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Thread: Lump in throat with discomfort

  1. #1

    Lump in throat with discomfort

    I have another thread regarding this issue but that is quite old now and so I thought I would make a new one with my updated problems.

    I have been suffering with my throat for over a year now, since last May. It all started when I kept feeling a lump sensation in my throat when swallowing. This was my only symptom at the time, and, after several misdiagnosis' including Thrush and Tonsilitis, I went to see an ENT specialist last August. He performed an endoscopy, and diagnosed me with Globus Hystericus. He gave me treatment which I took over the coming months but it did not work. Then, around December time, the lump feeling moved slightly to my right side, but again I had no other symptoms. Then in January I felt what I am sure is a lump on the right side of my throat, directly where this lump sensation is. I went to my GP and he dismissed it, saying it is nothing. Then, in the next few weeks, I am sure that this lump grew. I went back to my GP and he ADMITTED that it felt bigger, and sent me for an urgent gastroscopy (presumably to check for acid reflux) as well as a full neck ultrasound. Now, the gastroscopy did find a hiatus hernia, but no mention of actual acid reflux in the report. The ultrasound was the test I was most worried about, but this came back clear. I even showed the person performing it the lump, and he went over and over it, and just said it is part of my thyroid cartridge. My symptoms though are getting worse and worse since these tests. I have now started getting chest pains when I stretch my neck or look up, and the front of my neck has also started aching when I look up. Also, when I look over my left shoulder, I get an aching right where this lump is, like it is pressing against the skin.

    I was diagnosed with acid reflux coupled with anxiety but acid reflux would not cause a lump, and why hasn't the treatment worked at all?

    Attached to this post I have 2 photos which I have taken of this lump. Now, you guys are probably going to say that it just looks like my Adam's apple, but the problem is, if I put my finger on the head of this lump, it feels like it is just to the right of my Adam's apple. Also I am sure this lump is still growing because a few months ago it was hard to get a picture of but tonight I got 2 straight away.

    I went to see a thyroid specialist yesterday and they just felt my neck and said they couldn't feel anything of worry. They admitted that I had a lump on one side but just said that it feels like my windpipe bone or something is asymmetrical on one side. Thing is though, this lump moves up and down with my Adam's apple when I swallow, so how can it be part of my windpipe? I mentioned the discomfort on right side when swallowing and also these chest pains and the specialist just sort of shrugged them off.


    I have several questions though.
    -If this is nothing of worry, why do I have an uncomfortable feeling when swallow DIRECTLY where the lump is? (and before anybody says it is anxiety, I started getting the discomfort first, and THEN felt the lump).
    -If the chest pains are unrelated, why do I only get them when I stretch my neck?
    -Why did my GP admit that this lump had grown, after first turning me away?
    -Why has months of treatment for acid reflux not worked, if the specialists are so sure this is what it is?

    Also on a side note I did have 80lbs weight loss between early 2015 and around March this year, but this has tailed off and I haven't really lost any more since.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  2. #2
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    Re: Lump in throat with discomfort

    I responded several times on the other thread.

    I guess the only question I have is why are you posting here if you're so convinced it's a real physical issue? If you're that convinced, collect all your records and test results and get a 2nd opinion.

    Positive thoughts
    __________________
    "Eat. Drink. Enjoy the work you do. Be thankful for the blessings God gives you in this life. Live, love and seek out the things that bring your heart joy. The rest is meaningless... Like chasing the wind." King Solomon

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  3. #3

    Re: Lump in throat with discomfort

    Quote Originally Posted by Fishmanpa View Post
    I responded several times on the other thread.

    I guess the only question I have is why are you posting here if you're so convinced it's a real physical issue?

    Positive thoughts
    Im not just posting on here, I am posting on several different forums (cancer forums, neck forums, etc) to get a wide range of views from people of different knowledges.

    I know this forum is mainly for anxiety, but surely somebody like me who has wrongly being accused of anxiety can come along and share my problems.

    I mean come on, just look at them photos I have attached. If you had an opbvious lump like that in your neck that has grown since last year and is causing discomfort surely you wouldn't just let a specialist fob you off with anxiety rubbish just because 'some test didn't show anything'.

    EIGHT ****ING MONTHS AGO I COULD SHAVE NO PROBLEM. NOW WHEN I SHAVE I KEEP CATHCING THIS LUMP WITH MY SHAVER. I COULD TELL THAT TO A ****ING DOG AND HE WOULD UNDERSTAND THAT THE LUMP MUST OBVIOUSLY HAVE GROWN, YET DOCTORS SEEMS TOO THICK TO UNDERSTAND. I mean, why didn't I become a doctor? I have no qualifications but hey, it can't be that hard to just blindly feel somebody's neck and then come up with a vague diagnosis like 'anxiety'. THERES A PHYSICAL ****ING LUMP. Me going to the doctors with a physical lump and being told I have anxiety is like somebody going in with their leg snapped in 2 and excruciating pain, just to be told 'nah mate, anxiety is causing your leg pain'.

  4. #4
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    Re: Lump in throat with discomfort

    All I know is I'm a Head and Neck cancer survivor. I've been there and done that. In the year since you first discovered this, it would have grown substantially and you would be ill. Tests, scans, etc. would have shown something. Like I said, collect all your records and results and seek a 2nd opinion if you feel this is a serious physical issue.

    One more thing. Please don't post on cancer forums. It's disrespectful to those who actually are dealing with it. If indeed it turns out to be, then by all means but until then?....

    I wish you the best Sam.

    Good luck and positive thoughts
    Last edited by Fishmanpa; 05-07-16 at 22:22.
    __________________
    "Eat. Drink. Enjoy the work you do. Be thankful for the blessings God gives you in this life. Live, love and seek out the things that bring your heart joy. The rest is meaningless... Like chasing the wind." King Solomon

    The best help is the help you give yourself! http://cbt4panic.org/

  5. #5

    Re: Lump in throat with discomfort

    Quote Originally Posted by Fishmanpa View Post
    All I know is I'm a Head and Neck cancer survivor. I've been there and done that. In the year since you first discovered this, it would have grown. Tests, scans, etc. would have shown something. Like I said, collect all your records and results and seek a 2nd opinion if you feel this is a serious physical issue.

    One more thing. Please don't post on cancer forums. It's disrespectful to those who actually are dealing with it. If indeed it turns out to be, then by all means but until then?....

    I wish you the best Sam.

    Good luck and positive thoughts
    Just look at the photos I attached. That lump has grown. Even my GP admitted as much. And like I said, 8 months ago I couldn't feel it at all when shaving, now it gets in the way. And how do I seek a 2nd opinion when no GP will listen to me and all specialists disregard my problems. The only option is to pay private again.

    Also you say that tests and scans would have shown it. First of all I've only really had 3 tests (ultrasound, endoscopy, and blood tests). Now I have seen MANY MANY people say that blood tests can show ok with cancer, so they can't be trusted. Again with the endoscopy, I trust the test, BUT would that show something on the Adam's apple or thyroid? Surely that would only show something on the inside of your throat. The ultrasound is the one test that is keeping me somewhat positive, but I'm sure there have been cases in the past where that has been wrong. Also you've just said your self 'if indeed it turns out to be'. So even you still must think there's a chance, even after the tests, that it could still be cancer. How then, am I supposed to just keep calm and trust the tests when I have worsening symptoms and a noticable lump?

    Posting on as many forums as I can increases the chances of getting better answers. Somebody on the cancer forum may have had similar symptoms to me and could tell me not to just listen to the doctors, and keep pushing for more tests. Also the cancer forum I am posting in has a specific sub-forum called 'Pre-diagnosis, signs & symptoms', so obviously they are quite happy to let people post before diagnosis.

    I am not the one being disrespectful. The disrespectful ones are the doctors who could well have let a cancer develop in my neck for a year now because they don't listen to me.
    Last edited by SamL94; 05-07-16 at 22:42.

  6. #6
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    Re: Lump in throat with discomfort

    Ok.... You get a 2nd opinion by requesting all your records and test results. It was as simple as asking for me. As far as getting a 2nd opinion. That may be more difficult for you in the UK and you may have to go private. For me, since I was diagnosed with cancer, it was as easy as a phone call to a CCC (Certified Cancer Center), transferring my records and such and boom! The thing is, despite your beliefs and personal opinions of the medical profession, you've been given a clean bill of health.

    Having checked out the forum you're participating in, I found a rather interesting response (among others from cancer sufferers (some terminal!) and survivors who took time out their lives to reassure you as I have) that echos mine.

    "I see you are still worried about your situation, even after having all your tests and scans, some that you've paid for privately and with every health professional telling you that you don't have cancer. You do have an illness it is called hypochondria (health anxiety) and you need to get help for it, you also need to seek out a forum where you can discuss your illness with others who share your illness and understand how you feel and can suggest ways to deal with it (this forum is just the place!). Discuss this with your GP and see if you can get referred for a course of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy to try and break the endless loop you find yourself trapped in. Several months ago you had lost 80 lbs as a result of your diet, I see its still 80 lbs so you are not losing any more weight, a sure sign you dont have cancer.... "


    A moderator on the same thread the previous post came from suggested the same thing I did about a 2nd opinion...

    "If you're worried you're still having symptoms after having the tests then you could go back but maybe this time you could try and see a different GP and mention everything you've said here; so tell them about the tests you've had already as well as the worries you have about your weight loss and the lump in your neck. By doing this you can get a second opinion and see if they agree or disagree with your other GP about the symptoms being caused by anxiety, stress and acid reflux."

    And I reiterate it's disrespectful to be posting on cancer forums when you don't have cancer. On the forums I am/was part of, I've seen many HA sufferers. In fact it was this very thing that led me here as I followed a poster to this site. You're just going to get yourself banned if you continue posting there I assure you!

    Good luck Sam. I hope you find the answers you seek and I hope you find it within yourself to accept and treat the illness you do have. I hope not to see you on the H&N cancer forums.

    Positive thoughts
    Last edited by Fishmanpa; 06-07-16 at 18:25.
    __________________
    "Eat. Drink. Enjoy the work you do. Be thankful for the blessings God gives you in this life. Live, love and seek out the things that bring your heart joy. The rest is meaningless... Like chasing the wind." King Solomon

    The best help is the help you give yourself! http://cbt4panic.org/

  7. #7

    Re: Lump in throat with discomfort

    Quote Originally Posted by Fishmanpa View Post
    Ok.... You get a 2nd opinion by requesting all your records and test results. It was as simple as asking for me. As far as getting a 2nd opinion. That may be more difficult for you in the UK and you may have to go private. For me, since I was diagnosed with cancer, it was as easy as a phone call to a CCC (Certified Cancer Center), transferring my records and such and boom! The thing is, despite your beliefs and personal opinions of the medical profession, you've been given a clean bill of health.

    Having checked out the forum you're participating in, I found a rather interesting response (among others from cancer sufferers (some terminal!) and survivors who took time out their lives to reassure you as I have) that echos mine.

    "I see you are still worried about your situation, even after having all your tests and scans, some that you've paid for privately and with every health professional telling you that you don't have cancer. You do have an illness it is called hypochondria (health anxiety) and you need to get help for it, you also need to seek out a forum where you can discuss your illness with others who share your illness and understand how you feel and can suggest ways to deal with it (this forum is just the place!). Discuss this with your GP and see if you can get referred for a course of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy to try and break the endless loop you find yourself trapped in. Several months ago you had lost 80 lbs as a result of your diet, I see its still 80 lbs so you are not losing any more weight, a sure sign you dont have cancer.... "


    A moderator on the same thread the previous post came from suggested the same thing I did about a 2nd opinion...

    "If you're worried you're still having symptoms after having the tests then you could go back but maybe this time you could try and see a different GP and mention everything you've said here; so tell them about the tests you've had already as well as the worries you have about your weight loss and the lump in your neck. By doing this you can get a second opinion and see if they agree or disagree with your other GP about the symptoms being caused by anxiety, stress and acid reflux."

    And I reiterate it's disrespectful to be posting on cancer forums when you don't have cancer. On the forums I am/was part of, I've seen many HA sufferers. In fact it was this very thing that led me here as I followed a poster to this site. You're just going to get yourself banned if you continue posting there I assure you!

    Good luck Sam. I hope you find the answers you seek and I hope you find it within yourself to accept and treat the illness you do have. I hope not to see you on the H&N cancer forums.

    Positive thoughts
    I understand everything you are saying I really do, and I'm not coming here and saying that I definately have cancer. All I'm saying is that, in my eyes, there is still a chance with the symptoms I have, and I really cannot just go down the route of 'I've been given the all clear so I'll forget about it' because then in a years time if the doctors are wrong (which does happen on the odd occasion) I could be left with worse symptoms and a terminal cancer, all because it's been left.

    I have 2 questions which nobody can seem to answer for me. If you or a doctor or ANYBODY could anywhere these questions then ok, but I think these 2 things still prove I don't have health anxiety.
    1st question- Remember that I started getting this discomfort when swallowing first, and THEN found the lump when checking my neck. Now, if I felt this lump first and then suddenly started getting symptoms, I would understand why people would say that I have anxiety. But I started getting the symptoms FIRST, before finding this lump. I only felt this lump earlier on this year, but I have had this discomfort when swallow for over a year now.
    2nd question- Why does this lump feel bigger than it did a few months ago? Like I say, a few months ago I could shave ok, but now when I shave I keep catching this lump. This isn't just anxiety, I can physically feel my shaver catching this lump, something which didn't happen a few months ago. I told this to my GP and he just said that, because of my weight loss, my neck feels more prominent. Now ok, that sounds fair enough, but I would say that since probably December last year I have only lost around 10-15lbs at most. I don't think losing that would suddenly make a lump go from not being felt when shaving, to being really prominent. 10-15lbs wouldn't probably only take a few mm's off your neck.

    Go on, I'd like to see you have a go answering these two questions, because no doctor can seem to.

    Also, again sorry if I'm coming across as offensive. The last thing I would want to do is cause offence to anybody suffering cancer, but surely if a cancer forum has a specific sub-forum dedicated to pre-diagnosis and symptoms then it should be fine.

  8. #8
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    Re: Lump in throat with discomfort

    Quote Originally Posted by SamL94 View Post
    Also, again sorry if I'm coming across as offensive. The last thing I would want to do is cause offence to anybody suffering cancer, but surely if a cancer forum has a specific sub-forum dedicated to pre-diagnosis and symptoms then it should be fine.
    I'm done Sam. In my eyes it is offensive to post on a cancer forum when you've been diagnosed with anxiety and reflux. Your blatant blindness caused by your anxiety is truly sad. Physical (and normal) anomalies are common. You have a bump on your neck. I have a lipoma on my back, the guy over there has a lazy eye etc. It's part of being human.

    When a board moderator and other members of a "cancer" forum are basically saying "get a life" it's time to look in the mirror!

    Good luck and as always

    Positive thoughts

    Ohhh and to answer your questions?
    #1 GLOBUS/REFLUX
    #2 Skewed perception due to anxiety disorder and swelling from the constant poking and prodding!
    Last edited by Fishmanpa; 06-07-16 at 23:51.
    __________________
    "Eat. Drink. Enjoy the work you do. Be thankful for the blessings God gives you in this life. Live, love and seek out the things that bring your heart joy. The rest is meaningless... Like chasing the wind." King Solomon

    The best help is the help you give yourself! http://cbt4panic.org/

  9. #9

    Re: Lump in throat with discomfort

    Quote Originally Posted by Fishmanpa View Post
    I'm done Sam. In my eyes it is offensive to post on a cancer forum when you've been diagnosed with anxiety and reflux. Your blatant blindness caused by your anxiety is truly sad. Physical (and normal) anomalies are common. You have a bump on your neck. I have a lipoma on my back, the guy over there has a lazy eye etc. It's part of being human.

    When a board moderator and other members of a "cancer" forum are basically saying "get a life" it's time to look in the mirror!

    Good luck and as always

    Positive thoughts

    Ohhh and to answer your questions?
    #1 GLOBUS/REFLUX
    #2 Skewed perception due to anxiety disorder and swelling from the constant poking and prodding!
    It's ok then. I won't post my symptoms online. I wouldn't show concern about my symptoms. I won't mention them at all and just let them get worse and worse just in case I 'offend' someone. Instead of moaning at me for being offensive don't you think it would be wiser to contact the Cancer forum and tell them to remove their 'pre-diagnosis' sub-forum, as it is not just me posting in there.

    I have read about plenty of people who had test after test which showed nothing, only to then be diagnosed with cancer when it was too late. Now, I know that this is a low percentage of cases, and I am not coming here and saying I am definitely one of these people. But it sickens me that they will have got the same ridicule that I am currently getting. I have had constant jokes about this lump, such as people, like you said, telling me to 'get a life' and mates asking me how my 'pretend tumour' is. It sickens me that these people would have been subject to the same ridicule. It disgusts me that these people will have being made to think that they were going crazy with anxiety, when in fact they were the only ones that were right.

    It's easy for you and anybody else to just blindly say there is nothing wrong with me, but again, I bet the people I mentioned above were told the same thing.

    There is a difference to having an abnormality, and having an abnormality coupled with discomfort right where that abnormality is.

    This is my LIFE we are talking about here. The bullshit about 'tests are only wrong in a small number of cases blah blah blah' doesn't wash with me. Even if it's only 1% of cases, I am not chancing my life like that.

    Give me one GOOD reason as to why I could not turn out to be like the other people who were told they don't have cancer, only to be later diagnosed. And like I say 'it's only a small number of cases' is not a good reason.

    In response to your answers:
    1. Yes, globus and reflux could cause the discomfort, but it's funny how the discomfort is just on my right side, exactly where this lump is. And again, I had the discomfort before finding the lump.
    2. It's not a skewed perception. The lump clearly gets in the way when I shave, and it didn't as few months ago. That's not me being bias, or paranoid. That's the truth. And I don't even poke and prod it that much. In fact a while ago I went like 5 weeks without touching it once, yet still no change.
    Sorry to say but your answers are just as flawed as the ones the doctors are giving me. The fact I can counter argue them both shows that.

    Look, I'm not coming here and saying I disagree with you. I could well have acid reflux and anxiety, I'm not disputing that. But in my eyes I could also have cancer, even if the possibility is low. And I can't take that chance. I've booked to go to my GP again on Monday and I'm going to ask to go private to get another scan and certainly a biopsy.

  10. #10
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    Re: Lump in throat with discomfort

    Sam, sweetheart, please don't think I'm mocking you because I promise you I am not. But my heart breaks for you because, as a fellow/recovering health anxiety sufferer (who has also recovered from severe OCD and BDD) I can recognise severe anxiety in you. I'm attempting to talk gently (even though this is online!) as I have also been where you are. I have been so angry at everyone around me (hurtling insults at my family, ignoring my friends, arguing with my partner) because they just wouldn't GET that my problems were real. They were very real indeed, but the problems were mainly in mind, but I can only see that now.

    Your problems are real because they are real to you. Anxiety/mental health disorders are chemical imbalances in the brain and that very imbalance causes the very same worries and obsessions that you are feeling, plus the tunnel vision of research and seeking an answer that doesn't exist. It's like someone who has 100 plastic surgeries yet still isn't attractive enough in their own mind. They seek and seek further surgeries, ignoring the affirmations from others that it is not needed, because they too are ill and have a chemical imbalance in their brain causing these obsessions. It's not actually their fault! Unfortunately, we cannot just snap out of it, and people innocently telling us not to worry doesn't work, otherwise we all would have done that by now!! Sadly, people then get angry at us, and it is this that fuels the stigma of mental health. No, we cannot just rationalise it that easily... That's because it's a bloody illness and not a mere bad mood...

    However, we CAN feel better. And isn't that what you want? To feel better? The way to feel better is through help with a suitable therapist and possibly medication. It takes time but, my God, it gives you your life back in ways you never thought possible. I know you have a lump, but numerous tests have told you it is harmless. It really is ok to have weird lumps and bumps in the body quite harmlessly. Specialists have told me this! But I know you are currently in the 'forest' of anxiety, and that is why you can't see this, my love.

    I speak to you from someone who has been where you are right now. I know you are desperately hurting and tormented by your worries. It is hell! But please, when you see your GP, please ask for a referral to a therapist. Or if you can afford it, seek one privately. I recognise your symptoms so clearly, and I only wish you well.

    Good luck to you. xx

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