Lump in throat, burping. Cancer.

[Spacedextra]

Hi all,

I'm acutely aware that I get anxious (though I've never had it diagnosed) but still, would like to get people's thoughts.

2 months ago I went to the doctor for a tongue problem, something that was scaring me and making me very anxious. Whilst in the middle of all of my anxiety I noticed a lump in my throat below my Adam's apple.

Since then I've almost forgotten about the tongue thing but am fixated on the throat lump. Some days it's not so bad but other days it's there. On top of this I've developed a symptom of eating and then burping a lot after and feeling like food is coming up with my burps. I have convinced myself I've got Barrett's oesophagus and that isn't good. Could it all be anxiety? I have an ENT appointment in London this Saturday, but am petrified to hear what they'll say.

How can I go from seeing my dentist and doctor about a tongue thing, to developing symptoms completely unrelated?! I hate being anxious and worrying! It's ruining my life!!

Any help or advice would be greatly and warmly received.

SpacedExtra

[johnyy]

Yeah, When you burpt or feel the the food comming out the cells in your neck can get cancerous(because of the acidity in the stomach) but don´t try to reduce acidity, because your stomach will just produce more of it.

I think I also had tongue cancer(or it juts hurt) but i will just went away on its own when I didn´t eat too much sugar.

//But it probably wasn´t cancer. But just relax because I heard stress can cause cancer so reduce your risk if you don´t have it, but go to doctor to check it if you really want.

[LE]

The lump in the throat can be from anxiety. Both an ENT and GI doctor told me this.

The burping can be from acid reflux, gastritis etc. many benign reasons and far more likely. Believe it or not these thigs are very common in people with anxiety.

For myself, I have both. The lump in throat is definitely anxiety as since I've seen ENT and also had a neck ultrasound this week, the lump in throat feeling is gone!


I also suffer from excess acid and I take omeprazol.

[Spacedextra]

Thanks for your reply LE. It's good to know I'm not alone and that you've had something similar! Did you get the burping, food feeling too? I didn't realise that anxiety exacerbated gerd. How was your ENT appointment? I've got one this Saturday and I'm bricking it!!

Thanks again for your reply pal. Really appreciate it.

[LE]

Yeah anxiety can make it worse as my gp says Yor atomach goes into overdrive and produces more acid when stressed. ENT app was totally fine. I was told I had fluid build up in my ears at my app in the sept and he gave me a nose spray. I followed up in the dec and told him about the throat lump feeling and he scoped my throat and told me all normal. He told me its stress related.

What are you going for?

[Spacedextra]

That's interesting. I didn't think about that...

The sequence of events was Fear about health > Lump in throat feeling > more fear about health > Burps - what you've said totally makes sense. And from then on it's a vicious circle of doom!

I'm going into outpatient ENT - so I've no idea whether this will mean I can get them to look down my throat or not - did you get your throat looked at in your first ENT appointment?

Thanks so much for the replies buddy, it's nice to hear your experience. May I also say I'm delighted the lump feeling has gone away for you, I really am. I only hope that I get good news this Saturday too!!

[LE]

I got the scope the second time but I never said about ye lump in throat feeling the first time so I'm guessing that's why he didn't scope me then.

Scope was totally fine btw. He put numbing spray down my throat and nose an I never felt a thing.

When I fest developed health anxiety I had the acid problem. After three months on omeprazole it was away. Then it's flared up again as for past year again my stress levels been through the roof. I'm going back on the omeprazole.

Let us know how you get on. I'm sure it will be good news.

[Spacedextra]

So medication was initially a short term measure. That's interesting too. I've heard some people say they have to be on it forever. So you take it as and when you're stressed.

I will indeed let you know. I can't wait to write good things on here if that's the case!

Thanks again for the support - I needed it!

[Fishmanpa]

Hey Space,

As the replies are suggesting, anxiety/stress causes stomach issues which cause throat/acid reflux/globus issues etc. I'm sure all will be fine. They'll probably prescribe a prescription acid reducer to help. I actually was recently prescribed one as well as I suffer from an acid stomach/indigestion. It can make your throat burn, give you chest pains/heartburn etc.

Positive thoughts

[Spacedextra]

Thanks Fishmanpa, and all 3 of you for your suggestions. Whatever is wrong with me, I hope I find peace from the answers on Saturday, whatever form they take.

The not knowing is usually worse. Once you know, you can go about dealing with it and taking the correct steps to sort it. The palpable ambiguity is hell.

[Spacedextra]

So tomorrow is the big day. An appointment with the ENT! Feels like the last 6 weeks has been building towards this! Not sure what's gonna happen but trying to stay super motivated and confident that all will be well. Internally, I'm absolutely petrified! But outwardly I'm trying my best to stay calm.

X

[Spacedextra]

So...

Went to the ENT this morning. She was super friendly, super helpful and made me feel at ease.

She checked my tongue, did an endoscopy and told me that I had nothing wrong. The lump in throat, burping and cough were likely due to stress which was producing excess acid in my stomach. She didn't even give me any tablets to take! Just said to monitor it for a month and if it's still bad, to reduce certain foods.

She didn't seem worried and actually sat with me for a while whilst I explained my anxiety.

It couldn't have gone any better.

X

[LE]

Great news. How do you feel?x

[Fishmanpa]

So... She checked my tongue, did an endoscopy and told me that I had nothing wrong. The lump in throat, burping and cough were likely due to stress which was producing excess acid in my stomach. She didn't even give me any tablets to take! Just said to monitor it for a month and if it's still bad, to reduce certain foods.

BAM! There ya go! ;) Great news. If you still get the acid and heartburn, try an OTC acid reducer. They do help. I like certain foods but they don't like me so I take a generic OTC Zantac in the AM and PM. A suggestion would be to keep a food diary during the next month and see what foods or drinks cause a reaction.

Glad to hear the news

Positive thoughts

[Spacedextra]

Great news. How do you feel?x

I feel OK! From what she said, Acid Reflux (LPR) is something that is triggered by the stress I was under. I now have to make sure that I'm combatting it and to try and overcome it so that I can go back to normal. I've still got all my symptoms and I don't really want to take medication if at all possible, though I know yours helped you a lot.

I figure that if my stress and anxiety triggered this, then an improvement in diet and stress levels can get rid of it!

---------- Post added at 08:33 ---------- Previous post was at 08:29 ----------


BAM! There ya go! ;) Great news. If you still get the acid and heartburn, try an OTC acid reducer. They do help. I like certain foods but they don't like me so I take a generic OTC Zantac in the AM and PM. A suggestion would be to keep a food diary during the next month and see what foods or drinks cause a reaction.

Glad to hear the news

Positive thoughts

Thanks so much Fishmanpa! It is good news, although Acid Reflux (LPR) isn't something I'm going to let stick around! I don't want to take medication, but do you have a lot of joy with Zantac? Do you have to take it all of the time?

I'm now going to try and embark on a journey where stress and anxiety don't play a part in my life, where I think positively and where I don't let it run my life.

I'm also going to be changing my diet to see if that reduces my symptoms. I know that I didn't have all of these symptoms more than 6 weeks ago and that they came about at a time in my life where I was feeling very stressed and anxious, so reversing that and eating far more healthily will hopefully combat this. I want rid of it!

[Spacedextra]

Health Anxiety, is a dragon that I want to kill with a sharp instrument. OVER AND OVER AGAIN!

So, having had my endoscopy as you can read about above, I've now convinced myself that I've got debilitating LPR.

Can anyone on here say that they had LPR or reflux because of stress, but then had it reduce after a while once they had a diagnosis?

Would love to hear from some people that had reflux dissipate and eventually go away after seeing an ENT.

Still have this lump feeling in my throat and was having some very, very morbid thoughts about my future this morning.

What a sad, sad illness health anxiety is.

[emlica]

Give it time - it's not been long. Even when you stop feeling anxious, the physical symptoms don't necessarily immediately go away.

When I was at my most anxious I had a lump in my throat, kept swallowing to see if I could feel it, which didn't help. Also had a bit of excess burping and indigestion. I don't know if my lump was reflux or not - it might also have been a sinus thing, post-nasal drip. But now that my anxiety is more under control (not completely, but it's much better), that lump feeling has gone. Throat still feels a bit weird on and off, but even when I actively think about whether there's a lump in my throat, there isn't one. The burping and indigestion has also mainly subsided, though I do notice that if I've been anxious (including just about work or something, not necessarily about my health), particularly around the time that I eat, then I do sometimes get a bit of an acidy feeling in the back of my throat.

I tried Zantac and it did help occasionally - but not always, which is why I think there may be an extra sinus element involved in mine! I was only taking the over the counter stuff, 75mg in the morning before breakfast and 75mg half an hour to an hour before dinner. Why don't you just give it a go for a few days and see? If it helps you'll know it's just reflux (but if it doesn't help that doesn't mean it definitely isn't reflux, by the way - Zantac doesn't work for everyone!). I never had a diagnosis, though. I don't think the GP thought mine was bad enough to warrant doing anything other than trying to get me to calm down!!

[Althea]

Ah, Spaced, I'm sorry. This is not uncommon with HA, though, as you say. It's why we often try to discourage people who want just that one scan--it's rarely going to do the job.

My reflux doesn't go away just after seeing a doctor, but it definitely goes away. You've got a good grip--you know it's HA that's making this into a big thing. I like Fishmanpa's food diary idea--that might give you some good information. Just remember that once it's kicked up it might take a little while to wind down, and that's perfectly normal and understandable.

[Spacedextra]

Thanks so, so much to the both of you for responding. The kind words of complete strangers has come to mean so much, in place of the positive thoughts in my own mind which seem to do so little.

Emlica - you're totally right, I've not given it nearly enough time since seeing my ENT appointment. I'm actually having a phone conversation with her tomorrow so I will find out some more pertinent information. That's the trouble with HA. I want a quick fix! If it doesn't go away quickly, I presume the worst! I'm having burps, the lump feeling, a dry cough and clearing my throat once in a while. I think I have some kind of acid reflux from my anxiety, but I'm also determined not to let it run or ruin my life. I'm going to get onto defeating it quickly and resuming the life I had - the life I miss.

Althea - It's LOVELY to hear that your reflux does go away! Tell me more! Haha! The more I hear about people who get rid of reflux, the more I want to know! I may well do the food diary, but if mine was triggered by excessive anxiety, I think I'm going to stay as healthy as I can and steer clear of any acidic foods.

The WORST part of health anxiety is this...

I go over to my wall, look at all the photos on there from Xmas and happy memories last year and I sob at how happy and wonderful life was - I was symptom free, worry free and knew nothing of these dreaded things that I now have to face.

I want my life back and I have to be an active party in that quest.

[Althea]

For me, it's not as simple as a single factor, and there's sort of a reflux "budget"--I may be able to "afford" less chocolate/caffeine (including tea) when I'm anxious, for instance. And once I go over what I can "afford" and the reflux kicks up, I have no budget at all for a while.

For me it seems to work kind of like breaking a habit, in that it's not just take pills, feel better, but take pills, change behavior, be patient, and eventually it settles down. I hope that's not daunting information for you to hear, as I know you'd like to feel better fast, and hopefully you will--I'm just saying that for me, I often hit a point where I'm convinced it will never get better but then eventually it always has, even if it's not as soon as I'd like.

[Spacedextra]

Althea - that's honest of you and that's all I could ask for. As much as I want what I have to disappear fast, if it takes time, it takes time. I'd happily give up tea (and I'm English!) chocolate and fast food and eat healthy forever, if it meant I was happy. For me, that's no sacrifice at all. It's easy.

How did your reflux come about?

[Althea]

Mine turned up in my 40s. I have microscopic colitis, and some of the medications may make reflux somewhat more likely, but there are plenty of people without colitis that have reflux too, and it was years after I started those medication that the reflux developed. I know there's some new thought there might be an autoimmune component to reflux, and I do have an autoimmune disorder (just thyroid disease, nothing dramatic); on the other hand, modern industrial diet, sedentary lifestyle, and getting older might have been enough right there. Mine isn't particularly painful, and it doesn't bother me at night, so that makes it much less problematic; every go-round I learn a little more about its strange little ways. Hopefully yours will stop being so intrusive very soon.

[Spacedextra]

Thanks Althea, I appreciate your responses.

I am convinced that if this can come on when I've been anxious - then I can rid myself of it with lifestyle changes. I refuse to live with it!

[Spacedextra]

Dear all,

I'm leaving this forum, indefinitely, today.

My journey has brought me to the diagnosis of LPR. It's quite mild and I wasn't prescribed any medication, but it's something I know I now have.

LPR is something that if not sorted, can become severe, or make life uncomfortable - and no surprises here - many of us with anxiety and stress develop it.

I know that spending time on here has been incredibly, incredibly useful. Everyone on here is wonderfully kind and patient and the advice they offer is so, so useful.

Having said that, in order to battle LPR and to battle health anxiety, I cannot frequent forums like this. They only serve to make me spiral and look more and more into negative things.

There are ways to beat conditions that we have. A strict diet, exercise and lifestyle changes can beat anything, mental or physical, providing you are dedicated enough and do not falter on your path to a healthy life.

You control your body. It does not control you. Volition. Choice. It's yours to struggle with.

If this comes across as over the top, forgive me - I'm only highlighting something that I myself have and am determined to beat.

I truly wish you all a speedy recovery from your maladies. Remember brothers and sisters, that it's in your hands. We just have to want it badly enough.

Fishmanpa - I hope you read this. You're someone on here who deserves a lot of credit. You're extremely kind and extremely brave. I don't think you'll find anyone on here who disagrees with me. I really wish you all the best. I KNOW you'll hit that 2 year mark, brother.

SpacedExtra, over and out.