Hypersalivation: UMN Symptom?

[Howdyfromt]

Hi all,The past few days I've been salivating like a dog and as I suppose one would expect, it's heightened my concerns about bulbar again. The amount of saliva I'm producing is ridiculous, as I'll often have to swallow it consciously before I start talking for fear of accidentally spitting on someone. I've looked it up and some people say that hypersalivation is a UMN symptom and others say that it is merely a consequence of weakened swallowing muscles. Everyone says it is a late bulbar symptom though. I'm not on any medication or anything, and my saliva is not characteristic of LPRD. I've not noticed any problems swallowing but I have noticed a few problems speaking. However, I think those problems are due to my right upper lip and lower lip drooping only when making facial expressions and due to increased saliva. When I talk it looks like I'm talking out the left side of my mouth and when I open my mouth wide, my mouth does not open evenly. This, along with some pain in my right jaw has led me to suspect TMJ problems, but I still have no explanation for all this saliva. Thoughts?Thanks,bigguy

 

[Howdyfromt]

Oh, I've also noticed my fasciculations have "mysteriously" gone significantly down in frequency after relieving some ALS stress.

 

[herty18]

I don't know about the saliva but I have had TMJ for a while. When I open my mouth wide I here a pop and I can see a small hitch where my jaw jerks to the left a bit. I also get some pain there from time to time (it was bad for a couple days earlier this week, but it is most often when I am stressed/ anxious. Also, maybe the saliva can be anxiety related. When people are stressed their throat muscles tend to tighten. Thus, you might not have extra saliva but it is getting caught more in your throat. Or maybe you had that much saliva all along but when you got BFS you became hyper alert about anything occuring with your body. I know I had some of those thoughts myself.

 

[JohnnyRocket]

Do a search on the forums for saliva and see how many of us have experienced these symptoms. You are going through the standard "bulbar phase" of fear. It sucks, but will pass in time. Until then, take comfort in the fact that so many of us have gone through the same thing.

 

[ShannyB63]

hi there, i absolutely totally went thru this phase...i even posted a couple of times i believe...i felt like i had too much spit as apposed to not enough...im over it now of course..but i did have this so please dont worry..best wishes shanny

 

[Howdyfromt]

I just wanted to update this for anyone who may experience this in the future. I'm pretty sure I Don't have TMJ, as I don't have pain, horrifying or otherwise in my right jaw. If I move my jaw a lot from side to side, trying to elicit jaw pain, I get pain in my right jaw, but I'm pretty sure it's too mild to be TMJ.The excess saliva is gone. In fact, it went away just 3-4 days after the original post. Like you guys said, it was probably a product of anxiety... or due to the fact that I hadn't been eating much... once again due to dark obsessive thoughts and anxiety.