Cricopharyngeal spasm

[kjarvis15]

Has anyone experienced cricopharyngeal spasm (lump in throat)mine is the lower right side under or near cricoid cartilage. Can't feel a lump but my GP referred me to ENT

[venusbluejeans]

Hi

This is just a courtesy reply to let you know that your post was moved from its original place to a sub-forum that is more relevant to your problem.

This is nothing personal - it just enables us to keep posts about the same problems in the relevant forums so other members with any experience with the issues can find them more easily.

[sporque]

Yes, I see an ENT next Tuesday. I've "self diagnosed" as it's the only thing that matches my symptoms over the last 2 months. Constant, spasmy, lump in back of throat, and pressure around gland type feeling. Very hard to explain but exacerbated by stress and talking too much. Let me know what you find out, because I'm at my wits end!

[Fishmanpa]

Whenever I see something I never heard of, I know Dr. Google and the "patient" self diagnosed.

Positive thoughts

[Sam Winter]

My doctor referred me for one back in September of 2015, haven't really found out why(most likely anxiety) but its not anything dangerous, my best advice is to just try and stay calm until you see ENT, if something was really wrong they'd spot it(in this case I extremely doubt it) we can't rely on self diagnostics as 90% of the time they're usually wrong x

[Kay8010]

I too had and still have a lump or stuck sensation in my throat and it can get incredibly sore at times, after thinking I had throat cancer last year I visited an ENT consultant to be diagnosed with globus hystericus -

Globus Hystericus manifests and is described mostly as:

an inability to swallow effectively
a feeling like a lump in the throat
a sensation of tightness in the throat
a feeling of ‘blockage’ in the throat
a feeling of swelling or tension in the throat
a feeling of being ‘strangled’
a sensation of soreness or tension at the back of the tongue

It could also be reflux that is causing this tightness too however most of the time I am told that anxiety causes globus hystericus & the sad thing is you can have it for years before one day it will just disappear depending how your anxiety is maintained (not likely to talk as my anxiety is always at peak)

Thought I would just give my personal experience.

[sporque]

I too had and still have a lump or stuck sensation in my throat and it can get incredibly sore at times, after thinking I had throat cancer last year I visited an ENT consultant to be diagnosed with globus hystericus -

Globus Hystericus manifests and is described mostly as:

an inability to swallow effectively
a feeling like a lump in the throat
a sensation of tightness in the throat
a feeling of ‘blockage’ in the throat
a feeling of swelling or tension in the throat
a feeling of being ‘strangled’
a sensation of soreness or tension at the back of the tongue

It could also be reflux that is causing this tightness too however most of the time I am told that anxiety causes globus hystericus & the sad thing is you can have it for years before one day it will just disappear depending how your anxiety is maintained (not likely to talk as my anxiety is always at peak)

Thought I would just give my personal experience.

I certainly hope it doesn't last years for me. My job involves lots of talking, and for the last few months I've been unable to do my job because of this. Finally made it to the ENT and he palapated all my glands in and outside my mouth, looked in my throat with a mirror and said everything looked great. Sadly, he didn't give me a diagnosis..I did mention C.S. but he was in a hurry for an emergency and said it could be and he repeated I was totally fine. So I left feeling slightly better. My symptoms come and go. I was feeling like I was beating it yesterday but today it was back with a vengeance. The one thing that always makes it dissappear is when I take xanax before bed. (never take that during the day). This, for me, at least proves its a muscle issue as pain killers don't touch it. The only problem is the last thing I want to do is start taking benzos to get through the day. So as of now I only get a little relief about 1 hour before bed.

[RandomGeeza]

I had CS for about 4 months following a major operation and during a nervous breakdown. It was one of the triggers of the nervous breakdown. I have been through ENT and the subsequent follow up. And all was well.

If you can ignore it, over time it WILL go away. I honestly thought mine never would but it did. It took weeks not days and even now it comes back on occasion. But, be assured that it is simply a muscle going into spasm and nothing more serious.

[sporque]

I had CS for about 4 months following a major operation and during a nervous breakdown. It was one of the triggers of the nervous breakdown. I have been through ENT and the subsequent follow up. And all was well.

If you can ignore it, over time it WILL go away. I honestly thought mine never would but it did. It took weeks not days and even now it comes back on occasion. But, be assured that it is simply a muscle going into spasm and nothing more serious.

Thanks so much for the reassurance It's by far the weirdest symptom and most physical symptom of anxiety I've ever had! Did you find it was hard to talk for longer periods of time when you had it?

[RandomGeeza]

Thanks so much for the reassurance It's by far the weirdest symptom and most physical symptom of anxiety I've ever had! Did you find it was hard to talk for longer periods of time when you had it?

Yes sometimes... it felt like someone pushing into the fleshy pallet of your throat... directly below the Adam's apple, almost strangling you. It was f*cking horrible for want of a better description. And I wouldn't wish it on anyone. It frightened me.

However, over time it did go. I just had to stop fixating on it. Easier said than done. Each day it seemed to get a little better. Until one day I forgot I had it, and life resumed some semblance of normality.