Throat and neck pain

[hajak]

Hi-just wondering if someone could give their impression on my symptoms. I have had enlarged cervcial lymph nodes on and off for approx 7 months, neck pain anterior bilaterally-as if it is the lymph nodes that are sore. I have pain in both sides of my neck-feels deep and at times I get extremely sharp pains in one specific area of my anterior neck (again appears like it may be in one or two lymph nodes) when I blow my nose hard. The pain lessons when I move my neck around-looking up and bringing my head around in a circle -when I was doing that in a counter-clockwise fashion-some structures in my neck moved (like trachea/thryoid areas) and seemed to give more room to whatever was causing this problem, taking some of the intense pain off-some pain was still there but manageable. I have pain daily. I have had an MRI of the brain-normal. MRI of cervical spine-normal, Chest X-ray normal. I also have fullness/pressure/pain in the ears-popping alot when yawning. When I wake up in the morning I have a thin clear discharge/runny nose and thick yellowy mucous at the back of my throat. I have a somewhat stuffed up nose.My cheeks are somewhat tender to touch as is my nose. My MRI said nothing about sinusitis, a previous CT scan also said nothing of sinuitis. Could anxiety be causing my neck pain? I've had so many stressors in the past 7 months -it is almost unbelievable, including: my Dad's sudden and unexpected death (november), being bitten by bed bugs repeatedly and having allergic reactions (I unknowlingly brought bugs into our home from a work environment (bites started in August 2006-found out it was bed bugs in November 2006), my job was taken away from me (due to union-in October), my husband's job became redundant (February 2007), we moved in with my mom after my Dad died and lived with her for 7 months-my husband and my mom did not get along and they both took it out on me, my relationship with my husband went down the tubes, my cat unexpectedly had to be euthanized, my parent's dog was euthanized when my Dad died.Needless to say, I think it is rather a miracle that I can function at all....people go to the looney bin for much less. I have been put on some anxiety medication and my doctor is referring me to an ENT specialist but it is a long wait. My anxiety around my health is therefore staying strong ...unfortunately!
Any thoughts on my situation? Thanks!

[AndriaG84]

I have had that many times, seems whenever I'm under stress my neck gets tensed up and I start to panic.

I also have bad sinuses though, get a sinus infection at least once every two years and my allerigies are out of control.

But for the neck issue, whenever I am stressed out or having anxiety, my neck and back start to hurt pretty bad.

Hope that helps at least a little bit.

[hajak]

Thanks for your comments. I tried Claritin daily for a couple of months straight-I seemed to get so dried up-my sinuses etc. my throat pain seemed to get worse while I was taking it. I was taking it because again I felt I had sinusitis symptoms but the CT scan was negative and I was having almost daily periods of time where I felt faint and dizzy. The Claritin seemed to keep that in check. I stopped taking it when I went for allergy tests. Only minor allergies to grass, cat and dog hair. I then didn't have any dizziness or faintness so I didn't start taking it again. I'm going to ask my doctor about a antihistimine/decongestant that doesn't dry your throat out. I would say I started getting very anxious about my health in June of 2006 when I developed symptoms which I believe are Thoracic Outlet Syndrome-a lot of neuro pain. I thought for sure I had some cancer and I was going to die. And then all of the other issues I described came up after that....again I am happy I have been able to function -look after my children and work. But I feel I have aged 10 years...I have just turned 40 as well which I was really dreading. Any other comments/support would be appreciated! Thanks, Hajak!

[rita33]

That is certainly a lot to deal with.  A lot of what you describe with the ear cracking while yawning and nose symptoms I have also experienced and I have anxiety.  It's strange because my sinuses haven't bothered me much at all  in six years but six years ago they bothered me horribly and that was at a time when I was going through quite a bit of anxiety and pregnant, and a single mom.  I had one or two panic attacks that year.  So my anxiety has laid low up until this year when I had some health anxiety and got burnt out from work. And when my anxiety came back, my sinuses bothered me again really bad.  Perhaps it is just a coincidence, but I know it's just my sinuses and it doesn't worry me.  It will settle down by the way.  Did you try any sinus medication?  I find my sinuses give me bad headaches/ pain around my eyes too.  My neck gets achy too.  I think some of that may be from not taking care of myself/ exercising and spending too much time working and in front of a computer.  Have you ever gotten a massage?  They're nice.