Feels like there's something in my throat

I just finished reading all of your articles. I have these same signs and symptoms and I have been going though antibiotics to treat them. However, I am a smoker and it has really began to bother me about the potential for having cancer of the throat. I don't know how I can possibly get a response from a person who is living with throat cancer, but I just wanted some early signs/symptoms to look out for. If there is anyone with a diagnosis of throat cancer out there who reads this, can you please respond back with the first signs that you had regarding it. I don't have insurance to go to the doctor like I am suppose to, so I am just looking for explanations on what I need to be on the look out for. My symptoms are the following: enlarged lymph nodes, pain and swelling in the throat (upper palate, down in my esophagus, and middle of neck). It has been going on for about a week now. I can't hardly swallow it hurts soooo bad. It is red/pink in the back area. I don't have very good gag reflex. I can actually touch my tonsils without even gagging. I sometimes get these white particles of nasty, foul smelling soft debris from within this area. I gargle and rinse with mouthwash because I feel self conscious on my breath. I feel that it's hard to swallow foods down, but cold and hot fluids make it feel better, momentarily. If any of you have advice on this, please let me know. Thanks.
A.C NC

well I just got back form the doctor about this. He said it was acid reflux. So I will try the pills and see what happens. By the way it is worth going to a doctor about this acondia.

I was worried that it might be cancer of the throat or thyroid. But a quick examination has put my mind at ease. I suggest you do the same as ignoring the problem wont make it go away

enlarged or prominent circumvallate papillae. relatively normal, by all accounts harmless. really annoying though. evidently they go away on their own.

I know how you all feel, I have had this same feeling for months, my doctor told me I had acid reflux. He told me to lay off caffeine and to drink more water. He prescribed prevacid, it worked for awhile then I did feel better so I foolishly stopped taking it. It's back. I plan to start tking the prescription again however, until I do, here are a few things that offer some relief. I have found that if I work out on the treadmill for about 30 mins I do get some relief, also I gargle with listerine 2x a day. I let the listerine go way back in my throat before I spit it out. Clear mucous come from my throat when I do this. I hope this helps someone, because I know how annoying this feeling can be.

I have read everything. You guys are lost! I am still lost this problem stated for me 5 years ago. That's how I know it can't be cancer. It comes and goes. I am a smoker, but i've always been an athlethe. i'm not the best speller so bear with me. I didn't have insurance for three years so I went to charity clinics. For me it started with a small pain between my shoulder blades. My dr. at that time said it was a mucas pocet on the outside of my lungs. Whenever I worked-out alot itn went away. Thru the years it got worst. I was so afariad it was cancer. Then i got insurance, I got chest E-rays. Nothing ever showed up. Suddenly I got this huge lump on the left side of my neck! My Dr. ordered a cat-scan. It appeared to be a mass!! He wanted me to get it cut out right away! He refered me to an E.N.T. The ent didn't take it so serieous. He orded me nose sprays and anti-botics, The Ent did a tonsil removal the lump has gone down but it's not gone. He wants to do a sinus sugery, he has told me from day one that my problem is mis-dricted mucas. I'm scheduled for surgery in Aguast. I find when things get at bad the best remedey is a bottle of merlow. It seems to break-up the mucas. I think it's a combo of stess and miss-guided mucas.[/url]

I just found this thread,.. i am a diabetic and just spent 2 days in the hospital for high blood sugars. I just started experiencing a throat irritation that started about ten minutes ago, which is why i looked this up. it started like a small irritation, much like when you eat popcorn and the little bits get stuck to your tonsils. it has now progressed and it feels like there's a coating on the inside of the right side of my throat. it's a numb kind of feeling, and it's like there's something there that i can't swallow. my breathing is okay, i can swallow well,.. but it's almost like half of my throat is swelling or something,.. if anyone can help me out or offer any suggestions, please let me know.

thanks a lot.

**edited by moderator**

yep...I totally agree..



I have same symtoms too...but rather than saying that its food..it feels more like there is a tiny piece of stick stuck there..its really annoying..cos..it feels like stabbing pain..i'll go to see doctor tomorrow..its happening more frequently..

Hi, i'm a 25 yr old female, in my last year of my postgrad studies. From about last week, i started feeling like i had a sore throat, slightly lumpy. I also have asthma, so thought that as it has turned cold, i was just getting a normal sore throat/cold infection. However, i dont have other cold symptoms, and my asthma is fine, no wheezing. I thought then, maybe it was something stuck in my throat. But, last night, i kept swallowing many times, and the 'lump' appeared to go, as though it was just muscus perhaps, but soon after it returned again. After reading all the posts, i am not sure what this is. I have been under some stress, and quite an emotional person, so could it be due to this? Or is it something more serious? It's not meningitis as i have had none of the sypmotoms. Is it something very serious? Should I bother my doctor with this?

Please help as I am getting very worried and scared about this.

Thank you for your time.

Hi, i'm a 25 yr old female, in my last year of my postgrad studies. From about last week, i started feeling like i had a sore throat, slightly lumpy. I also have asthma, so thought that as it has turned cold, i was just getting a normal sore throat/cold infection. However, i dont have other cold symptoms, and my asthma is fine, no wheezing. I thought then, maybe it was something stuck in my throat. But, last night, i kept swallowing many times, and the 'lump' appeared to go, as though it was just muscus perhaps, but soon after it returned again. After reading all the posts, i am not sure what this is. I have been under some stress, and quite an emotional person, so could it be due to this? Or is it something more serious? It's not meningitis as i have had none of the sypmotoms. Is it something very serious? Should I bother my doctor with this?

Please help as I am getting very worried and scared about this.

If that person was a doctor he would know the word is inflammed, beginning with i and not enflamed, beginning with e. Inflammation is something every doctor in every field would come across and that is a basic word he would know how to spell.

Yeh I agree, plus he couldn't spell meningitis or immediately! I am having the same problem-with feeling something stuck in my throat-my husband thinks it's stress induced, but I'm kinda starting to freak out.

hey I have read those about this throat thing, what is it? I dont see any answers. I have the very same thing as the first, I have has a scope down my throat, I have biopsys. I have a light scope that goes from the nose to the throat, I have taken steroids , I have taken histmines, and recent i had a ct scan of the throat. :'( they said I have nodules in there, but wait 8 weeks but good gosh! how long does it take to get some relief. no one as of yet has actually given me solid reason or what to do about this. It is very disturbing , you cant sleep thinking you might choke to death. ok Drs wake up.. do something. no answers yet.

Ok, folks, I've joined your "club" here!

Since October, I've had the same irritating feeling in the right side of my throat. Best I can tell, it's coming from an area perhaps behind the lymph node.

I've been to my family doctor, who could not find anything upon examining me and sending me for blood tests. He then sent me to an ENT specialist, who did a scope exam of my throat. Nothing found. I pressed him to do something more (to rule out my primary concern of anything cancerous), and so he sent me for x-rays of my chest and throat. They apparently came back fine. He suggested that I make an appointment to go back and speak with him about "acid reflux", but as yet I haven't bothered. I plan on speaking with my family physician again soon to follow up.

The specialist told me that the lymph node on my right side (where the feeling in my throat is) is slightly swollen/bigger than the other side. He said there was no sign of infection, and believed it was likely just due to differences in symmetry in my body.

I find that the right side of my throat often feels tight, and the area from which the feeling seems to originate can sometimes be a little achy/sore.

The sensation is not always there, but usually is somewhere between barely noticeable and QUITE noticeable. Seems to be lesser in the morning, and more severe as the day and evening goes on.

I'm sharing in all of your frustrations with regards to the lack of any diagnosis, and the general attitude to "come back and see me if it's still there in 6 months". After all, if it were anything serious, I'd like an ample amount of time to fight it as best I can.

There MUST be a common denominator amongst all of us who are having these symptoms/sensations. Perhaps we can make some efforts amongst ourselves to try to find out what we have in common.

I'll start. See if you share any of these things, and let's try to solve this amongst ourselves!

Here's me in a nutshell (medically-speaking, anyhow!):

-insulin-dependent diabetic (for 26 yrs)
-high blood pressure (take Coversyl 8 mg daily)
-also take Crestor (cholesterol pill; although I do not have high cholesterol)
-also take daily coated aspirin
-take Omega 3-6-9 vitamins
-take "Cold-FX" occasionally
-I swallow all pills without water or fluids
-I am often under stress
-I am a mouth breather at night, and sometimes snore
-I have suffered from neck strain for many years and often relieve pressure by "cracking" my neck from side to side (lots of driving)
-I have post nasal drip, and as a result often clear my throat
-I suffer from occasional-regular bouts of indigestion

Okay this "Pill" stuck in my throat feeling only occurs when I feel like i'm getting sick and I gotta take a pill, I even feel the pill feeling even before I take a pill, so I take one to releave my head ache(throbs of the head), and coughing(I believe the throat feeling is causing me to cough way more than I need to cuz there is no flem!) Now when there is no flem to be found, I get these tickle feelings that bother me to force my self to either make those small clearing noises and it feels like I ALMOST GOT IT but it doesn't come out or I force my self to do a big cough which hurts my head ache and I get a little dizzy from all the build up of air to force the cough, and sometimes I feel like coughing and I try to force my self to cough and it doesn't come out and I look like an id**t who doesnt' know how to cough just sitting their with my mouth open in coughing possition. I've felt inside my throat and felt this object in there, it is near the highest point of my throat just below my jaw line, I can touch it with my index fingure but can only feel the top of it, it was like a pill surrounded by my throat skin, just by the top only part. But when i swallow liquids I can feel it stretch and almost at the point where its going to snap and go into my stomache but it stops and slowly rises back to the jaw line. so I don't know what it is, I've read its a spasm, I havn't seen it but I know its in their cuz I felt it, not sure if its an outside object or my own creation but its there and its bothersome. any feed backs, I don't know if its YELLOW or not but I just can tell by the feeling of it.

"I've felt inside my throat and felt this object in there, it is near the highest point of my throat just below my jaw line, I can touch it with my index fingure but can only feel the top of it, ...."


That sounds like your epiglottis. It's a flap that keeps you from putting food in your lungs. When you swallow liquids and feel it stretch, that's when it's stretching down to close the tube to your lungs so the liquid doesn't go down it.

A "spasm" isn't a physical object, it's an involuntary muscle movement. With a spasm, as well as with a swollen throat (such as from a viral or bacterial infection), parts of your throat that normally wouldn't touch press against each other. But not every part of your throat has a sense of touch. The parts that do have a sense of touch register the parts that don't as "a lump" rather than "the rest of the throat."

When you feel like you are getting sick and suddenly there's a lump in there, it means that either the viruses or bacteria that have infected you have caused your throat to swell up, or you are so nervous about having to swallow pills that your throat spasms.

You will never, ever be able to cough up your swollen throat, so quit trying. You'll just make it swell up worse. Same to the kid who clears his throat all the time: clearing your throat just irritates it more and makes you feel like clearing it more. It creates an annoying habit. Try swallowing instead.

Also, to the frightened people: **If you have something serious going on in your throat, you'll typically notice a physical blockage -- not being able to swallow or breathe.** Pain is not a good indicator of seriousness -- for example, strep throat can be horribly painful, but it will usually clear up on its own even without antibiotics. We treat strep because of the possible complications of it (e.g. rheumatic fever), not because it itself is dangerous to you. On the other hand, most people never feel pain or discomfort from throat cancers.