Lump in Throat Sensation

[Nubianmom]

I am a 32 year old that has been experiencing a lump in throat sensation since October 2009.  I remember in October feeling drainage on the back of my throat.  I bought some benedryl in hopes to stop the symptoms before it turned into a cold.  Well one night I felt the a tight, contricting feeling in my throat.  It made me feel short of breath.  Well that night I had a panic attack because I did not know what was going on.  I went to the emergency room and they focused all test on my heart and everything came back normal.  Well for the next few weeks I lost about 30 lbs which I think now was related to my obsession on what was wrong with me and my lack of eating.  I went to a doctor who said it was strep throat and gave me a perscription for penicillan.  Months past and still no relief from the lump in throat sensation.  I scheduled a appt with my pcp.  She gave me veramyst to treat the pnd and Nexium to treat a possible acid reflux.  I admit I did not consistently take the Nexium for 30 days because I did not feel I was getting relief.  She also sent me to an ENT.  He look at my throat with the camera that he slid down my nose down my throat.  He said he did not see anything out of the ordinary. He scheduled me for a barrium swallow and a CT of my nasal passage.  But because of crappy insurance I did not keep the appt because of the bill I had already received.  The lump in my throat sensation feels better at times but never goes away.  I dont feel it when I am eating or talking.  In the mornings my throat and mouth feel very dry.  Sometimes it feels as if my throat or esophagus is swelling.  I am not sure that lump in throat is the right description.  I do think that the feeling is worsened by tomatoe based foods and chocolate.  I just want relief and to be pointed in the right direction on how to get back a normal feeling in my throat.  If there was a problem in my esophagus would the ENT have seen that as well?

[Debindebt]

If you feel like you have a lump in your throat , you feel anxiety & you have lost or gained weight get your thyroid checked!
I felt that way and it turned out that I had graves disease.

[windingdown]

I can believe it!! So happy you found relief!!

[kis954]

For all those people supposedly suffering from LPR, I wanted to throw out something for consideration.

A year ago, after a very difficult and painful surgery which taxed my immune system, I suddenly suffered from a chronically tight throat with a feeling of suffocation at nighttime. I kept clearing my throat, hacking, coughing; I could feel spasming in my throat, difficulty breathing, and there was a constant feeling of something being stuck in there. I went to a gastro doctor who scoped me, and he discovered a rash all over my esophagus and inner stomach, as well as a very enlarged larynx and swollen vocal cords. He promptly diagnosed it as LPR/ acid reflux/ GERD and gave me a PPI prescription.

I never had acid reflux in my life; in fact, I used to always joke that I had a "stomach of steel." It was a shock. Dutifully, I took my PPI meds, enduring terrible side effects with very little reduction of my tight throat/ suffocating feeling. Something didn't seem right, so I started questioning the diagnosis and doing my own investigation. I noticed that, curiously, my throat got worse after eating certain foods. So I was starting to wonder if it was a food allergy of some kind. Yet, the scoping doctor had taken samples of my stomach and esophagus and sent them to the lab for allergy testing and all the tests came back negative for allergies.

Still, the acid reflux/ LPR diagnosis seemed odd. And the symptoms wouldn't really get much better with the PPIs. I started doing elimination diets only to discover that I got severe stomach and abdominal pain, and an extremely tight throat, within a day after consuming CANOLA oil--a man-made, genetically modified, highly processed oil that is in virtually all processed food and restaurant fare in the USA.

So I eliminated all foods made with canola oil. Miraculously, my “LPR” cleared up within a week after this change in diet. I was literally symptom-free and could breathe normally and sleep again. I also learned that the reason this allergy doesn't show up in lab tests is because canola oil doesn't have any protein in it--which is what allergy tests are sensitive to.

I offer this information to all of you who have suffered from chronic LPR symptoms and throat tightness, without any recourse. Friends, this country’s food supply is killing us. (Even the vast majority of olive oil is adulterated with other oils--just Google “fake olive oil”). By being very careful about what we eat, I think we can heal ourselves better than any doctors or PPI meds can do.

[SHASHA2EVER]

I have been experiencing the same symptoms for three days now. at first it began as a real tightness in my neck and i thought perhaps it was due to improper use of my weights but then i noticed that i felt like someone was keeping their hands around my throat and it affects my ears as well. i thouht i was coming down with a cold and have a little occassional cough but definitely no sore throat it's more annoying than anything else and is making me crabby. there is some relieve after I've had something to eat though. I have done some research on line and a lot of it sounds like it is due to stres. i do not feel it is an acid reflux issue. Have you had any luck finding the actual issue?
Sha

[patient915]

Please post your question as its own post because this one is so old.

[Jillyart]

I am having the same issue.  Last night I couldn't get to sleep, I felt like my throat was swelling.  I kept clearing my throat and coughing until I finally fell asleep.  Woke up this morning and still felt this way.  I've been clearing my throat since I woke up.  Mine gets worse after meals.  I didn't even notice it until my family pointed it out.  I cough, and feel like I have mucus in my throat after eating.  I have an appointment with an ENT in a few weeks.  I'm not in any pain, just annoyed that I can't cough or clear this feeling out of my throat.  HELP!  I noticed that your post is from September - have you received any answers since then?????

[Jillyart]

I am having the same issue.  Last night I couldn't get to sleep, I felt like my throat was swelling.  I kept clearing my throat and coughing until I finally fell asleep.  Woke up this morning and still felt this way.  I've been clearing my throat since I woke up.  Mine gets worse after meals.  I didn't even notice it until my family pointed it out.  I cough, and feel like I have mucus in my throat after eating.  I have an appointment with an ENT in a few weeks.  I'm not in any pain, just annoyed that I can't cough or clear this feeling out of my throat.  HELP!  I noticed that your post is from September - have you received any answers since then?????