What are the causes for excess saliva buildup?

Question

Hi doctor,

I have been suffering from excess saliva buildup. As a kid, I would wake up with my pillow covered in drool every morning. When I was on a trip two years ago, out of nowhere, my saliva started building up so much that I needed to swallow it every 30 seconds.

The issue would go away when I was distracted, but it has been really bothering my life for the past two years. When I have to swallow the saliva, I do not enjoy it in the slightest. It is very annoying for me. I have visited a psychotherapist for this, but they said they had never seen anyone with my issue before, despite being a cognitive behavior therapy center.

I have had anxiety from this, but the anxiety has only been from thinking that this saliva will keep on building up in my mouth. I did a lot of research and saw that one of the salivary glands is capable of producing five times the normal amount of saliva or something like that, which I think is causing this. It is important to note that the excess of saliva buildup is not always there. It usually goes away when I am really distracted.

When I am doing nothing, I find that it really builds up, and I cannot stop the excess saliva build-up. Could that have something to do with the parasympathetic nervous system? Because I have heard that it is responsible for stimulation when the body is at rest. Last week, I visited my physiotherapist for something in my arm, and they also told me I was very hyperaware. I was wondering if this had something to do with it.

Regardless, I also found something showing that people with excess saliva have one of their glands removed, and that can help a lot.

Any help you could provide with this would be of great assistance.

Thank you.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I have gone through all the details posted. I can understand your problem, and I will explain to you the possible treatment options. Firstly, try with oral agents like tablet Glycopyrrolate 1 mg three times a day.

This will help to decrease saliva production. Side effects that you can experience are headache, nasal congestion, and urinary retention, rarely. Depending upon the response, we can increase the dosage a little bit. If oral agents did not work, then you can go for Botulinum injections into the salivary gland.

This can produce improvement, and the effect lasts for months, and re-injections may be necessary. If this also fails, then you need to go for surgical options. Kindly visit an ENT doctor in person for a complete physical examination to rule out the local causes and get the treatment. The doctor will conduct an examination to find out any nervous system-related causes.

I hope this answers your query. Please follow up if you have any doubts.

Thank you.