I get the same thing when I get upset. I think part of it has to do with those muscles there that get tight when you are stressed and get weirdly tight in people with autoimmune disease, but the other part is definitely my thyroid. I think sometimes the thyroid is enlarged when starting to flare and I don't really realize it, then, when I get upset, the thyroid sorta flares along with everything else, since so much more blood is going to that area. The not beling able to swallow and brassy or hoarse voice are pretty characteristic of thyroid. For the muscles, I use voltaren gel, a muscle relaxer, I also use that when my arms get hard, but I use that on my shoulders and it goes to my neck. It helps almost immediately with the muscle contractions. I get that from the rheumy. My thyroid just wavers between low and normal as it dies. Since thyroid disease is so common in people with autoimmune disease and is usually underdiagnosed, then we get pred which makes any thyroid tests irrelevant, its hard to tell. My rheumy did a great job of taking care of what they thought was subclinical thyroid disease, but actually I have less than half a working thyroid and nodules, though the highst my TSH has been is 6.
I hope you feel better. The voltaren gel really helps.