feeling of lump in throat

[tw26]

I would like to thank you in advance for your service.  I'm a 26 yr. old female who occassionally drinks maybe twice if most a week and a light smoker.  I plan to quit smoking next week with the help of Wellbutrin.  Anyway, back in September I went to my primary physican for a feeling of lump in my throat along with heartburn, bleching up food that I had eaten, burning feeling in my throat because it had been ocurring for about almost 2 months and she said that I Acid Reflux along with post nasal drip and put me on Aciphex.  My smyptoms have seem to disappear except for sometimes I feel like there is a lump in my throat. Its not always a constinct feeling but I have no problems swallowing, breathing, eating, no weight loss or vomitting. I do tend to have dry mouth a lot from taking sinus decongestant also. I have in the previos year had a few anxiety and panic attacks because my grandmother died from ovarian cancer and I tend to have a fear of getting cancer.  To be honest I only really notice it when I think about about it but when I do think about it it drives me crazy and I start getting anxious and it spirals from there.  Could this feeling of a lump in my throat be from Acid Reflux, stress or anxiety?  Or should I be real concerned about this or could it be cancer?  Thank you for your time.

[Kevin Pho, MD]

The feeling of the lump in the throat is known as globus sensation.  The most common causes are GERD, stress, and abnormal upper esophageal sphincter function.

Since your symptoms are not completely resolved with the aciphex, I would suggest an ENT referral to evaluate whether there is any esophageal sphincter dysfunction.  Tests such as a laryngoscopy can be done for thorough evaluation.  The ENT specialist may also want to address the post-nasal drip issue as well which may contribute to the symptoms.

If not revealing, you may want to consider a 24-hr pH study document the presence of GERD and optimize treatment.  

Followup with your personal physician is essential.

This answer is not intended as and does not substitute for medical advice - the information presented is for patient education only. Please see your personal physician for further evaluation of your individual case.

Thanks,
Kevin, M.D.

[ozark]

the lump in your throat may be due to the irritation and some swelling in the back of your throat as well as the post nasal drip.......

[Trevor N.]

Hello,

I'm having the same problems.  I have a constant feeling of a lump in the right side of my throat.  The doctor diagnosed it as post nasal drip but it hasn't seemed to helped.  The problem went away for a few weeks but it's back strong.  I'm thinking either acid reflux or anxiety.  I don't have a burning sensation after eating but I don't know what else it could be.  I can also seem to control mine.  It only gets worse when I think about it.  I'm a non-smoker so I'm really confused.  Any help?

[tw26]

Hi, I finally went to my ENT last week because I was having so much anxiety over this feeling of a lump in my throat.  He said that it was probably due to anxiety, acid reflux and postnasal drip.  He also told me that some Acid Reflex meds. can take up to 24 weeks to work (don't know if thats true or not).  So he told me to keep taking the Aciphex, he prescribed Zrytec D and Flonase (for postnasal drip) and said that these two could take up to 2 or 3 weeks to fully work.  He also put a mirror somewhat down my throat and told me to make all these different kind of sounds.  He said that there was some swelling on my voice box, he didn't seem too concerned about it.  He also said that he really didn't think anything physical was there and to come back if the meds. don't work and have a barium swallow done.  I have realized that my anxiety has subsided a lot since seeing the ENT which has also helped the reflux and feeling of lump in throat.  I really seem to notice it when of course I think about it but also in the mornings when I get up, I seem to have a lot of drainage or mucus collected in my throat and I have to cough a lot to get in out and I think that it irriates my throat which in turn makes my throat feel that way (don't know if thats true or not).  The Aciphex has helped a lot on the heartburn and burning throat but I still belch a lot after I eat.  I have found that chewing gum after I eat helps though.  Hope this helps.

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