Long-term throat irritation and pain

[Ryan1722]

About 6 months ago, I started getting throat irritation, sort of like itchiness, very deep in my throat near my larynx.  I found that taking a half benadryl helped.  That was my treatment for a while, but it's gotten much worse over time.

It usually starts around 10am.  There's a small itchiness deep in the throat, maybe some difficulty swallowing or a "thick" feeling like post-naasal drip.  Over time, it gets worse, and feels like a pinching or swelling around my larynx, sometimes migrating up as a pain under my jaw or near my ears.  It usually fades away sometime in the afternoon.

The strangest thing is that I can't correlate it to any environment, food,, or activity.  I've traveled from my home on the west coast to the South, and to the East Coast, but I experienced it both places.  I've tried tracking it as a seasonal allergy or a food allergy, and have yet to find any link to specific triggers.

My ENT seems at a loss.  He gave me a cortizone shot for the pain in my neck/ears, but it seems like it's treating the symptom, not the cause.  We did a throat culture that came back negative.

I started taking allergy shots a few months back, but I'm not sure if they're helping.

I'm just really frustrated that this came out of nowhere, and has severely affected me for months now!  Has anyone else experienced this?  Is there anything I can do?  Your advice and/or sympathetic stories are much appreciated.

[Ryan1722]

I appreciate the feedback.  I was unsure whether to treat it as an allergy or some other kind of problem.  I'll continue pursuing it with my allergist.

For anyone else out there with this issue, my doctor did make a recommendation that seems to be helping.  He suggested an Asthmanefrin inhaler, which provides a little dose of epinephrine, designed for asthma sufferers.  It is available over the counter.  When my throat symptoms get really bad, it seems to improve them pretty quickly.  I also carry an epipen in case things get really out-of-hand.

[Paderla Anitha, DNB]

Hi, as your symptoms are improving with benadryl and cortisone, it could most probably be due to an allergic reaction. Also, as your symptoms worsen during the day another probability is frontal sinusitis, gravity helps drain secretions from this sinus so the symptoms usually worsen as the day progresses. Please check with your doctor regarding this and continue with your allergy shots. Good luck with your therapy. Regards.