HI anitnelav,
I hope you are doing well and your symptoms have improved since you first wrote this post.
I read your post and it really reminded me of myself and my experience with Globus.
I am 22 and my globus appeared from nowhere, nothing particularly stressful in my life or more stressful than what ive been through in the past- it started after dinner with a feeling like food was stuck at the back of my throat, i did what you would do when feeling this - drank water (a lot!), opened my mouth to see if i could ‘see’ anything stuck, but nothing… the following day i began to get a hair like sensation at the back left side of my throat - like a hair was stuck and tickling my throat - the most annoying little tickle ever especially when warm/cold drinks don’t make it move or go - although I did find that eating helped relieved this sensation! However.. almost instantly the eating brought back the ‘food stuck’ feeling - predominantly on the right hand side (still to this day I suffer predominantly with this side).
I waited a few days as I thought perhaps I have a small throat irritation (had pharyngitis in the past and remember associating the ‘food stuck’ feeling to that) but to my dismay it didn’t let up… a trip to the GP (Tuesday evening), she’ll probably say I have a throat infection and give me some antibiotics - however, uh-uh she found nothing. No obvious inflammation and certainly no redness or soreness in my throat. So she referred me for an urgent ENT appointment, this sent my anxiety through the roof!! I started panicking about the worst sorts of things… cancer, tumours, strictures, growth etc! A concoction which exacerbated my already underlying health anxiety! Within a day I was refusing to eat (as this only brought on this feeling again), and I just about drank fluids as I was scared this too would bring the feeling on - within 1 week I lost 6lbs! Cracking for someone trying to lose weight but I am no heavier than 9 1/2st, a size 8 short 5ft 3 girl - I began to feel extremely malnourished and totally isolated! I couldn’t wait to see a specialist.
I also woke feeling quite sick most mornings.
On the Wednesday evening the feeling was so intense, it felt as if I was carrying tension and pressure all around the right side of my neck and up the back of my head (in hindsight this was probably intense anxiety/panic) so I begged my boyfriend to take me to A&E - I was convinced something was stuck in my throat! The staff were great, they took me straight through and popped a camera up my nose… I have to say this experience really wasn’t that bad at all and the worst part is the taste of the numbing spray! The funniest is the voice it gives you for 30 mins or so after! But the even worst part was the negative findings… nothing.. no foreign body, nothing. They did a lateral X-ray on that side to double check and again.. nothing.
They advised me it could be some acid reflux and to try taking Gaviscon.
Well, I won’t give the gory details but Gaviscon tried and it gave me an awful upset stomach! Like awful!
So that put me off! But I struggled to understand how all of a sudden this would just happen to me.
Anyway, a few more days passed and the feeling of tightness and burning in my throat had worsened, I felt as if I couldn’t even turn my head at times (perhaps this soreness was related to the laryngoscopy but as I was already having issues in this location I wasn’t sure), I was excessively swallowing in case something was ‘stuck’ which resulted in clicking and pain and an even more intense obstruction feeling! I honestly went from being a bubbly, outgoing and optimistic girl to a depressed recluse and my boyfriends words that week were “you’ve turned into a shell, you’re not yourself at all… where have you gone” which made the burden of this all so much worse as not only did I want to be better for myself, but be better for him too! I didn’t want to do anything but cuddle on the sofa watching films all day (I resorted to sleeping mostly as this was the only time I would have respite from the pain and sensations) but there’s only so much film-time you can put up with in a weekend! He has been great though and extremely supportive.
We went for a test drive on the Saturday morning for his new car, the pain was agonising but I just tried to smile through! Carrying water was like an absolute live or die necessity.
I took myself to the A&E again convinced something more sinister was going on… after a shot of oramorph, further painkillers and a series of blood tests and a thorough physical examination… nothing. No increased lymphocytes / white blood cells. Absolutely nothing. Embarrassed to say the least but even more upset that there was no clear indicator for what was causing this feeling.
I lived for the ENT appointment the following Tuesday. Another laryngoscopy in that initial appointment again found nothing - I mean you jump for the moon when the specialist says no cancers, no tumours, your voice box looks beautiful but I have to admit I also shrank inside again as I was still suffering. Constantly feeling like a little something in the middle or right side of my throat every time I ate. Eating was a chore.
He referred me for a barium swallow test and MRI - brilliant. Finally they may find something!!
At this point I even felt as if I was food was stuck at the back of my throat/coming back up shortly after I ate. Sometimes this completely replaced the other sensations. But swallowing thick food-like mucus isn’t fun… especially when it doesn’t go down your food-pipe like you think it should.
“Dysphagia.” “OMG I have something really wrong with me. My muscles they are starting to fail on me.” “Early onset MS” “Myothenis Gravis of my throat after all my brothers been diagnosed with it in his eyes it must be hereditary!” “I have scoliosis in my spine so perhaps this is affecting my nervous system!”
R-a-c-i-n-g t-h-o-u-g-h-t-s! All day everyday.
This seriously upset my IBS and I began to have chronic loose stools. I thought it all must be one big condition and my body is screaming at me. My glands would randomly swell throughout the day (well at least they felt as if they did), I let myself get so hungry. Eating however sort of helped relieve the gland swelling feeling and I think this was my body’s response to stress. I also have PCOS (diagnosed just a few weeks before all of this started) which makes me even more susceptible to blood sugar drops. Leaving me feeling extremely fatigued at my desk at work, shaky and nauseous. I wondered if I’d ever feel normal again. How can this be?! My whole life was flipped in a matter of weeks.
To cut a long story short -
Barium Swallow came back normal - no narrowings, strictures, hernias or visible reflux.
MRI (with contrast) - normal. However…
They did find what’s called a hyper pharyngeal ductal cyst (I hope my memory serves me correct when I say that!) 6mm in size. The ENT specialist said that you develop them in the womb but as you grow they sort of grow out… in my case and a small population of others, they haven’t. He said that it’s so small it would unlikely be the reason for all of this and since having it all my life why would it bother me now. He did go onto say they can get infected from time to time and fill with ‘puss’. Everything else I was suffering from was this dreaded Globus! They diagnose this after no positive findings in any of the other tests ran.
I could’ve broke down and cried in that room and thank god my Mum was with me. She saw the sheer agony in my face that there was no quick resolution to this sudden and very scary problem I had developed.
She asked if it was possibly infected now and could be causing all of this. He said there was no obvious sign of inflammation in my throat and my glands were all within range.
However, I think he too saw the emotion on my face and prescribed me 1 week of amoxicillin and 2 weeks of Omeprazole.
I had started to suffer with the occasional heartburn so perhaps this was all reflux related.
I also found out that my Nana has suffered with Globus twice in her life and that each episode lasted for around 6 months. It totally affected her emotionally too. Also making me more susceptible in the doctors eyes to having this condition.
Anyway. My appointment was on Friday and I am writing this on the Sunday morning. Making me on Day 2 of the medication and although I am still suffering, predominantly in the right side of my throat after eating.
I think I have noticed some improvements.
To summarise my sensations -
- The right can feel like a muscle cramping on my throat/oesophagus - usually after swallowing - I believe this is an issue with the muscle relaxing properly.
- A little spot feeling in the centre of my food-pipe just underneath my Adams Apple.
- Tightness in my right, anterior neck
- Tightness in the tendon that runs under my jaw and down the right-side of my throat
- Thick mucus feeling/tightness in my central throat
- Little throb/twinge under my jaw (right side again)
- I have also suffered with ear-ache & head aches
The antibiotics are also giving me indigestion (at least I think it’s them as it started after taking them).
I pray that this feeling eventually lets up and reminding myself that I can eat, drink and swallow normally helps the anxiety. It doesn’t rid the after sensations they still come and are unpleasant to say the least. They do reside after a few hours.
But looking forward to seeing how I feel after a few days with Omeprazole.
The IBS has calmed slightly as my anxiety has eased.
If anyone else has suffered or had a similar experience to mine, I would love to hear from you.
All the best with yours.
Ella x
i just hope i can eat normally again soon