Posted by James on April 03, 19103 at 10:11:27:
In Reply to: Re: Lump in throat posted by Jason on January 20, 19103 at 01:07:40:
Hello there.
I was particually interested by your post as you describe a lump around your adam's apple and I have a similar lump, I think. It is in the dead centre of my neck just between my adam's apple and the cartilage below. It is around the same consistency as the cartilage and around the size of a pea. Is this the same as your experience?
: Recently, around Xmas of '02, I got a sore throat from a co-worker. However, even after it went away, I felt this contstant "lump" around my adam's apple. At first it was just annoying, but after a couple of days, and then weeks of it not going away, it started to become frightening. I went to a doc twice, and both times they told me it was due to acid reflux and that I must have had throat ulcers. So they started me on some meds to reduce acid reflux, while I also took malox. However, not only did it not seem to work, but my throat then started becoming "sore" as opposed to just having this annoying/frightening feeling as if something was always stuck inside of it, as it also felt constricting like a tight sweater around my neck.
: I was constantly 100% aware of my throat at all times that I wasn't asleep. And even after awakening in the morning, within seconds I'd remember it and begin torchering myself over it thinking "what if it's cancer" since my grandmother died of throat cancer a few years ago. I was driving myself literally insane with this constant worrying. I am a 30 year old male in the u.s. air force, and more than once I found myself crying alone in the dark as I prayed for relief.
: A side note to all of this, around thanksgiving, a month before I started this sore throat feeling, I suffered my very first panic attack out of the blue one day. Since then I have had about a half dozen more, but as all of the great deal of stress I had been under subsided, so did my anxiety, thus I have recently began to feel normal again. But only until very recently within the past week or so. Also, for about the past year or more, I have been suffering from heartburn more and more often, I figure due to all the soda and spicey foods I love to devour.
: After finding this site, and after going through every other option it could be from cancer in my throat to just me going insane, I decided to give something a chance as a last resort, something I read here from another sufferer of this. I just tried to relax and believe that it was due to the stress. I know it sounds impossible, but for me, it has worked. That and the fact that I am taking prilosec to eliminate my acid reflux and I have eliminated all sodas and beer and most everything else that would eat away at the lining of my throat. But repairing ones throat lining doesn't happen overnight, and the soreness is still there, but each day now it becomes slightly less apparent as I think it is healing now. As for the lump, it has basically entirely gone away as I put my stress on hold and have really concentrated hard on enjoying each day. I still pray though, but I remember to take time out to laugh and enjoy life more. I spend more time working out and that makes me feel good about myself, thus reducing negative feelings about myself therefore decreasing stress. I totally buy into the idea of muscle spasms in my throat muscles now after firsthand witnessing the "lump" disappear with my focus on eliminating as much stress as I can and really really trying to not think about the lump. It took a few days of this concentration to make me start to feel the good results, but it was well worth the wait. Try it.
: Jason