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Hi, everyone. It's been awhile! I've been on some new medications for my anxiety - Luvox and gabapentin - and both seem to be working pretty well. However, I started feeling ill about three weeks ago and I'm getting nervous. Upon coming home from vacation, I started feeling like I had mucus running down the back of my throat. I chalked it up to allergies and started taking Mucinex D. It felt like it helped a little, but I began feeling like I had a lump at the bottom of my throat and like food was stopping or slowing once it hit that lump. I was scared enough to consult a doctor at my GP's office, who saw post-nasal drip and figured it was probably allergies. She prescribed a nasal spray. The next day, I began having pain through my breastbone and around to my shoulders, which caused panic about esophageal cancer. I called my doctor's office again, speaking to another doctor who comforted me and prescribed a second nasal spray. I also started Prilosec, wondering if I was actually having reflux. Both doctors agreed that the Prilosec couldn't hurt. Over the following week, the drip stopped, but the lump and pain remained. I felt like I had to belch a lot, little tiny burps from my upper throat, and would sometimes regurgitate fluid. My throat burned at times and felt raw. I panicked again. When my GP's office couldn't get me in for another visit, I went to urgent care. My complaint about breastbone pain earned me an EKG to check for heart attack. My rhythm was fine, but my heart rate was sky high (from anxiety, of course). The urgent care doctor was concerned about my thyroid due to the location of the lump in my throat and my high heart rate. She shipped me off to the ER, where a quick swallow test and a check of my throat deemed my condition not thyroid-related and not emergent. Both attending physician and medical student reassured me that I didn't have cancer - no way, too young, none of the symptoms - but suggested I see a gastroenterologist to get to the bottom of things (literally, via endoscopy). The attending and I discussed medication, since it didn't seem like the Prilosec was working. We concluded that upping my dose from 20 mg to 40 mg would be worth a shot until I could see the gastro. The extra Prilosec seems to help. The lump in my throat is gone more often than it's there and the chest/shoulder pain and burping have mostly cleared up. I still get "junk" in my throat, though, and now I'm feeling achiness (gas?) across the top of my abdomen and down my left side. I've been getting a stitch of sorts in my lower left ribs very similar to one that I had regularly last year. My throat is also sore. I'm still kind of worried about esophageal cancer, as well as stomach and pancreatic cancer. My gastro appointment is tomorrow and I'm feeling scared. Has anyone else dealt with gastro issues like these? It all just came on so FAST, but the ER doc said it's not uncommon.

I have had anxiety since 2011. I have had trouble swallowing for a month. I was eating a burger with beef slices and I was just eating like normal, when I felt it slide slowly down my throat and was stuck halfway down, I chugged water and it went down easily. I had this ever since then happen with every food except liquids or foods like pudding, but a week later as food stopped halfway down it would be painful to swallow it down. I don't know what to do. I feel crazy. I have had a barium swallow study and the results were normal. I had an aunt have a thyroglossal duct cyst and it was never visible, she had the same symptoms as me and told me to get an ultrasound of my throat. My doctor declined and they sent me for the Barium Swallow study. I feel like everyone is labeling me as crazy because they know I have anxiety. I don't always have pain as I swallow food but it is always getting stuck. I just want an ultrasound of my throat since my aunts thyroglossal duct cyst did not show up on barium swallow study, she keeps pushing me to get an ultrasound, but steroids, increased GERD meds, inhalers, smaller bites, etc don't help. I literally have to drink 16-32 ounces of water per meal. I am losing my sanity and questioning my sanity.I just don't know what to do or how to tell my doctor to do more testing, for I hate having the Charlie horse pain as I swallow and I hate having everything get stuck halfway down. I know its not my anxiety.

I'm 23 years old and have smoked cigars occassionally, smoked cigarettes occassionally (sometimes chain smoking them) and used snuff for a period of 5 years or so. Ive smoked the cigars and cigarettes for maybe 3 of those years. Lastly for maybe the last year or so I've done some mild to moderate drinking once or twice a week. The major part of my tobacco usage was the snuff, with the worst of my habit being in 2014, when I was consuming up to half of a tin a day. Since 2014 i cut back to maybe 2 to 4 dips a day, some days i would not use at all. About 10 days ago I quit cold turkey due to reading some rather frightening material about smokeless tobaccos effects. I'm now having some severe anxiety over what I've potentially done to myself and may even be dealing with some hypocondria type symptoms. I've been to the doctor as of Wednesday with some neck pain, earache and a feeling of one side of my throat, like my tonsil area, feeling swollen when I swallow & told him for the first time about my tobacco use and he claims my mouth tissue looks very healthy. He looked into my throat and felt my neck and did not find anything suspicious but did not scope my throat. My throat isnt sore nor am i hoarse or anything like I'm horrified of what could be as I cannot tell if my symptoms are real or imagined, I've been googling non stop about it and I'd like to ask anyone that could help me with this, what are the odds of cancer of the throat or someplace like that given my past usage tally??

Hi everyone , I posted here a few weeks ago thinking I had oral cancer because of a small flesh colored bump I saw on my tonsil , and the back of my throat looked strange . I got over that fear, and thought I had oral thrush so I went to a doctor . My doctor barely looked in my mouth and rudely dismissed my fear about oral thrush . My tongue looked a little white and so did My throat, but unfortunately she was rude and didn't take the time to check . She said since it wasn't painful, bleeding and ALL over my mouth, that it wasn't thrush. Just for added rude effect, she pulled up pictures of really bad thrush to rub in my face . The back of my tongue looks a little thrushy, but it's hard to see back that far and I feel no pain . I didn't have time to go back to the doctor because I was going on vacation. Fast forward a week and a half and I'm in full fledged panic mode . I wholeheartedly believe I have cancer . The back of my throat just looks .. strange . It looks kinda white, and it looks like it has reddish bumps on it as well . I look at it everyday , and my mind MAY be playing tricks on me but it looks like it slightly changes everyday . Like I said , my mind could be playing tricks on me because I compulsively check it every hour. The roof of my mouth has a whitish symmetrical tint, although that could've been there . I'm just devasted . I'm a 19 year old female . I've never smoked . I've only gotten drunk ONCE in my life , and I'm in a monogamous relationship with my boyfriend. I've given him oral sex only a handful of times , but I'm afraid those few times were all it took for me to contract HPV and for it to progress into cancer . I was on the gardisil shot, but I never got the 3rd dose because this is around the time stories were surfacing of young women having adverse reactions to the last dose and being permanently handicapped . I freaked out . I have no risk factors for oral cancer except for the few times I engaged in oral sex . I'm deathly terrified to go back to the doctor because I just know they're going to tell me it's cancer , and it's insane because I barely have any risk factors. I lost my grandfather to throat cancer, but he smoked and drank . I do neither . I'm just scared . I'm so young and I don't engage in activities that others do at my age because I'm simply not interested . Does this sound like cancer? like obviously I need to go back to the doctor , but I would like to hear from some real life people who have compassion, experience and aren't being paid to tell me "you're fine " just to get their check... I was doing so well with my anxiety and this just knocked me back down..

Throat issues... my "HA of the week." I had a bad cold about 4 weeks ago (fever/aches/chills/etc.) and had persistent coughing & clearing of throat for a week or two. Now I've noticed in the last week or two that I feel a "fullness" in my throat most of the day, no pain when swallowing but I feel the area between my thyroid & larynx feels slightly constricted, and it feels like there's a big lump in the front of my throat when I swallow. No visible swelling or enlarged lymph nodes that I can tell. I have been a singer in a band for the last 6 years, and when I am singing & doing a lot of shows I get this same "fullness" feeling and have had anxiety about vocal nodules in the past. Tightness in the throat has also been a common symptom of anxiety for me, but I haven't been stressed or particularly anxious in recent weeks. But I haven't been singing much lately... just unsure if this could be lingering from a cold I had a month ago, or if I should get checked out by an ENT :/ (I had my thyroid checked for unrelated issues a few months ago, and all my levels/numbers came back normal.)

In the past few days I have gone backwards and worked myself up into panic again because of persistent tightness in my throat and both sides of my neck. The tightness in my neck was on one side two days ago, and then switched over to the other side yesterday. I reasoned it was just how I slept, but it bothered me all day at work. by the evening I had worked myself to a panic, fearing something major is wrong. I had this before and went to the doctor. I had this over and over again, and it just went away after a nights sleep. the doctor looked down my throat and felt my neck and said it was fine, and it did go away, so why does it keep coming back. am still having it, and letting it bother me into a panic. last night was really bad. I was up most of the night thinking that my brain was not getting enough oxygen because my throat was closing up. I took my bp several times, with the bottom number staying in the 60s. 96/67, making me worry it was too low, yet my pulse was up there in the 80s, so that should tell me I am anxious, but I couldn't and still can't get passed being worried. I know the techniques of accepting and saying it is just anxiety, and I accept it, but I think I am not getting beyond the first part of facing that it is just anxiety, as I still fear it is something physically wrong. I can always say its just discomfort and not danger - once I believe that. still uncertain if I should see an ENT - since my regular doc already looked and said my throat was fine, but I am not sure he was complete enough. he was really quick, though as many times as I asked him if anything was wrong with my throat he always said no. its just anxiety. I hate to waste an specialists time if this is just me doing this to myself. I can believe that - if I could be sure. next week I am going to a pdoc on wednesday. I was very reluctant to do this but I am thinking it may be best, so that this doesn't get more out of control. I'll probably get some meds and will know then if the throat issues go away on them whether this is really just anxiety. I want to believe it is.

I sometimes get real bad neck/throat pain, like in the upper part of my neck/throat it feels like really stressed, almost like the muscle is tight. My jaw isn't aligned correctly, so my dentist said my jaw never stops working and it's always moving and it could cause some discomfort, do you think this is what it is? I've looked at my throat and it doesn't look red or swollen, but I'm in so much discomfort and I'm scared it might trigger a panic attack. I'm drinking some hot tea to try to soothe it, it's worked some but not much. Do you think my neck/throat pain could be caused by my jaw or do you think it's an anxiety symptom? Also does anyone have any suggestions on how to alleviate the discomfort? Thank you