sensation in or around esophagus

[diane493]

Let me start off by saying I have extreme health anxiety after colon cancer Jan. 2009  that returned as a 1.5 cm spot in my liver April 2012.  Every mosquito bite, every sensation is 'something deadly'.

Two nights ago I was doing a puzzle and slumped over a table. I was also eating Fig Newtons.  I lost 3 molars to chemo and don't chew my food well. One piece was a bit large and I felt it working its way down my throat.  (I also have hystericus globulus).

The next day I was positive I can feel my esophagus in the area just above the breast but only sometimes when I swallow. No pain. Just a sensation almost like the muscle NEXT to it is moving.  No heartburn.  No burning at all. I do burp a lot right now because when I'm having anxiety attacks I swallow air. The muscles over my ribs are quite tender and I have scar tissue supposedly that is between the lung and liver (?).  I take Klonopin and have had to take it my full dose the last 2 days because of this fear.  My dosage is .5 mg 3 times a day. It causes a very dry mouth.

It really feels like a muscle in the chest wall instead of something inside my throat.  I had a liver resection and was cut from just below the sternum to the belly button, rib spreaders, 80% of my liver removed.  My last tests were in April and I had a Chest CT, abdominal MRI and my CEA was excellent. All blood work was excellent. Saw gastro and had colonoscopy end of Dec. No problems.

I do sometimes snack in bed and have had a few instances of waking to some burning in my throat if I fall asleep right after the snack.

The only thing I can think of that I did was I spray my tongue with Chloraseptic and use a tongue scraper because of the build up each morning from the dry mouth/ Klonopin.  Two days ago I mis aimed and the spray hit the back of my throat and choked me. I coughed quite a bit.  

[mklarson]

This sounds like esophageal spasms in many respects to the information you provided.  This would also fit with your medical history and very similar to many patients I have seen over the years.  There are many different treatments available from drinking 16-20 ounces of warm water (not hot) without pausing to breath...or just as little as possible if necessary (some swear by this), to many different prescription medicines that address it as well.  This condition is more common than you might think and there are many ways to treat it so don't worry if it takes a few different attempts to remedy, if this is indeed the cause of your complaint.

Take care.  

[diane493]

It was air.  I swallow air when I'm nervous and once I started burping it out and stopped swallowing more, the sensation went right away.