Experiencing Dysphagia Frequently/lump in throat? Posted: 12-04-07 21:16pm
Hello,
I'm a 22 year old male, no other major
health problems.
For the past month or two, I've had
symptoms of Dysphagia.
It should be know that I smoke Marijuana
several times a week. My symptoms do
increase when I smoke, but they pop up
when I don't sometimes too. It all
started with my throat feeling a bit sore,
and I had slightly enlarged lymphnodes,
so I passed it off as a throat infection
or a flu, because I had a cold at the same
time. However, a few weeks later, my
throat was still sore, and I noticed that
the pain I had wasn't really coming from
my lymphnodes, but from a spot lower down
on my esophagus. It almost felt like a
lump there or something, but I could never
really feel anything with my fingers.
Recently I've noticed I have the feeling
of food getting stuck sometimes in that
area, and when I'm not eating I still have
impulses that make me swallow very
frequently.
I suppose the easiest diagnosis might be
that my marijuana smoking habits are the
cause, but even though I am prepared to
heavily cut down on the habbit, I'm still
worried that something might still be
wrong with my throat. Any help would be
greatly appreciated, as this has been
worrying me more and more, and the more I
think about it the worse it feels.
I noticed that a thread has already
started about throat tightness, but I
thought perhaps my case might be different
because of my habits.
|
Philius
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 04 Dec 2007 Posts: 4
Posted: 12-19-07 02:37am
Well today I went to an ear nose and
throat doctor I was reffered to by my
family doctor. Hey chechked things out
and stuck a camera down my my nose into my
throat. He didn't find anything that
might be suspect, whcih is good. It
should be noted that the pain I get in my
throat flucates from day to day.
Althoguh there aren't any noticable lumps
anywhere on mythroat, and everything
inside looks good, it would still be great
if I could figure out what's causing this
discomfort. Could it be some part of my
throat getting irritated sometimes? It
seems to have worsened a bit because of
the very cold weather up here. I've
stopped smoking but the feeling persists
some days anyways.
|
Cowbell
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 19 May 2007 Posts: 9 Location: Arizona
Re: Experiencing Dysphagia Frequently/lump In Throat? Posted: 12-27-07 17:18pm
Philius
wrote:
Hello,
I'm a 22 year old male, no other major
health problems.
For the past month or two, I've had
symptoms of Dysphagia.
It should be know that I smoke Marijuana
several times a week. My symptoms do
increase when I smoke, but they pop up
when I don't sometimes too. It all
started with my throat feeling a bit sore,
and I had slightly enlarged lymphnodes,
so I passed it off as a throat infection
or a flu, because I had a cold at the same
time. However, a few weeks later, my
throat was still sore, and I noticed that
the pain I had wasn't really coming from
my lymphnodes, but from a spot lower down
on my esophagus. It almost felt like a
lump there or something, but I could never
really feel anything with my fingers.
Recently I've noticed I have the feeling
of food getting stuck sometimes in that
area, and when I'm not eating I still have
impulses that make me swallow very
frequently.
I suppose the easiest diagnosis might be
that my marijuana smoking habits are the
cause, but even though I am prepared to
heavily cut down on the habbit, I'm still
worried that something might still be
wrong with my throat. Any help would be
greatly appreciated, as this has been
worrying me more and more, and the more I
think about it the worse it feels.
I noticed that a thread has already
started about throat tightness, but I
thought perhaps my case might be different
because of my
habits.
----
Sorry I can't offer any help, I just
wanted to say my symptoms are almost
identical to the ones you have mentioned.
One day I got a really bad sore throat,
and it didn't go away after a week, began
to hurt when I would swallow, and I
couldn't take the pain and headaches it
caused anymore, so I went to the doctor,
and all they could say is that it could
possibly be a throat virus of some sort,
so they prescribed me to 5 days of
Prednisone. I started taking that and by
the second day almost all the pain was
gone, but then the feeling of something
being stuck in my throat emerged, almost
like theres a pill stuck in my throat,
right above my adams apple, and it causes
me to swallow every second all day,
further agitating my throat and causing
anxiety. Its worse after being irritated
by food when I eat, I've been trying to
eat right before I got to bed ever since,
so I can fall asleep before the anxiety it
causes kicks in.
I have a appointment scedualed with an ENT
on the 14th, which is a very long time to
me, but I'll see if I can find anything
out. And I hope you would post the
conclusions if you find one.
How was the camera in your throat? Did it
hurt? What should I expect?
By the way, I'm also an avid Marijuana
user, but I don't think it has anything to
do with it, but regardless I quit smoking
about 10 days ago, without any effect.
Have you had any troubles with your
tonsils? I'm not sure if its a separate
problem or what, but my tonsils also seem
to be eroding, not swelling, but the
tonsil holes are getting larger and
larger.
|
Philius
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 04 Dec 2007 Posts: 4
Posted: 12-31-07 05:14am
Hey Cowbell, glad to get some feedback
here. At first I was convinced smoking
was the issue, but it's been weeks now
without smoking and nothing has changed.
I get a fair amount of pain now too, so
much so that sometimes it prevents me from
going out. You have the same problem as
me too - even when it's barely noticeable,
you start hinking about it alot, start
swallowing alot, and before you know is it
hurts like hell and anxiety kicks in.
I've since gotten over the anxiety (My
father AND stepfather are both doctors and
keep telling me to stop thinking of the
worse case scenario).
The ENT doctor reassured me that it isn't
anything terrible, like some weird growth,
but I almost wanted him to find something
so I could at least know what the heck is
wrong. The camera down the nose was a
little painful but nothing you should be
afraid of, it was over in seconds.
Anyways, some people that I talked to tell
me it may just be my epiglottis getting
irritated and swelling up. Problem is
that the pain isn't always centralized
around my epiglottis. Sometimes it's on
my left side, sometimes on the right,
sometimes higher up around my lymphnodes,
and sometimes lower down in my windpipe.
I've ruled out any throat viruses, cancers
and other illnesses after seeing several
doctors, but I still can't figure out what
the hell is wrong with me! Sure, part of
the pain may be psychological, but it's to
the point where I wake up at night
sometimes because of it, and that's far
from normal. Any feedback would be
awesome!
Thanks.
P.S. No visible problems with my tonsils
yet, but I'll get them checked and let you
know!
|
Philius
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 04 Dec 2007 Posts: 4
Posted: 01-10-08 00:49am
Good News, after a wekk of not smoking,
all throat pain and discomfort have gone
away. I will continue staying away from
smoking, I'd rather be healthy
