throat/hoarseness symptoms 6weeks and counting

I started having a voice change/hoarse feeling about 7 weeks ago (when my baby was 5w old). 3 weeks after hoarse voice began I started having this tightness/choky type tingly feeling in throat, below adams apple in area above colar bone. If I breath in and out of nose I do not feel it. If I breath in and out of mouth or speak it is very uncomfortable,again kind of like someone is pressing there or tightening something in front there. Also sometimes little tickly cough as I finish my sentence. I saw an ENT who said he viewed irritation on my esophagus and that I had silent reflux. He put me on nexium a week ago. I don't feel much better,maybe slightly and I am still doubting the whole silent reflux thing.My baby had very bad thrush and I breastfed though all of it. I know candida can cause esophagitis. Is it possible I got the candida from baby's oral thrush? Would ENT would have seen? My other concern is a tumor or something in larynx,vocal cords,etc but would he have ruled that out by viewing my esophagus, he used a little tube that went down my nose into throat. If reflux,then why physiologically would talking/mouth breathing irriate me more than full nose breathing, is there a difference in process and what goes by esophagus? Last concern is some kind of c-section complication like blood clot? Oh by way when I had a physical liver functions were slightly elevated,they said to repeat test in a month. I do not know if this is related.

[Kevin Pho, MD]

People with intact immune systems should not catch oral thrush.  Obtaining a fungal throat culture can be done to exclude this possibility.

GERD is possible, and I agree with the Nexium treatment.  You can also consider post-nasal drip - and a sinus CT can be considered.  

I would also consider a laryngoscopy to visualize the vocal cords for any dysfunction or abnormality.

If a blood clot is suspected, this can be evaluated with an ultrasound of the leg, as well as a CT scan of the lungs.  

I am not sure if the liver enzymes are related to the hoarseness.  An ultrasound of the liver as well as serial monitoring of the enzymes can be considered.

These options can be discussed with your personal physician.

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.

Kevin, M.D.
kevinmd_

[snowolvergeorgia]

Trust me...if the ENT saw irritation...its silent relux. Most people doubt it since they never had stomach problems or actual heartburn. It is called LPR. I know because I have it. I have been on my meds 3 weeks now and I take nexium too. I had this last year  due to taking advil and went off the nexium after a year. Dumb move. They I had to take iorn for anemia and it brought it back on, It takes a few months to go away. You have to stick with the meds. Dont give up or think it will go away so quick as it wont. The meds dont work over night or even in a week for that matter. be patient. It could take 3 or 4 months to get much better with LPR. You dont have thrush. The area that bothers you in the throat, or "blow hole" as i call it would have showed it up and it would probably be in your mouth by now. My saliva is very frothy and i clear my throat of it all day. But i have sinus problems. I do get pain and burny sensations in my throat, but its a process that i know gets better with time.
Hope this helps.

[Thinking Out Loud]

Congratulations on new baby!  

Has thyroid been checked?  It's in that area and hoarseness can sometimes be a problem.  Any palpitations or feeling over-excited?  Any other symptoms??

[sunnymom2]

I had blood tests again and they checked thyroid levels and liver functions. All were now normal. Only thing out of normal was low potassium,just a bit low. I went to emerg room other day after dealing w/ worsening loose stools then diarrhea began and I wiped and saw a bit of blood.They did ab ct and was normal. I am set to get upper and lower gi sometime next week. I am still at a loss for what is going on w/ me. I am now very fatiqued,have lost a lot of my appetite and when i got to er I was dehydrated, my mouth was very very dry. I had been thinking it was a nexium side effect but now I dont know and extreme muscle weakness likely wobbly legs,arms feel weak. Thank you for any other ideas.

[fredc]

you first described your symptoms as "voice change/hoarse" - your last comments sound more like stress from not knowing what is wrong with you.  I agree with snowolvergeorgia that you may have LPR.  (Larynogpharyngeal Reflux Disease)  While it's absolutely silly to diagnose you over the internet (not to mention i'm not a doctor), i've gone through almost a year of Hell before it was finally diagnosed in me...and diagnosed BY ME.  the doctors could never figure it out for some reason.  anyway, common symptoms are: tightness in the throat, hoarseness, frequent throat clearing and coughing, Asthma-like symptoms, a feeling of swelling in the throat, and post nasal drip.  It's a type of reflux but it goes up to the back of your throat.  People don't experience heartburn with this.  When you have your upper GI one of the things they will look for is a hiatal hernia - and that is a sign that you have LPR.  The treatment includes things like Prilosec and/or Protonix, coupled with Zantac or the equivalent.  The process involved higher doses of meds than regular reflux (GERD) and there is a surgical option if you aren't getting much better in a year or so.  here's an article from Columbia University: www.entcolumbia.org/lprd.htm   - Bottom line, i'm not sure this is what you have but think about the symptoms and, if they fit, let your doctors know this possibility right away so you don't spend months bouncing around from doctor to doctor like I had to...good luck.

[cheshire]

Are you sure they checked "thyroid' levels, and not pituitary levels with the TSH. If they did check the TSH it should be 1.5, and not over 2.5. Even if the TSH looks perfectly normal you can still be very hypothyroid. Make sure you have the following tests:

* Free T4 and Free T3 (note the word “free”)
* Thyroid Antibodies (anti-TPO and TgAb. YOU NEED BOTH.)
* Ferritin

And keep a copy of the results so you can check where you are in the ranges. With the Free thyroid hormones you want to be near the top of the range, not below mid range.

[Kathy25]

A related discussion, Hoarseness in throat was started.

[joyce222]

A related discussion, ih have hoarseness and phlegm in my throat   was started.