Throat Tightness-please Help

I have had problems now for the last 16months. Like the other people have state i have a tightness in the throat that is constant all day and night.
I have been on relux medication for about 8 years as i used to get acid refulx, for the past 16 months i have has NO acid but this tightness in my throat which feel like someone has their hands round my throat.
I have has endoscopies, PH test, valve test, barium meal, a camera up my nose and down my throat.

The docs tell me that I have a loose valve which lets acid up and that i have a lazy gullett, your gullett contracts so that food can go down and because mine does not do this very well you feel like food does not go down very well and you feel like when you swallow its not how it used to be.

The tightness is in my throat and up my nose, i am so sensitive to smells.

The pills the doctors have given me and the medicine that i take to help protect my throat dont work i still have this tightness every day, im going for physio soon to see if she can help with the neck stiffness.
Then back to the doctors as they dont know why this is effecting my throat.

There are web sites for Silent reflux which has no acid reflux but none state this tighness in the throat and nose.

Cant belive there are so many people with the same symptoms, and the info in the circopharyngeal spasm are interesting, will ask my doc about this when I go back soon.

If anyone can give further advise i would be very grateful.

i dont feel anything in my throat anymore, but i sometimes feel food goes down a bit slower, so i've been eating carefully for the past few months. and I have a swallowing test in november 1st.... FINALLY!!!

I was just going thru this forum as my 11yr old daughter complains of having a lump in her throat, as if its going to close up and sometimes she feels she cant swallow properly...but she also gets lots of shoulder and upper back pain which we call knots in her back. It seems to be constant. However, when we visited the doctor about her feeling, the doc said there was nothing there and my daughter relaxed and doesnt seem to complain much about it. But still lots of knots in her back. Just thought i would share it with you.

I'll try this again--I have been problem- free for 2 years now and wanted to give those on the forum an update and possibly some hope!! You can read my old posts from 2005. After doctor #7 or so and many tests, I found an aggressive ENT you got me on aciphex, a mild muscle relaxer ( in case of cricopharyngeal spasms) and a nasal inhaler for post nasal drip. (it's all listed on my old posts) I got relief within days and suggest to you all to find a great ENT--go to library and look up reference book of TOP DOCS of great ent's in your area. Trust me, I know this consumes your life dealing with this and so dang depressing. Everyone telling you it's NOT this or COULD be that and all the time to go to docs, testing, etc. Don't understand why some of this get this after a cough. I've had coughs on and off for 30 years. Hope this helps. Will check forum periodically to see if anyone wants to talk about this. donna

Aquasea-I have had this incident you are talking about with the choking episodes. It started 14 years ago and happens every once in a while. If you would like to discuss.

I'm very glad I found this site. I actually do have a lump (tumor) in my throat. It's been there for 20+ years and I've had biopsies, ultesounds, thyroid scans...etc. It is benign but every time I have a sore throat I worry that maybe it has changed.
3 weeks ago I had a tooth ache and after that went away I felt like I had a lump in my throat. (The real one I normally don't feel inside at all but you CAN see it) Then I began feeling a lot of tightness and pressure in my neck and throat. I also feel a little "weezy" at times. The symptoms just wouldn't go away. I had a 2 week business trip coming up and I'm terrified of flying so I believe this contributed to the problem. The tightness and feeling of a lump comes and goes. If i'm busy and not paying attention it doesn't bother me but if I dwell on it it gets REALLY bad. Anti-acids help some. I was so upset today, I was convinced I had throat cancer and I was terrified. Then i found this site and I feel MUCH better....the lump feeling is nearly gone and I've had no pressure today since I started reading. I also have a small dry cough, extra phlem and am ALWAYS clearing my throat. I have no trouble eating or drinking and it actually helps sometimes. What ever the problem is....I'm thinking it won't kill me and at least I feel like I can face a doctor now.

Glad the comments on this site helped you. Sometimes just knowing other people are going through it and are still ALIVE to talk about it helps!!! Im convinced that stress plays a role in this and a lot of us have tightness in neck and shoulders.

I was diagnoised over a year ago with GERDS. I have taken 2 doses of Nexium for a year and have every test possible done. They say it's not cancer, but the lump, tightness and coughing are worse now than ever the only time I don't notice it is when I drink or eat something. It drives me crazy, so you are not alone but you do need to see a ENT. Doctor.
My started one night when I was coughing so hard I vomited, it has never disappeared.

Look up cricopharyngeal spasms. It sounds like what a lot of us have had. A muscle relaxant helps and get massages to relieve the tightness in the neck/shoulder area.

Thank you so much.
After a year 24/7 with this that the only time I do not feel it ,is when i'm eating or drinking something.
I looked up cricopharyngeal spasms and I'm going to have my Doctor to check into it.
After all the tests I have had they found a hiatal hernia and shlonskey ring(sp) which is scar tissue and that will not interfere with my throat problems. Sometimes It just bothers me to talk. I love to sing and can no longer do that. I'm just wondering from what I have read if my ms could be aggravating it. I would not wish this on anyone,but at the same time I'm glad I'm not crazy and there are people out there going through this and I'm not alone.
Thank you so much again
Debi

Hey Deb--read my update from a few months back. It gave more detail into what worked for me. Mine came on after a cough that would not go away.

Thank's Donna,
I was reading about the spasms from this Doctor and he said muscle relaxers work. So the next Doctors visit I'm going to see if he will subcribe something.

I'm just so thankful I found you and this site.

I was put on Prevacid Solutab 30 mg once a day about a month and a half ago. I had been experiencing throat tightness and vomiting. Since then I have gotten very anxious and xanax is not helping. Has anyone experienced this?

i have the tight throat thing as well, however, mine is more under my chin pressing upwards into my mouth (if that makes sense). i had a stomach virus that had me vomiting about five months ago and this throat thing has been going on and off since then. like some others have said, it can come and is worse when i actually think about it, and does lessen slightly in discomfort when i dont think about it. my glands are slightly sore to the touch but im only 15 so mum doesnt think that i need to see a doctor about it, she thinks its just a virus (hence the swollen glands). if anyone has any suggestions that would be great nice to know im not a special case with weird and abnormal symptoms

xo

thanks donnako for coming back and tell around the your story.
I developed these symptoms very similar to some of you. one post mentioned upper back pain and shoulder pain. Mine did start with a upper back pain and a left shoulder pain!! and then after 10 days i felt the tightness around my neck every part of it. especially when i loop up, i feel being chocked and nausea. however when I eat and drink it goes away. and cold weather makes it worse sometimes air conditioning too! after anther 10 days, i changed the pillow and my upper back pain, left shoulder pain, tightness of the neck on the left were all gone in 2 days! however the right side of neck makes no improvement. see the muscle which goes from underneath the ear to the front chest, at the level of the vocal box, i do see a slight swellon there. when i touch it , it's soft and no pain. i looked up the cricopharyngeal spasms website, i think i probably have that. now if i keep my head upright and face straight, i dont feel the choking. it comes only when i turn my head to the left. i dont know the connection between this and the back pain. but it did come together. after another 10 days, i hurt my back a little during exercise, and i feel the choking right away.
oh, my dad has the same thing for a long time, maybe one year. he went through all kinds of test, everything is normal. he has it only when he think about it. when mine is always there. it's been 2 months now.
I am wondering besides the muscle relaxing drug, what else come heal it. chiropractic?

Skiier--I would DEFINITELY try a chiropractor. When I was desperate I went up and talked to one I had used before and told him about my throat problem and he was familiar with the spasms. I didn't end up going becuase I had found the new ENT and my insurance sucks for chiro. I think if these muscles are relaxed around the shoulder and neck it would help. I would try a massage first--when I got one while having these probs she told me my neck was extremely tight.

If any of you have sinus problems, my mom got a "netting pot" from Walgreens the other night and said she had the best nights sleep she's had in a long time

donnako i read some of your and other's posts and googled cricopharyngeal spasms. i m almost convinced that i have that. in your posts you mentioned some of the drugs can relieve it. is any non prescription drug i can try out, which you think work the best? i m now more interested in finding out the cause and origin of the symptoms. one of the posts back to 2006 from Reyleon(?) mentioned bacterial infection. That's what i guess too. it could be some kinds of infection, some virus/bacteria/fungus attack the muscle and stays there. because some of member in this forum had this symptoms after cold and cough. even my mom (working as a nurse for 40 years and having seen a lot) told me that the back pain probably is a non-infected inflammation, but i still have doubt. i guess our immune system plays an important role on this, when it's strong (or/and without stress), all symptoms are restrained. i dont think my insurance covers the chiropractic, so i may try some anti-allergy or relaxant or see a doctor for that. and i will try to get more than 7 hour sleep a day, while i got around 6 for a very long time, and i spend whole day in front of a computer.

Try the netting pot for your sinuses. This feeling of something stuck in your throat has to be either coming from the sinuses or the acid reflux. If you sit at a computer all day (as I am doing these days at work) the muscles will get tight around the neck. I am coming home with awful neck and shoulder tightness. I'm getting a massage soon. I know if you don't want to take a narcotic for your spasms/neck go to a health food store and talk to them or look up in one of their books there something to relax you. I know calcium is a great thing to take before bedtime (forgot the mg's) to help you get to sleep and as a relaxant. My candida tests (he took from my throat) were negative.