Sore throat for months and now chest pain. Does this sound like a spreading cancer?

[SamL94]

After all the tests and appointments you have had, have you really thought why that is?

Positive thoughts

But I've only really had 1 test which was the ultrasound (I'm not counting the camera I had down my throat last August because that was before I found this lump).

It's like today I was at college and I was sat at the front of the class so I was having to look up at a bit of an angle to see the whiteboard. When looking up like this the front of my throat, like around the adams apple, was really aching and hurting to the point where I couldn't hold that position for long. Also holding my neck like this causes chest pains, as does looking to the side. I'm sorry but something is seriously wrong here.


And anxiety, like I've said many times, does not explain the growing lump in my throat. Like I say I only used to be able to feel it on my right side (I ALWAYS made sure of that so I could stress to people it was just on one side). But now I am starting to feel this lump on my left side as well, which obviously means it is growing.

I am still really really scared but I just know my GP will give me no more appointments. Which means I will have to go private. But apparently that can be a few hundreds just to see a consultant, and if you want scans or cameras it can run in to the thousands. As a young person I simply cannot afford this, but if it's either this or dying then I'll have to use my savings.

[Fishmanpa]

I was discharged from the Thyroid unit and also the ENT unit. Also my GP is sick of me continuously going to him now and turned me away last time

If these medical professionals discharged you and you actually had a slow growing lump that was sinister, they could stand to lose their license to practice. I know had I been given the all clear, I would be jumping for joy

I hope you find some relief.

Good luck and as always

Positive thoughts

[SamL94]

If these medical professionals discharged you and you actually had a slow growing lump that was sinister, they could stand to lose their license to practice. I know had I been given the all clear, I would be jumping for joy

I hope you find some relief.

Good luck and as always

Positive thoughts

The reason the thyroid specialist discharged me was because I had the ultrasound and it came back clear. Now, I have no problem with that and am now confident that I don't have thyroid cancer.

I still have not had anything though to give me the all clear on THROAT cancer. The only test I have had recently was the ultrasound. Now, I understand that this test would pick up any lumps on your neck/thyroid, but I don't see how it would pick up lumps growing on the inside of your throat, which could be what is causing my sore throat and throat pains.

So apart from the ultrasound, which wouldn't necessarily pick up throat cancer, I have had no other recent tests. Therefore, how can I be reassured that I don't have throat cancer?

All the ENT specialist did last week was feel my neck and then diagnosed me with acid reflux. How does that even make sense? He even asked me if I had any problems such as reapeated belching and I said NO. How can somebody just feel your neck and then suddenly say you have acid reflux? How could he make that diagnosis just from feeling my neck? That makes absolutely no sense.

I will not be happy until I have either got rid of my symptoms, or until I have had a camera down my throat and a CT scan. But by the time I get either of those I'll be dead anyway.

Oh and guess what. The treatment I was given last Friday has, after a week of taking it, not made any difference. Surprise surprise.

[SamL94]

So have been on medication for 2 weeks now (omeprazole twice a day and Gaviscon 4 times a day) and there has still been no improvement. If anything my chest pains are becoming worse and I am becoming breathless even more.

Basically my symptoms in regards to my chest are that I feel breathless on and off throughout the day (not to the point where I am struggling to breathe, just a bit breathless), I am also getting chest pains, and my breathlessness/chest pains worsen when I look up, or to the side. Also, when I look directly up, the front of my throat aches, almost like there is something from inside pushing against it. Sometimes this is so bad that I actually struggle to look up.

Are these symptoms of acid reflux? Or is this starting to sound like something worse? I am still really worried about cancer because, like I said in my previous post, while I did have an ultrasound, I haven't actually had any tests to see inside my throat to rule out throat cancer. I know I saw the specialist but he didn't do any tests and, with my treatment not working, I am worried he misdiagnosed me.

[Greenman50]

Sam ......I totally understand how you feel and no amount of reasureance is going to stop you worrying .....you are stuck in a rut .

Most if not all of your symtyms are caused by anxiety .

I,ve been through Exactly the same with the sore throat it lasted 6 months and all the worry caused me to lose 4 stone in weight , caused globus and neck and chest pains so i convinced myself i had throat Cancer and every one had missed this .
I ended up every little sensation i blew out of proportion and made myself very ill

This worry lead to depression and a break down .

I only started feeling a little better after starting on anti depressants and keeping busy and getting out and about again .
I was also on lansoprazole and i can assure you they take months and months to work and your throat is very sensitive and takes ages to heal , try gargling with warm salt water this really helps .

Also mate look at the time scale .....i know someone who had throat cancer (now ok BTW ) but Doctors and the Hospital dont miss this .

Best wishes ......your fine

---------- Post added at 12:17 ---------- Previous post was at 12:06 ----------

Can i just pick up on this Sam ...

All the ENT specialist did last week was feel my neck and then diagnosed me with acid reflux. How does that even make sense? He even asked me if I had any problems such as reapeated belching and I said NO. How can somebody just feel your neck and then suddenly say you have acid reflux? How could he make that diagnosis just from feeling my neck? That makes absolutely no sense.


I would interpret this as the specialist felt your neck and FOUND NOTHING .
So he asked about the belching as the only thing it can be is ACID reflux .

[james1067]

This is similar to what happened to my grandfather. After countless medications, blood tests and two chest x-rays they gave him the all clear. However shortly after he developed a hoarse voice and worsening shortness of breath until he finally collapsed. They immediately performed an laryngoscopy (camera down throat) at the ER only to find advanced throat cancer. Unfortunately his diagnosis came to late. However most of your symptoms are not even remotely close to what he experienced. I witnessed this first hand.

Yes, there are limitations to each test and what may be picked up by one type of test may be invisible to another. If you fell you need to be re-tested to put your mind at ease then thats what you should do. Be cautious as anxiety can get the better of you and cause you to perceive the symptoms you fear of getting. I've been through this myself after I thought I had a intracranial neoplasm (brain cancer). Even to this day I suffer occasional panic attacks and find myself questioning the validity of the tests I had.

---------- Post added at 17:16 ---------- Previous post was at 16:41 ----------

Doctors and the Hospital dont miss this .

Unfortunately they can and sometimes do. Especially when diseases are in their early stage or mistaken for something else.

[SamL94]

This is similar to what happened to my grandfather. After countless medications, blood tests and two chest x-rays they gave him the all clear. However shortly after he developed a hoarse voice and worsening shortness of breath until he finally collapsed. They immediately performed an laryngoscopy (camera down throat) at the ER only to find advanced throat cancer. Unfortunately his diagnosis came to late. However most of your symptoms are not even remotely close to what he experienced. I witnessed this first hand.

Yes, there are limitations to each test and what may be picked up by one type of test may be invisible to another. If you fell you need to be re-tested to put your mind at ease then thats what you should do. Be cautious as anxiety can get the better of you and cause you to perceive the symptoms you fear of getting. I've been through this myself after I thought I had a intracranial neoplasm (brain cancer). Even to this day I suffer occasional panic attacks and find myself questioning the validity of the tests I had.

---------- Post added at 17:16 ---------- Previous post was at 16:41 ----------



Unfortunately they can and sometimes do. Especially when diseases are in their early stage or mistaken for something else.

Thank you for the reply and first of all, I'm sorry to hear about what happened to your grandfather.

Could I just ask, when you say that my symptoms are not even remotely close to his, what do you mean? Which symptoms did he have? Did he have trouble eating and drinking?

Also, how long after he first started getting problems was it before he started getting a hoarse voice, and collapsed?

---------- Post added at 20:50 ---------- Previous post was at 20:46 ----------

Sam ......I totally understand how you feel and no amount of reasureance is going to stop you worrying .....you are stuck in a rut .

Most if not all of your symtyms are caused by anxiety .

I,ve been through Exactly the same with the sore throat it lasted 6 months and all the worry caused me to lose 4 stone in weight , caused globus and neck and chest pains so i convinced myself i had throat Cancer and every one had missed this .
I ended up every little sensation i blew out of proportion and made myself very ill

This worry lead to depression and a break down .

I only started feeling a little better after starting on anti depressants and keeping busy and getting out and about again .
I was also on lansoprazole and i can assure you they take months and months to work and your throat is very sensitive and takes ages to heal , try gargling with warm salt water this really helps .

Also mate look at the time scale .....i know someone who had throat cancer (now ok BTW ) but Doctors and the Hospital dont miss this .

Best wishes ......your fine

---------- Post added at 12:17 ---------- Previous post was at 12:06 ----------

Can i just pick up on this Sam ...

All the ENT specialist did last week was feel my neck and then diagnosed me with acid reflux. How does that even make sense? He even asked me if I had any problems such as reapeated belching and I said NO. How can somebody just feel your neck and then suddenly say you have acid reflux? How could he make that diagnosis just from feeling my neck? That makes absolutely no sense.


I would interpret this as the specialist felt your neck and FOUND NOTHING .
So he asked about the belching as the only thing it can be is ACID reflux .

Thank you for the reply.

I totally understand where you're coming from but it's always difficult to think that physical pains I am feeling could be caused by anxiety. Plus one of the things that it making me think I don't have anxiety is this growing lump (which even my GP said felt bigger).

Regarding the ENT specialist, yes he felt the outside of my neck and obviously didn't feel anything worrying, but what if I have a form of Esophageal cancer growing on the inside of my throat, that cannot be felt on the outside?

---------- Post added at 22:04 ---------- Previous post was at 20:50 ----------

Also I cannot stop losing weight which is also a huge concern. I have lot another 11.5lbs since mid February, eventhough I stopped my diet at the beginning of this year.

I haven't gone back to eating like I was a year ago but I am now having around 2,000 calories a day so I should not be losing that much. I do on average 13,000 steps a day in exercise but nothing apart from that.

I know a couple of you have said that weight loss can be caused by worrying but honestly, as much as it might seem hard to believe based on what I have posted on here, I wouldn't say that I am worrying enough to lose this weight. These problems are always in the back of my mind but I wouldn't say I'm fretting enough to lose weight because of it.

This weight loss is a further sign that something is not right.

I think I have made the decision that I am going to book an appointment with my GP tomorrow and go private, no matter how much it costs.

[Fishmanpa]

This is similar to what happened to my grandfather. After countless medications, blood tests and two chest x-rays they gave him the all clear. However shortly after he developed a hoarse voice and worsening shortness of breath until he finally collapsed. They immediately performed an laryngoscopy (camera down throat) at the ER only to find advanced throat cancer. Unfortunately his diagnosis came to late. However most of your symptoms are not even remotely close to what he experienced. I witnessed this first hand.

Yes, there are limitations to each test and what may be picked up by one type of test may be invisible to another. If you fell you need to be re-tested to put your mind at ease then thats what you should do. Be cautious as anxiety can get the better of you and cause you to perceive the symptoms you fear of getting. I've been through this myself after I thought I had a intracranial neoplasm (brain cancer). Even to this day I suffer occasional panic attacks and find myself questioning the validity of the tests I had.

---------- Post added at 17:16 ---------- Previous post was at 16:41 ----------



Unfortunately they can and sometimes do. Especially when diseases are in their early stage or mistaken for something else.

Way to feed the beast!

Positive thoughts

[james1067]

It started with shortness of breath and difficulty swallowing and drinking. 4 months later he developed a very loud wheezing sound when breathing and a very hoarse voice (something that is very obvious and can't be missed). He never had chest pains or lumps at the side of his throat in the beginning. It got to the point where we was choking on everything he ate or drank and struggling to breath. The doctors insisted on further testing however he was too scared to have invasive tests like cameras down the throat. He would lie every time he went to the doctors and refuse to accept it was anything other than a cold or flu. The shortness of breath and wheezing got so severe he collapsed as he couldn't breath.

[Fishmanpa]

So they didn't miss it. A blood test and chest x-ray wouldn't pick up throat cancer. Endoscopy, CT scans and MRIs would show something. Unfortunately he apparently was in denial, lied about the severity of his symptoms and refused further testing! Truly sorry to hear about your grandfather. As a H&N cancer survivor, I know how nasty the beast is.

Positive thoughts