Sensation of Something Stuck in Throat

Hi All,

I dont normally post on any boards but as i read these posts i couldnt help but reach out to those of you suffering, worrying about the feeling of having something stuck in your throat, as i did a few years ago. Whats listed here (especially the first post) is exactly what i went through: not there when i'm sleeping, first wake up seems like its gone, goes away while eating or drinking. After worrying about this for a long while, i went to my GP and explained the issue. He said the only way to find out would be to use an endoscope. He did and said everything was normal and that i was most likely experiencing something called globus hystericus. This condition essentially induces the muscles around your throat (the same ones that help move food down) to tighten. In particular, the esophogeal muscles just above the neckline. They form a ring around the esophogus and the mild tightening is responsible for the "pill in throat" sensation. Turns out, these muscles are controlled by a part of the nervous system that is responsible for smooth muscle or muscles that you cannot controled (sympathetic nervous system). Why thats relevant is that in globus hystericus, a psychological stressor, possibly even one you're not aware of, causes this muscle to contract. This is similar to the natural reaction to fear (eg fear response) in which your body activates muscles without you knowing leading to freezing behavior. After the endoscopy and the hearing that nothing was wrong, the feeling lifted within a few days. I will remind you that I had no idea that it could be a stressor and suffered for almost a month, daily. My suggestion is to get checked out by an MD to rule out some other cause, then just try some meditation and relaxation exercises. True globus hystericus will go away if the stress can be decreased. This may be possible for some only via psychotropic meds. Good luck !!!!

you should go check with the doctor

all these symptoms you're experiencing-lump in throat, regurgitation of mucus, heartburn, and coughing- they are all symptoms of a disease called Gastroesophagal Reflux Disease also called GERD. For more information go to ***edited by moderator*** web addresses not allowed

hi i have been having problems for about 2 weeks now im 22 and i feel like there is something in my throat i have had this problem b4 it was hard mucus in my throat it used to take me wa while to get it out but yer it started feeling like there was a hair in my thrat still does sometimes then other times it feels like there is a big chunk in my throat i try and cough as hard as i can but it makes it worse i will eat something and it goes for about 10 mins then it comes back again i know that the mucus is sticky butg if u keep swallowing or eat or drink something it travels up ur thoat and into ur mouth a few times it has attached itself to mt tonsil (whatever that dangly thing is) and i have vomited and in the past it has come out now its just plain annoying

Hi,
Well this looks like quite a common thing silent Reflux even at 50. Nothing was found via my Endoscopy (ouch) as well
In my case I only noticed it because I could not sing high notes or shout much- to my families relief !!

I have all the symptoms that every one describes. In my case the ENT chap found redness in my throat described as a problem.

I have been taking anti acid drugs and Gaviscon and sleeping on a wedge to raise my throat up on a night and this has improved my throat by 75% with 2 months out of 12 100% better wow!

I cannot put my finger on what works best or combination helps so if you have any ideas i am always interested as i don't like taking drugs long term and my wife hates the wedge.

Other things that i have tried is to work on reducing stress. Maybe this is 50% the problem but not all. May be the Buddhist monks had it right all along.

I too have the feeling of something stuck in my throat, no pain, no sore throat, not sick, just feeling of something stuck there. Possible could it be anxiety, or I have had acid reflux in the past, but take Zantac and have no symptoms of that now. I've never smoked, no caffiene, I do have a very stressful job and My husband passed away a month ago. I was having this sensation before then though. I clear my throat a lot just to help alleviate the feeling. I have no idea what this could be. Could anyone help me?

Well I have read everyones posts and I just want to say I started having this symptom about a week ago. I went to my doctor thinking it was reflux since I was burping and acid would come up. Instead he told me my thyroid was enlarged and sent me for an ultrasound. The next day had the ultrasound that was on this past Thursday and then by Friday they called me to tell me, yes infact its enlarged and they want me to see the endo. which they were able to get me in that day due to cancelations...so in the end, he said yes it is enlarged from feeling and seeing the picture scans from the ultarsound a 2cm complex mass and Monday his nurse will call me to set up a date and time to do a biopsy. So I just want to say, if you feel it is something more than the reflux or infection or whatever, ask for a second oppinion. Ask for an ultrasound scan of the thyroid just to rule it out. I honestly did not expect to hear this...but that is what I am being dealt I will come back to update as soon as I have the biopsy and results of it.

Brandi

Woow i have been feeling the same as Rhi.. It's been it will be 2 weeks for me on Saturday.. :-( I went to an urgent care center and was told it was a fishbone.. Dr told me to drink a coke brand soda and it will dissolve the bone and it that doesn't work eat bread.. That didn't work. Four days later i went to the ER and i was told it was post nasal drip from a sinus infection and was put on antibiotics.. that helped my sinuses but nothing else. This past Tuesday i went to the ER feeling like i was having difficulty breathing and that same feeling in my throat. They took xrays and told me they found no masses or abcesses there. They gave me a GI cocktail and a nexuim. That automatically made me feel better. They also gave me a perscription for prilosec to take 40mg daily for 30days. This is my 3rd day taking the prilosec.. i still feel the lump in my throat.. very little.. i ate some cantaloupe and i feel it again.. no prblems breathing or swallowing.. but the lump is back :-( IDK what to do.. Does anyone know if i need to give the prilosec more time or should it have worked 100% already? I am getting tired and anxious of this entire situation. :-( please someone help me with info... I am not really eating... in the last 2 weeks i have lost almost 15 lbs..

Hi I have been having the same sensations of something stuck in my throat on right hand side. Had to press with my doctor to get appointment with ENT who looked down back of nose to discover polylps right at the back of nose. Whice he reckons could be causing the sensation... Makes sense to me. Getting an Op to remove next week aslo he is looking right down throat while im under to rule out anything else. But yeah it was freaking me out too. Will let you know how I get on.

i have same problem, like something is in my throat in the level of my collar bone in the middle part, i just felt it last night and for thinking what it is i didn't slept well, when i woke up it is still there even when i eat.. last night i only ate bread and nothing more, just drunk water that's all.. i am afraid what it is.. but i remembered before when i worked from my previous employer, during the medical check-up the Doctor told me that i have a slightly enlarge thyroid.. but she didn't mentioned that i need to have my thyroid check..

This is the first time i feel this kind on weirdness.. please help me..
Some says, it is maybe i have a goiter?? because of what the doctor told me before that i have a slightly enlarge thyroid?
I am just taking folic acid but i think that is not the reason of it..

I need some suggestions and opinions..
Me and my husband is planning to have a baby for more than 2 years now but still no luck and they told me maybe i have a thyroid problem (like goiter)..

Hope someone can can give me some advice..

Thank you..

Hey guys, I have the same problem, which appeared when moving to UK grrr!!! I was trying to avoid wheat, dairy and did fasting detox as well to see if it gets better. I was thinking there's some mould in the house triggering allergic response, weather or pollution. I am definitely not stressed either. I haven't found the cause yet, HOWEVER I found something what makes the condition WAY better!
My mucous always gets worse after eating and my nose / sinus is usually blocked when i wake up. I used to have continuous post nasal drip and my lymph glands on my neck are swollen constantly. Basically all these symptoms, I read about here I pretty much have.
I take a lot of herbal, vitamin and mineral supplements and I noticed the mucous production cleared (not totally unfortunately) when I took digestive enzyme tablet. I also found out in book I have, that bromelain & papain enzymes help to clear mucous and inflammation. (the digestive enzymes contain papain)!!!! Another miracle I found (especially to keep the mucous out of my nose and mouth / have still bit in my throat though) is magnesium, calcium and zinc powder! I am going to buy pure bromelain tablets tomorrow.
I hope this will help you same as me, to get it a bit more under control. Doctors don't seem to really know what the problem is but I will keep trying different things until I find it! GOOD LUCK

Also you may find these websites helpful:
***edited by moderator*** web addresses not allowed

:) :)

mbalmer wrote:

I read the post shown below from August of 2006 and this is exactly what is happening to me at the moment. Just went to the doctor and they are going to schedule me for an ENT evaluation next week, but I'm curious to know what happened with Rhiannon if you're still out there and what the problem turned out to be. I would be very interested to hear from you. Thank you.


Rhiannon213 wrote:

Hi there. I have been reading this forum and I felt the need to post my own experience of the past 2 weeks. I'm hoping that someone can give me any insight on what could be happening here.

I have been feeling as if something is stuck in my throat - small like a pill or something (even though I haven't taken any) - felt in the lower part of the throat. I swallow and swallow but of course the sensation is still there. I have no pain at all, and it does seem to get worse on and off throughout the course of the day (when I first wake up in the morning I dont feel it at all). At times I don't feel it there, then other times I do. I have no difficulty in eating, drinking, breathing or swallowing at all. However I have noticed that I tend to try clearing my throat quite often, as sometimes if I don't my voice goes a little hoarse. Sometimes, if I think about this too much (ha ha) I also get the sensation of my neck tightening. No ear pain or infection, no headaches, no nausea ... just this bothersome need to clear my throat and feeling like something is there. I can't see any swelling of glands or visual lumps on my neck. No bloody flem ... nothing.

What could this be? I don't experience heartburn, even though I know that some people with GERD don't. Could this be GERD? In doing my research online here I came across an article written by an MD stating that most throat cancers aren't felt because we have less sense of feeling in our throats - if we had more we would be gagging all the time even on our food ... hence why throat cancers go undetected for quite some time.

voicedoctor.net/therapy/cps.html

But the thing is, some other sites I have gone to say that symptoms could be cancer. So I am confused ... and I guess understandably a bit freaked out on what this could be. Could anyone experiencing or have experienced these very same symptoms (along with the lack of other symptoms that I myself gave) give me any insight on what this could be?

Thanks in advance ...

here is what I have went through and it has worked..
I'll try to help if i find anything!

Quote:

well I did the same for a long time and it just got more intense to where I gaged for about 2 hrs straight.and wore out an just tired I said no more an grabbed the lil hanging thing in throat and started wiping it cause it feels like something is always on it.an wow my gag reflex about killed me...I tried everything on the market nothing helps an I do smoke an drink an live in the country lots of tree's anyway ...I can't take allergy meds I'm allergic..hubby got me a netti pot it helped a lil.because all this will cause dry mouth or not enough saliva which in turn causes a sulfur gas an that causes bacteria...so one day after a good year or so of feeling like something in throat an white in back of tongue an food always sticking in throat an constant making myself burp because it eased it..I went to a ent specialist an he numbed up my nose an throat an put a camera up nose an down in to throat and said everything was normal except for a lil irritation explained for all the gagging.. He said let's try some reflux meds for 1 week an see if it helps at all or goes away if not we would try more things ....and omg 2 day's later it was gone totally gone ..I don't remember the name of the meds they were blue/white capsules.and lost insurance a few weeks later an couldn't go back an now 2 yrs later I can't for the life of me remember his name an he was in a huge dr office so..now it is all back an worse than ever no over the counter stuff works.and hubby has new job an no insurance just yet...so back to netti pot an saline drops ..and alot of sleepless nights an burping gagging,hacking and just plain miserable because when i eat it always get's stuck an causes a major gag fest..as for the white tongue it isn't from any reflux of poor dental care it is a mouth problem that some peeps get where we don't get the saliva that we should it's kinda like dry mouth an because of low saliva we have less oxygen an that cause a bad bacteria. an when we use mouth wash or toothpaste with alcohol an the other stuff it actually makes it worse cause the alcohol makes what little saliva we have dry up...so the trick is too use an all natural toothpaste and put on dry toothbrush an then put baking soda on an brush.then get a all natural mouth rinse an rinse for 1 min no rinsing with water at all not even baking soda it will eventually kill all bacteria and you can order a saliva stimulating medicine too...

Yup, I get the feeling of something stuck in my throat and the constant need to clear it. This has been happening for 2+ months. Not fun for my wife or me! Especially at night and I started taking sleeping pills to shut me up. Went to doc and he asked if I had reflux - no I don't feel it at all. Going to ENT in 2 weeks. Watch this space.

I've read most of the post written but I didn't read anything about what the doctors said was causing this condition. So does anyone have an idea what this problem is ??

By now, this is a very old post, but one never knows who experiences the same problem, and I found an amazing and FREE solution to it, without the help of doctors.  Usually, when you see the word FREE like that, you know it is a trap.  However, I am not selling anything.  You will not be linked somewhere only to find out that it was not really free after all.  You see, I am passionate about good health, good natural health, and I like to share my findings with people who are keen to heal themselves.  I have always despised swallowing pills (probably because my mother, as loving as she was, was a bit of a hypochondriac).  Since I was very young I have had an interest in natural healing and once I experienced the Canadian Health system (terribly impersonal) at the age of 45 I became my own doctor - I am 53 now.  I had access to a fabulous natural health shop with an incredibly knowledgeable owner and then there was the internet.  So when I had been plagued for months in a row by a swollen throat and a sensation of food being stuck just at the entrance to my oesophagus, I started browsing the net.  Of course I feared I had throat cancer.  But in my early thirties I had been told by a naturopath that I was not a cancerous person (I carry my heart on my sleeve) and so there was hope. :~)  Hours I spent googling my symptoms and reading what people said about them.  I was on red alert when I noticed someone saying that they had cough attacks at night but never during the day.  That was something I had been suffering from too, but I had not yet associated it with my throat problem.  There was a link though.  SILENT Acid Reflux.  Like a silent killer, it attacks the sufferer at night, but because you don't feeeeeeel the heartburn, you don't know that you are suffering from it.  The acid trickling down into the throat (and into the airways), causes the cough - a dry one that makes you feel as if you are about to choke when you start coughing.  SILENT Acid Reflux.   All the symptoms were mine.  It can cause serious damage to your oesophagus in the long run, so fix it asap, if you can.  Anti-acid pills only cause more acid, is what I read online.  I would not know because I do not believe in meds.  I believe in being aware of what you eat, the air you inhale, and the energies that you are exposed to (of people or areas). 

Whenever I have a physical problem I always look first at what I changed in my diet in the last year.  In the case of the throat swelling there were two things: a handful of almonds a day (as recommended by the delightful Dr. Oz on the Oprah show) and a very efficacious multi-vitamin pill for women over 45.  I read that almonds and walnuts are high up on the list of allergens, so I gave them up, and I also gave up the pills.  They were very large, I had to take 6 a day, I have difficulty swallowing pills, but because they helped me with my peri-menopausal moodswings, I had endured them for about a year.  Cold turkey. 

Three weeks later my throat was back to normal and the coughing had stopped.  I kid you not.  When I reintroduced some almonds a while after that I immediately became aware of a swelling sensation at the back of my throat.  So since then, 2007, I do not eat handfuls of almonds anymore, although I can consume them with food such as baked foods or Middle Eastern dishes which sometimes use them (yum).  Vit pills, same difference.  When I tried them again, I felt mild throat soreness instantly.  Their size for one, and perhaps the stuff that is used to make the vitamins cling together, I am sensitive to.  I have not eaten artificial flavours, colours or preservatives since 1997 and am therefore instantly prone to food sensitivities, like when I eat out: cheap ingredients, cheap or hydrogenated fats, preservatives, they make my stomach turn and push the food back up for hours afterwards, which I AM then aware of because it's during the day.  I rarely eat out anymore and never, ever buy prepared foods.

I sourced a liquid multi-vitamin instead which turned out to be quite good too and after I moved to another country I sourced a multi-vit capsule which is a breeze to swallow.  They are both a little more expensive, but who cares?  I save on not eating almonds every day. ;~)

I have never again experienced the throat swelling and 'food stuck in the throat' sensation.  I did once experience violent cough attacks at night, but that was from being exposed to cigarette smoke during the day.  I had just moved to Spain (2010) where smoking was still allowed in public places and where I used the internet, there were always people smoking.  I stopped going there, and the coughing went away.  So as I said, be aware of what you eat, the air you inhale, and of course the energies you are exposed to, but I think that 1 + 2 are more commonly causing physical problems, and 3 (but not exclusively), emotional/mental ones.

Wheat and milk are also high up on the list of allergens, so if you have that sensation of something stuck in your throat, the cause of it could be a totally different allergen from mine.  Ask your body, it contains amazing answers.  Just say out loud to no-one in particular other than the air around you, Why is my throat swollen?, or whatever problem you are experiencing.  Your body contains all the answers.  All you need to do is listen.

Of course there is nothing, absolutely nothing whatsoever, except the demise of mankind, that will put an end to the 'let's pop a pill to get better'-era.

But there is the odd individual that won't contribute to it (any longer).  Perhaps you are one of those.  Vitamin pills have their place, but again, they could contain stuff that you are sensitive to, and all you can do is, be ware.