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Tightness in throat (cricopharyngeal spasm)

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Posted 2/14/2014 5:44 PM (GMT 0)
Hi everyone :)

I cannot begin to tell you what a relief it is to find this forum and read posts describing exactly how I feel... and it's in all likelihood nothing serious.

I suffer from both GERD and anxiety (crippling at times) that results in horrific panic attacks.

A lot has happened in the last year. My husband and I moved to a completely new city, more than 6 hours away from any family or friends. We had hard times financially, jobs fell through, we had money stolen from us etc. The stress had taken a toll on our marriage (just in the sense of pulling away and being quiet, like going through the motions)... In any event, our marriage is better than ever! Husband has a secure job now and things seem great.

Except...

I have that bloody feeling in my neck/throat confused shakehead

I had it last year but not to this extent. I was given a prescription for Clonazepam once a day and within 2-3 days I was like a brand new me. I've been off my meds for about 6 months now because money was tight and to be honest, I'm terrified of doctors, I loved my old doctor but now were in a new place which means trying to find a new doctor who is knowledgeable and nice.

Anyways, I really started to notice my anxiety while my husband and I were going through those hard times about 4-5 months ago. Even after things got better between us it felt like my anxiety was getting worse and worse everyday.

about 2 months ago my husband was off for the Christmas holidays for about a week, while he was off I was perfect shocked No symptoms of any kind at all. Sure enough, like clockwork, he goes back to work and they start all over again, getting more and more worse and harder to ignore.

I have that feeling where it feels like a lump in my throat, similar to when you feel your throat tighten up when you cry. I can't stand anything being against my throat or neck. Even turning it to the side feels like it's pulling and straining it. I feel like it's hard to swallow saliva, but I can eat and drink without any problems at all. Burping seems to relieve the pressure for a brief 3-5 seconds. I'm fine laying down for the most part, I can sleep no problem, much like others have said within minutes of waking up it's there again.

My husband is 110% insistent that there is nothing seriously wrong with me and that this from my anxiety. I keep thinking how can it be my anxiety? I'm not worried or scared, life couldn't be better, I've never been happier... my husband responds "because you keep thinking the worst about your throat. You know it's nothing more than your anxiety, the more you stress about it, the worse it gets."

***I am so sorry for the novel above blush ***
Posted 2/14/2014 6:11 PM (GMT 0)
I have had this off and on over the last several years too. I find myself swallowing alot to be sure I still can and just feeling like there is a constant tightness and lump there. It is just spasms from the neck muscle tension and anxiety. Even if you're feeling relaxed, the tense muscles can still take time to relax and return to their normal state.
Posted 2/14/2014 7:06 PM (GMT 0)
I've had anxiety for 7 years after a very stressful year. At the end of the year, boom, it all hit. My first issue with GERD was this past summer after what the doctor thinks was food poisoning. Since the summer, it's been difficult to eat and when I'm not on the Nexium, I can't work or eat or do much of anything because of the pain from the burning from my stomach to my mouth. My throat is swollen as well and the spasms in my throat and congestion make it hard to talk and breathe while they are happening. I lost 34 lbs since the summer and most recently 3 lbs this past week because of difficulty eating at times. When I'm on the Nexium, I can eat little bits at a time. When I'm not, I can't. If I eat too much, the spasms happen and yesterday, too much olive oil triggered spasms as I was eating. (maybe too acidic?) I did the low acid diet and that didn't help. Now I'm doing the histamine diet. Nothing seems to be working for me as I still feel terrible. I'm dizzy a lot too.

I should mention I'm 5'2 (and 3/4 so we round up to 5'3) and weight 111 lbs right now.
Posted 2/15/2014 12:05 AM (GMT 0)
I see here that a few of you have mentioned GERD. I have not been DX with GERD, but I was having terrible trouble with acid reflux and gas. I was getting so panicked that I could not breath and I would run outside to try to get some air. Many times in trying to breath and get some air I would vomit and many times I would have dry heaves. I was told that I was just having a panic attack. OK, I accepted that and for 3 years just tried to deal with it. I became so gassed up (belching and flatus) continually every 5-10 minutes. My Dr. Told me that I must be just swallowing air and told me to take maximum strength GAS relief. OK, so I accepted that, tried it, and wham I had so many bubbles coming up into my throat I knew that this was Not the thing to help me. I then just suffered with this terrible problem until my husband was DX with kidney stones, yes that's right and that is really what I said. My husband and I searched out the internet to try to help him find a cure for his kidney stones naturally, so he would not have to have surgery and he found this product at the supplement store called STONE BREAKER (Chanca Piedra) liquid herbal extract compound. It did not prevent him from eventually needing surgery, but it did help him through the terrible and very painful excruciating pain that comes with having kidney stones. I looked Chanca Piedra up on Wikipedia and found out that it is used to help stomach problems so I figured I had tried everything else for this gas problem I might as well try it AND Believe me I could not believe it myself that it was like someone took a load of weight off of my chest and I was finally not so gassed up. I only used it twice a day for three days and then once a day for a week and now I only use it if I feel myself getting slightly gassed up. I only used it once this month. I hope if any of you try this that it will work for you like it has for me. I have not vomited or had to run outside to get air for 2 months now and I truly Thank God.
Posted 2/24/2014 7:14 AM (GMT 0)
Hello everyone. I have suffered for about 10 weeks from the symptoms described here, and now I am 99% better, or 100% tongue
when I suffered I read this whole thread looking for an answer and felt better that I wasn't alone in this.
My symptoms were difficulty swallowing and breathing, dry throat, reflux, nausea, and serious anxiety.
I now registered to this forum simply because I felt bad for anyone who might go through this, and wanted to share my solution. That is, after trying a million things.
The only thing that changed my situation completely, was meditation. It may sound strange to some of you, but the moment I felt brave enough to simply sit down and observe my body, i started healing.. took no more than 4-5 days to heal.
What I did: Every morning I sat on a pillow for about 20 minutes and listen.If a thought came to my head, I simply "looked" at it, and let it go. If my body "wanted" to move, I simply let it, and cooperated with it, for example my head wanted to lean backwards, and make all sorts of strange movements. It might be the body's way of cleaning itself, physically and emotionally. I am not a meditation teacher, a monk, or anything. I simply sat down quietly, and let the body do what it wants. If a voice wanted to come out, I let it, and gave it expression. Its hard to explain.. but it was what I needed. now I do it every morning, whenever I have time.
Do it, and you will be healed.
you can email me if you have any questions, hope I will be able to help.
I know how hard it is, so i'm sharing this. May you all be free of any type of suffering.
Please feel free to email me and ask anything.
(e-mail in profile)

Post Edited By Moderator (Scaredy Cat) : 2/25/2014 8:21:45 AM (GMT-7)

Posted 2/25/2014 2:27 AM (GMT 0)

agamlord said...
Hello everyone. I have suffered for about 10 weeks from the symptoms described here, and now I am 99% better, or 100% tongue
when I suffered I read this whole thread looking for an answer and felt better that I wasn't alone in this.
My symptoms were difficulty swallowing and breathing, dry throat, reflux, nausea, and serious anxiety.
I now registered to this forum simply because I felt bad for anyone who might go through this, and wanted to share my solution. That is, after trying a million things.
The only thing that changed my situation completely, was meditation. It may sound strange to some of you, but the moment I felt brave enough to simply sit down and observe my body, i started healing.. took no more than 4-5 days to heal.
What I did: Every morning I sat on a pillow for about 20 minutes and listen.If a thought came to my head, I simply "looked" at it, and let it go. If my body "wanted" to move, I simply let it, and cooperated with it, for example my head wanted to lean backwards, and make all sorts of strange movements. It might be the body's way of cleaning itself, physically and emotionally. I am not a meditation teacher, a monk, or anything. I simply sat down quietly, and let the body do what it wants. If a voice wanted to come out, I let it, and gave it expression. Its hard to explain.. but it was what I needed. now I do it every morning, whenever I have time.
Do it, and you will be healed.
you can email me if you have any questions, hope I will be able to help.
I know how hard it is, so i'm sharing this. May you all be free of any type of suffering.
Please feel free to email me and ask anything.
[email protected]


Wow. Can you tell us more? Did you sit in silence or have music playing? I ordered two meditation cds but when they tell you to focus on your breath I get more panicky. Ironically, my doctor told me he does too. Lol. When I just play the meditation music, I feel calm and relaxed and better.
Posted 2/25/2014 7:53 AM (GMT 0)
For the first month of the anxiety I also could not meditate, let alone sit quietly with my eyes closed. but after having all the medical examinations, reassuring me that I cannot choke, I was brave enough to sit down. I don't listen to music, I sit quietly, and give attention to whatever rises. the first few times different parts of the body just wanted to move, so I cooperated. for example the head moving from side to side abit aggressively, and I let it. I didnt stop anything that was happening with the body. let everything be. It is OK to panic during meditation, you just breath, and swallow when you can, and relax again. I did not fight the panic attacks, just listened to whatever came. Every bodily feeling, every emotion, simply to let them be, give the body space to act on its own.
I did not use any guided meditation, the body was the guide.
You should let yourself sit down, and become like a caveman for a while, BE THE BODY, whatever it means, scream, sing, move, or sit quietly, but allow the fears and emotions an expression. After a while you'd be able to sit and observe the need for swallowing, without actually doing it.
another thing, for a period I was taking 3 Gaba 500mg pills a day, its a herb that releases the muscles, an amino acid, natural and not dangerous, can also be combined with xanax and others. if you can do sports its also good for you. but nothing helped like meditating.
I hope you feel better soon musicchick581.
Ask anything. :)
Posted 2/25/2014 3:24 PM (GMT 0)
Hello agamlord and welcome.

Thank you for sharing what has worked for you in terms of anxiety management. I am glad that you have used the meditation as a help, and I too believe that it is a great coping skill.

I did an edit in your post to remove your e-mail. This is a public forum, and as such, you will want to put your addie in your profile here, so that only our members have access to it. (rather than the whole world!!)

Please continue to post with us for anxiety support.;)

Scaredy Cat
Posted 2/25/2014 4:00 PM (GMT 0)
agamlord   Hello and welcome to HealingWell.  Thank you so much for posting to this thread as I see it has already been a help to one of our members. I am going to suggest that your start your own thread and repost - easily done and you may copy and paste your post in this a new thread  Please take the time to introduce yourself in a new thread. This is done by clicking on the 'new topic' button which will open a new thread for you to post your introduction. This will help all of the  members see your first post and have the opportunity to read your success story. It is always good and rewarding to respond to other posts and reach out to other members to offer support and advise when you can. I hope you continue to have great success with your meditation. I recently had a session with my Dr. who uses biofeedback in learning how to perform the breathing exercises as well as mediation. Alternative treatments are extremely helpful when a person is stuck in anxiety. Meds do wonders for us. Meds help us out so much, but we can't rely only on meds. Again thank you for sharing.
Posted 2/26/2014 1:31 AM (GMT 0)
Thank you so much!! I'm going to try this. I had spasms very badly this afternoon into the evening. It makes it hard to breathe and swallow. Not fun and feels like someone's hands are strangling me around my neck. Is this what you all feel too? Allergist thinks I need more Nexium. I'm doing the opposite; weaning off due to the MTHFR defect. Does anyone know why we have these? Even without anxiety today, I had them. It's crazy.
Posted 4/2/2014 2:09 AM (GMT 0)
MikeysGrrrl, how long were you on the clonazepam or Klonopin? It sounds as if you got off it by default and early enough, which I think is a good thing. I hope you are doing much better by now. It's not so much that Klonopin is addicting. It is addicting but only feels so in a subtle way, and tolerance develops very slowly for most people. Actually it has very few side effects , so being on it is not really the issue. The problem with it is that it is one of the most difficult drugs to come off of, to put it mildly. You have to taper very gradually over weeks or months, and the post acute withdrawal symptoms drag on and on. MikeysGrrrl, you should be terrified of some MDs, particuarly when they prescribe such a terrible drug as this. I don't know why doctors are so quick to prescribe this drug, when it can be such a nightmare drug to come off of. If a person doesn't mind being on a drug for life, that is a different story. Most of us do mind. redface

Post Edited (Travis_Nobilis77) : 4/1/2014 8:27:18 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 4/2/2014 6:28 AM (GMT 0)
Travis,

The original poster of this thread has not returned or made any additional posts, so I think she may not see your reply.

While you have a negative impression of Klonopin and any such meds, we ask that you keep in mind that every person here is different, and their choice of treatment is very personal. We're here to support them and respect them in their choice of treatments.

A drug that is "terrible" for you may well be a "life saver" for another person.

Thank you for understanding!





M.
Posted 4/2/2014 7:13 AM (GMT 0)
amv,

Just curious....why go to a doctor for help if you aren't going to try the one thing (Nexium) that he thought would help your problem? Did you at least tell the doc that you weren't going to follow thru with it? Maybe he would have suggested something else. I am NOT trying to come down on you, just trying to understand why you would go to a doc looking for help and reject the help he offers? I have read other stories where people have done the same thing, and I guess I'm just confused. I guess maybe some people don't try things because they don't agree with the diagnosis or something. I don't know. Anyway, I haven't read the rest of this thread (I'm really tired to be honest) but was really curious. I hope you have found some relief!!
Posted 4/2/2014 3:04 PM (GMT 0)
Scaredy Cat: You stated in a recent post: "I have not heard of this hurting anyone, or causing anything more than annoyance and/or anxiety..." Do you have cricopharyngeal spasms yourself? I'm just wondering because in some cases the severity of symptoms can send a person to the brink. Mine was so severe, that after the very first night of symptoms, with a feeling of a rope being tightened 'round my neck, I had to rush off to Urgent Care very next day. This is a very serious condition, it is very exhausting dealing with it, and can wreak havoc on the mind. It causes much more than simple annoyance. After 8 weeks of this, I feel as if I've literally been tortured.

I should quality this statement by adding that I also suffer from daily migraine-like headache, so the crico spasm complicated the already existing headache. It radiated up to the left temple, sending my overall pain level to new heights, making it unbearable the first couple weeks, and several nights thereafter. However, I'm now on multiple medictions to make it bearable: I take verapami (to control the throbbing), as well as Lyrica and a low dose of Thorazine, both non-addicting medicines to take the edge off the overall pain and to promote sleep. I am holding on, but am considering botox for the crico. I've read it offers up to 4 months of relief. Has anyone else had the botox treatment for their crico?

(Hopefully, it won't continue much longer, but it's hard to predict, based on all the postings I've read, This makes it all the more frustrating, more than just another life's annoyance).

Post Edited (Travis_Nobilis77) : 4/2/2014 9:30:25 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 4/2/2014 3:20 PM (GMT 0)
Merrida, it is now a well-established fact that if one has been on Klonopin long-term, and then for whatever reasons, improved symptoms, or life choice decides to come off of it----it is one of the most difficult drugs to come off of. I have been there, I know. I am just trying to offer helpful advise to the desperate sufferers out there, and I did try to be as objective as possible in my former posting on Klonopin. In endeavoring to warn and help people by prayerfully preventing them from having to go through what I went through, my hope is that they would not have to add even more suffering and misery to their lives. There are many other natural and medicinal alternatives to Klonopin.

Some may want to read up on (or Google) the Stevie Nicks story of her dealing with coming off of Klonopin. She had been on many illicit drugs.  They gave her Klonopin to get her off of the illicit drugs. Finally, wanting to be drug-free, she made the decision to come off of the Klonopin, entered rehab. and has since stated that "it was the worst withdrawal" of all the drugs she had previously come off of.  She further stated, "I really thought I was going to die that time" (when she was in rehab coming off of the Klonopin).

Edit: 1. No discussion of any illegal activity or threats of violence (ie. threats of suicide, self-harm, or physical harm). Discussion of medical marijuana is allowed as long as discussions have a medical focus.

I removed the names of the illicit drugs however it has not altered your comments to the point that members would not understand your points.

Thank you in advance for understanding.  Kitt

Post Edited By Moderator (stkitt) : 4/2/2014 10:35:23 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 4/2/2014 3:28 PM (GMT 0)
Sunny 13,

amv posted, "my throat looked normal and everything was fine. He prescribed Nexium."  I believe this member chose not to take a medication prescribed when she was given the outcome of her test that "everything was fine". Each of us chooses to take medication or not because it is our free will. 

Why a member makes a decision is their personal reason.

Kindly,

Kitt 

 

Posted 4/2/2014 4:10 PM (GMT 0)
Travis,

Reading the many posts in this thread it becomes confusing if the topic is cricopharyngeal spasms  or anxiety.  The moderators are your peers not Drs. or medical professionals.  Calling out SC was not necessary.  I was posting in the Prostate Cancer Forum once and the topic was "post op impotence" when another member posted in the forum, " Do you have a penis - if not shut up" - really??? I had a husband with Prostate Cancer.

According to many of the members who have posted re Cricopharyngeal issues the most annoying symptom of reflux is difficulty swallowing, or the lump in throat feeling. The following is indicative of cricopharyngeal spasms:

-feeling of lump in throat or swelling
-symptoms get worse as the day goes on
-aggravated by stress
-food is easy to swallow and relieves the feeling for a while, but saliva is difficult to swallow
-symptoms can last for long periods (for me it has been 3 months!)

If you are not familiar with LPR here is info from the GERD forum.

Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) is similar to another condition -- GERD -- that results from the contents of the stomach backing up (reflux). But the symptoms of LPR are often different than those typical of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

With laryngopharyngeal reflux, you may not have the classic symptoms of GERD, such as a burning sensation in your lower chest (heartburn). That's why it can be hard to diagnose and is sometimes called silent reflux.

Dr. of choice - an  ENT who may use the Laryngoscope to  check out the vocal cords for reflux damage, nodules or lesions.

Causes of Laryngopharyngeal Reflux

At either end of your esophagus is a ring of muscle (sphincter). Normally, these sphincters keep the contents of your stomach where they belong -- in your stomach. But with laryngopharyngeal reflux, the sphincters don't work right. Stomach acid backs up into the back of your throat (pharynx) or voice box (larynx), or even into the back of your nasal airway. It can cause inflammation in areas that are not protected against gastric acid exposure.

Silent reflux is common in infants because their sphincters are undeveloped, they have a shorter esophagus, and they lie down much of the time. The cause in adults may not be known.

Symptoms of Laryngopharyngeal Reflux

Symptoms in infants and children may include:

  • Hoarseness
  • "Barking" or chronic cough
  • Reactive airway disease (asthma)
  • Noisy breathing or pauses in breathing (apnea)
  • Trouble feeding, spitting up, or inhaling food
  • Trouble gaining weight

With laryngopharyngeal reflux, adults may have heartburn or a bitter taste or burning sensation in the back of the throat. But they are less likely to have such classic signs of GERD. More often, symptoms in adults are vague and may be easily confused with other problems. The most common symptoms include:

  • Excessive throat clearing
  • Persistent cough
  • Hoarseness
  • A "lump" in the throat that doesn't go away with repeated swallowing

Other symptoms include:

  • A sensation of postnasal drip or excess throat mucus
  • Trouble swallowing
  • Trouble breathing
  • Sore throat

Thank  you for your understand of my need to remind you that we are not professionals and anything read here in the forums should never take the place of your Dr.

Kindly,

Kitt

Posted 4/2/2014 4:49 PM (GMT 0)
Travis,

Although benzodiazepines have an important place in the treatment  of epilepsy and disorders of muscles tone, psychiatrists continue to use them for the treatment of anxiety and insomnia.

I agree coming off benzos is not easy, however, depending on the person and the drugs, other medications are extremely hard to wean off of too. All depression drugs can potentially lead to withdrawal symptoms. Weaning off of high doses of pain medications can cause nasty symptoms. 

I am not disagreeing with you that benzos can be hard to wean off of but I do believe there is a place for the use of benzos, like other meds, in the mental health field.

Here is a good article for anyone looking for info on Benzos:

http://www.doitnow.org/pages/134.html

Looking for ways to wean off of benzos - this method is one I used under the guidance of my psychiatrist:

http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzcha02.htm

Respectfully,

Kitt

Posted 4/2/2014 5:27 PM (GMT 0)
The comment that I made was in response to a young lady who was afraid that her throat sensations were going to cause her to stop breathing.

I was attempting to console her, and give her reassuance that Crico spasms would not result in respiratory failure.

I in no way meant to minimalize anyone's circumstances.

It is my hope that our members here take the comments made with their inteded purpose...to help and support.

Health and wellness to all.:)

S.C.
Posted 4/5/2014 10:24 AM (GMT 0)
I just wanted to respond to Travis, regarding my clonazepam prescription. I wasn't on it long, maybe about 8 months total. I was informed by my doctor as well as several pharmacists that my dosage was so low that it would not trigger negative effects/symptoms once I stopped using it.

I still feel the way that I did before... I have no idea what could be wrong with me. The lump/tightness in my throat is noticeable, but it's most bothersome when I turn my head. Eating and drinking is still easy peasy for me, it even alleviates the feeling briefly, burping seems to help even more, sadly the only time I can burp is when I drink pop (which I was trying to stop doing because I want to be healthier).

I have noticed that much like before it worsens when I'm stressed, especially if I start crying. If my back is really sore and stiff, it's also more bothersome... I have no idea if any of that makes sense or even goes together but it is what I have noticed.

I have recently started taking o3mega+joy all natural pills to help level out my moods, aside from that I don't take anything else.
Posted 4/6/2014 12:06 AM (GMT 0)
Merinda (Moderator), you are right. A drug that may be terrible for one person may be a life saver for others. I am just going through a lot right now, and in a lot of pain with the crico spasm, wondering if it will ever end. My situation may be more complicated than other cases, believe it or not--- because I also suffer from chronic daily headache. I had been on pain management for several years, and finally got off it last may, and had some success managing the head pain for 9 months with only natural medicines. Then this monkey wrench of the crico began on January 29, the day after I remember I swallowed some water very roughly and it hurt. Since that day this issue of the crico has consumed my whole life, as the overall pain I am dealing with had been off the charts. Much as I hated to go back on meds, I could see no other alternative at the time so presently I am on Lyrica 150 mg. twice daily, and throrazine 20 mg. a day, as well as various NSAIDS like ketoprofen and diclofenac. I do have one script of hydrocodone for the most unbearable pain. So I do understand how these "addictive" meds can be life-saving when the pain is so severe that you want to die. They can certainly be life savers.

Anybody out there have this combination of both the crico spasm and chronic daily headache?

Travis

Post Edited (Travis_Nobilis77) : 4/5/2014 7:08:54 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 4/6/2014 12:14 AM (GMT 0)
Mikey's girl, I am glad you are coping so well with your crico now using natural means, but feel bad that you are still suffering with it. I know that when we are desperate we do what we have to do. I have heard of people being on low dose of Klonopin being able to come off fairly easily and successfully. I had been on higher dosing of it in the late 90s to treat my intractable migraine variant, and that was .5 mg three times daily---a total of 1.5 per day, as I recall. Although I was taking less than the prescribed dosage as the headache doctor wanted me to take .5 four times daily. This must have been a high dose because for me because I had an extremely difficult time getting off it, and ended up in rehab hospital, which didn't work either. Finally I weaned myself off of it, headache came back worse than ever and I had to resort to 12 years of narcotic pain meds.

But I must say from reading posts on this site that a few have stated it helped them with the crico. Also, that only about half who have been on the Klonopin long term have the nightmare withdrawal from it. Everybody is different.

A couple other things: Mine doesn't really get worse when I turn my neck to the left or right, though I still feel the pressure. I was wondering if your crico gets worse at night, as mine did. Also what was your level of pain was at its worst, on the 1-10 scale. Mine was level 8.

Keep up the good work, Travis

Post Edited (Travis_Nobilis77) : 4/5/2014 7:16:34 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 4/6/2014 10:22 AM (GMT 0)
Mine does seem to worsen as the day draws on, the closer to the end of my day the worse it is. It doesn't bother me as much when I lay down assuming I can get comfortable (I'm a little heavy set with a larger chest, so I've felt as though "the girls" push too much on my chest/towards my neck when I lay down) sorry if that was tmi.

I don't know if it's chrico or not, I mean the symptoms I have seem to be consistent with the symptoms of it, but I also have my anxiety too which I don't take anything for, or well nothing that's prescribed because I don't have a family doctor.

I wish that whatever this feeling was would just go away. It's so frustrating and scary at times.

I don't think I really feel pain it's just a constant discomfort that worsens throughout the day.
Posted 4/12/2014 11:07 AM (GMT 0)
Hi everyone!

Unfortunately these terrible spasms don't go anywhere easily! I have been suffering all these feelings for 8 months since I delivered my baby! First of all I have to say that I have been suffering together from LPR reflux, chronic esophagitis and erythematous pangastritis..I'm on NEXİUM about for 8-9 months for my silent reflux.At the same time, I have been taking benzodiazepines like NERVİUM an DİAZEM about for 6 months.Initially all of benzos were somewhat comforting to reduce muscle tension but in the course of time (approximately after 3 months) began not to effect to my throat. If we come to the conclusion,,,anything does not stop this annoying feeling and pain!! sad

When it comes to my complaints, I have been suffering from a sore throat everyday with a big globus..My globus sometimes with treatment of PPİ goes away but sometimes with benzos!! I'm very confused in this situation because of it does not work both of them somedays :(( I feel constant tightness in all of my throat like strangling someone with his two hands around my throat and terrible pain like shooting a weapon inside my ears!! Inside of my throat and my tongue are extremely white! Like MikeysGirll I cannot turn my head to either side because of this tightness!! All of these disorders do not disappear!!

What is this disease ? What happened and we can't find any solution for this situation? Some doctors say that with HOMEOPATHİC REMEDİES we can get rid of this disease..I don't know how it's going on with this therapy.. I have not heard really anybody who is getting better with this treatment in any forums...All the people say that only by cutting this crico muscle,injecting botox this muscle and with benzos we can get better!!Only will we be better with them??? I have heard from someone who had botox injections in crico but now he struggles with swallowing difficulties.

What happened to Kittkat who opened this post? In previous years Stefanina was saying that all of this feeling disappeared when she changed her lifestyle and job..how is she now? Does anyone know? Agamloard says that we can get rid of this issue by making meditation.. Does it really work?


Unfortunately because of this terrible feeling and pain my life has turned upside down!! After giving birth to my baby,I could breastfeed for just one month sad sad 3 months after my delivery I had to start working in these difficult conditions. I'm a teacher and I have to use my throat constantly rolleyes I can't take care of my baby nor my job in no way..Everyday I want to cry and sometimes going through my mind thoughts of self harm.  sad sad sad sad shakehead shakehead shakehead shakehead shakehead shakehead shakehead

Post Edited By Moderator (Scaredy Cat) : 4/16/2014 10:04:37 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 4/16/2014 2:57 PM (GMT 0)
So over a year later, I still have a tight feeling in my throat. And the past year has been a really long one...

March 2013: Underwent transoral incisionless fundoplication (TIF) procedure for LPR. This did very little to help my throat.

Early October 2013: Suffered from a gallbladder attack, which caused extreme amount of vomitting. Ended up in the ER and was treated as if I was drug seeking, so basically was ignored for hours. Turns out I had gallstones. Gallbladder was removed. TIF was destroyed completely by the vomitting.

Late October: Reflux is back in full force. Had a nissen fundoplication. Spent several months recovering, following a limited diet.

I can tell you my surgeon had a very profitable year!

As of today, I still have some tightness in my throat. It's not nearly as bad as it used to be. (I used to think I could not go on living because I was so miserable.) Right now the only doctor I see is an ENT. He has me on 900 mg of neurontin, taken 3 times daily. I have to take it for a month, and if it doesn't work, he's going to stretch my throat and inject botox in the cricopharyngeal muscle to see if that provides relief. Apparently the botox injections are a bit trial and error. Some patients only need a little bit injected, some need more. I figure I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

The psychiatrist I saw in the past told me my problem was a physical one that she could not fix and I just needed to learn to live with it. However, my ENT says this absolutely could be linked to anxiety. I don't think of myself as an anxious person, but my job is stressful (I work for a huge consulting firm), DC traffic will drive the calmest of people crazy, and I'm a very type A person who does worry more than one probably should about things. So if the all else fails, I'll probably end up pursuing the anxiety end of things again, hopefully with a better doctor this time.

I will say this: If you are experiencing this problem, don't stop living. I did that for months back in early 2012. I spent all of my time thinking about my throat, and it made it so much worse than it had to be. I know it's hard, but try your best to ignore it and keep yourself busy. When I'm busy at work, or spending the weekend with friends, I hardly even notice my throat anymore. Also, the occasional glass of wine doesn't hurt.

Post Edited (KitKat880) : 4/16/2014 9:57:02 AM (GMT-6)

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