Painful neck/throat for 3 months

[Dawnexe]

Hi everyone
So at the start of December I came down with a really bad bout of flu. I hadnÂ’t had flu for years but this one floored me. I was really unwell with a high temperature for 5 days and had diarrhoea and nausea the whole time. I continued to have diarrhoea for a couple of weeks after this. I went back to work after a week but it took me about 6 weeks to feel more normal. One of the symptoms of the flu was a really tender neck like my glands were tender. I just put this down to the flu and other people I spoke to hand had neck issues with this particular strain of flu.

however my neck has never fully recovered. I keep getting pain on one side about 2 finger widths down from my jaw. It feels like someone is constantly pushing on my throat. The pain however is only 3-4 out of 10 and never more than this. I also have discomfort in what feels like the tube that goes between ear and throat as if itÂ’s blocked. I had my ears microsuctioned but this didnÂ’t help. My anxiety is once again through the roof with this constant irritation pain. Sometimes the front of my to throat hurts too. My throat doesnÂ’t feel sore inside but I do occasionally get the feeling of a lump when I swallow.

i finally saw my gp who fobbed me off for another 2 weeks. Then when I went back he said heÂ’d refer me for a 2 week wait appt. He then forgot to do this so I ended up being sen privately. The ent consultant did all the checks and says I have not lymph nodes or swellings. Everything looks fine. She then did a nasendoscole. She said all was fine apart from my tongue base looked slightly bulkier on one side which may be nothing but she wants to do an MRI to be sure. im
now panicking. I feel sick with worry. My appt is next Weds which was pretty quick which worried me even more that they have me in quick. IÂ’m now hyper focusing on my symptoms and can feel them constantly and now think I can feel my tongue feels weird on that side so am focusing on that. I didnÂ’t even think about my tongue before IÂ’m so worried they are going to pick up some kind of tumour. IÂ’ve still got the feeling in my ear too. I have never smoked and donÂ’t drink alcohol. But I am so worried.

[Anglo]

I'm sorry to hear you were so ill and the horrible things you're experiencing since. It sounds like all those flus you missed out on all came at you at once!

To help reassure you over the speed of the MRI (funny how when the NHS actually works quick it makes us suspicious, right? haha), my appointment for an MRI on my knee was very fast too. There wasn't even a concern of anything serious, for some reason it just happened quick. Maybe that's normal for MRIs? Would it be a good idea to be reassured that you're going to get your results quickly (therefore less time to worry) rather than the haste being a negative thing?

The fact you're only focussing on your tongue now you've been given a reason to focus on it is also worth remembering. It's like when you complain of something in the morning, forget about it in the day, then someone asks you about it in the evening and suddenly the symptom returns.

Find calm in the lack of worry from the doctors for now, and try not to get yourself worked up over any "what ifs" regarding the MRI. I hope you have a good weekend and I'm sure you'll give us an update next week.

[Dawnexe]

Thank you for your kind reply. I can sometimes rationalise it in my head but other times I just spiral and cannot function. I had originally been told by the radiology dept that an urgent was 4-5 weeks wait. I had rang on Monday to check they’d got the referral.
so after getting a phone call asking me to attend next week threw me off. I had sort of parked it in my head thinking I was going to have to wait 4-5 weeks so it came
as a shock. I am grateful to be getting it done soon though but now the worries start of what if they find a tumour.
I always think the worst and now I’m older it’s worse than ever. I tend to think it’s only a matter of time before something gets me !
thanks for your positive words though. Xx

[Anglo]

You're very welcome, it sounds like you're in slightly better spirits already. That's great.

It's very easy to spiral when we're already vulnerable from things getting us down, like an illness that we just can't seem to shake. I'm looking forward to hearing positive news from you in the next week or so and this can be another thing you tick off as "worried for no reason", even if that reason is an understandable one.

When it comes to an aging body, it's all about perspective. Just like an old car, it gets rickety and takes a bit longer to wake up and maybe it even needs a few spare parts over the years... but the fact we're able to moan and groan and worry about it is really a blessing. That's what I like to remind myself of anyway. xx