many factors. Sometimes the body responds to stress by creating certain chemicals that can regulate the flow of saliva. Other times, anxiety -related behavior, such as a heavy mouth during panic attacks, dries the mouth. Alternatively, the treatment of anxiety itself can again affect chemicals regulatory saliva and create dry mouth.

One of the continuing studies is the way the stress affects acetylcholine (ACH) and an enzyme that is produced to break acetylcholinesterase (ACE). Oh, partly helps to regulate saliva. When a person is under stress, the amount of ACH may be higher than usual and reduce oh. This is a direct connection between anxiety and dry mouth. If anxiety creates pain, the mouth is likely to be dry. Many stressed people breath the breath of the mouth and some people with panic attacks do considerable amounts of quick breathing in the mouth during hyperventilation. Open mouth through which air does notIt is probably quite dry, which may worsen the problem as a result of high pain levels.

People also develop mechanisms of stress management that can dry their mouths. Things such as smoking or drinking create dry mouth conditions. Depending on how often this behavior is involved, they can worsen not only the dryness of the mouth but also the symptoms of anxiety.

Ironically, a medically accepted treatment of anxiety to relieve dry mouth. Most drugs used to calm anxiety cause drought in the mouth by affecting acetylcholine and reducing its. This applies to benzodiazepines such as diazepam, oxazepam, alprazolam and clonazepam and some of the selected serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) used with anxiety. It also applies to atypical antipsychotics that are sometimes used in severe panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, afterStraumic stress syndrome and generalized anxiety disorders.

There are some medicines that can be prescribed to help moisten the mouth, and this can be useful. People can also help alleviate some symptoms of dry mouth by drinking a lot of fluids every day and avoiding drinks that contain caffeine. If anxiety and dry mouth continues to be a problem, it is important that one regularly visits a dentist. Without sufficient saliva in the mouth, tooth decay is easier.