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Avatar universal

please help my throat

ok, not so sure if this is a throat issue, maybe a thyroid issue, or possibly a respiratory disorder.

first thing i need to mention is this all started about 6 months ago, i was eating and i took a deep breath while i was chewing a micky d's french fry (one of the small, hard, sharp ones).  I choked to the point where my air supply was completely cut off, I had to literally run myself across the room and ram my diaphram into the corner of the washing machine.  The food did NOT come out.. and it did NOT go down, it merely shifted and i was able to breathe again with some difficulty.  

about a week after this.. i coughed up a huge slop of mucous that was full of brownish blood.  i developed this constant feeling of something being lodged in my throat.  over a 4 month period of time i took myself to the ER.  had chest x rays, swallowed some nasty white stuff and was given a throat x ray as well.  I have no insurance so i cannot see an ENT.  The x rays showed nothing according to the PA's who saw me.  

this feeling in my throat was diagnosed as GERD, i was instructed to take prilosec.  I did so with zero results.  I was then told to take a few other things, none with any result.  The last thing i was told to take was nexium which i have been taking for about 3-4 months now.

during the time i was taking all these different meds, the lump in the throat feeling subsided and was replaced by a one sided sore throat that would jump from side to side every day.  the sore throat went away after 3 weeks.  

now at times i have excessively thick mucous in my nose and mouth, its impossible to swallow and empossible to expel.  i have this constant feeling of liquid being in my esophagus or my trachea.  the constant need to cough, huff ( as my GF likes to call it), and hack.  Regardless of how hard i cough or clear my throat, the feeling is right back again literally 2 seconds later.  nothing ever gets coughed up, nothing comes out of my nose when i blow it either.  Some times i notice a dark brownish presence in the mucous or sputum i cough up but only when i cough to the point of seeing stars and becoming dizzy.

i have also had some crippling ride side chest pains from time to time, nothing like any chest pain ive ever experienced.  had an ekg done at the ER and supposedly it was normal.  this pain goes from about 3 inches below where my collar bone meets my sternum and follows the right side of my sternum down to my diaphram.

one thing that is scaring me is in my old home, my room was in the basement and it was prone to flooding.  when we moved out and removed the carpet we found a few large mold spots on the concrete.

whatever help you can offer me at this point will be appreciated, i honestly get to the point where im so frustrated that i just want to cry.  i dont know what to do anymore, i cannot live with this discomfort any longer.

possible fungal infection of the trachea or lung on one side?  possible damage to the epiglottis, trachea, or esophagus that didnt show on the x ray all being caused by this french fry?

I am convinced this fry is the cause of these problems, at the ER they seemed to dismiss everything i said about choking to near death.  i have NEVER had any of these symptoms or sensations prior to the choking incident.  please help me.

thank you.


PS i forgot to mention that throughout this entire time i have had excessive dysphagia when trying to swallow my own mucous.  doesnt occur when swallowing drinks or foods, only when swallowing my own spit.
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1061534 tn?1276702061
We don't know why this happens at a certain point/time in one's life, but it just does.

Most people, even after getting complete resolution with the medication, still need a maintenance dose indefinitely; in other words, a 'cure' is not a likely outcome for the suspected diagnosis.  Definitely do up it to twice per day for 3-6 months.
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Avatar universal
Thanks for taking a look, I appreciate it.  This reflux disease you describe; it just comes out of no where like that?  The only other thing I can think of that may have played a role was that I used to be a heavy pot smoker but I quit soon after this feeling came on thinking it would feel better.  Never felt any better after quitting.  I've been taking the nexium for months and months but only once a day, I'll try bouncing it up to 2 a day and see what happens.  Are there any chances of this condition actually going away completely with medication?  I can't imagine going on like this forever and the ENT wait is almost 3 months out here.  Thank you again for your time.
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1061534 tn?1276702061
Hello -- I will do my best to offer you some advice and give you my impressions based upon what you said.

1.  As for the choking, I have no doubt that you did.  However, there really aren't places for pieces of food (or whatever) to "hide" or become "stuck" in the throat or the esophagus.  It either passes through or comes back out.  Now, it is possible the the fry could have gone into your lungs and become lodged into one of your smaller bronchi, but one would expect that to cause a localized pneumonia or a collapsed segment.  These things should be apparent on a chest xray.  Sometimes people get a minor scratch injury in the throat or esophagus from a sharp object (food) passing by, but this injury heals within a few days.

2.  Absent an objective finding, it does sound reasonable to consider this a case of laryngopharyngeal reflux.  Many of your symptoms fit this.  Medicines like Prilosec and Nexium (taken twice per day) is primarily how we treat this (in addition to standard reflux dietary precautions).  Many people with this will complain of thick mucus and an inability to clear their throat.  This sensation is thought to be due to the inflammation/irritation of the voice box (we will often see tenacious mucus on the vocal cords).  Unfortunately, coughing and throat-clearing only make matters worse.  For this condition, I also generally recommend voice rest, plenty of (non-caffeinated/non-alcoholic) liquids and a strong attempt at breaking this cycle of cough/throat clear - phlegm - cough...etc.

3.  Unless you have a reason to be immune-compromised, I would doubt the fungal infection hypothesis.  There are those who have an insensitivity or allergy to fungi, but once you remove the offending environmental trigger, the response should go away.

4.  It would sound like the only tests that haven't been done and that MAY have a role in diagnosis, should the already presumed diagnosis be false, would be endoscopy.  They aren't going to do this in the E.R. and you would have to see and ENT doc (for the throat) and/or a Pulmonologist (for the lungs).  These would certainly be expensive tests, but probably on par with what they are already charging you in the E.R.

Good luck.
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