I wrote a long reply to this the other day & the site when down on posting, so lost it 
Slow I would definitely recommend getting tested & treat if positive, - don't let them fob you off - it can get far worse as mine did & is also linked to cancer
annie - yes I also had the lump in throat feeling for years, also lots of heartburn, reflux etc, bloated swollen stomach, very painful acid in chest feeling, couldn't bend & often refluxing acid & making me sick - bloating was so much so I sometimes looked pregnant - it got worse depending on what I ate - fatty/oily foods being the worst
As time went on I also started loosing my voice - for 6 months in the beginning - but keeping on complaining got me sent to an ME clinic & severe ME diagnosis - I never did feel that was right - I had very painful throat, though felt more bruised than normal viral type sore throats - used to describe it as feeling like someone had forced a baseball bat down my throat - I often couldn't sleep for coughing & more recently was waking up with sore, dry cracked & bleeding sinuses & swollen mouth lining & sore tongue - GP reckoned that was all down
I also had a weird symptom that I couldn't get any GP to understand or take seriously, but it was very debilitating, difficult to describe, but on bending or twisting certain ways - even sitting up & turning to get out of the bath would set it off, felt like my ribs actually got hooked on something - very painful & left me feeling sick & shaky for ages after it had got loose - after the first batch of treatment it went completely for months & then along with other symptoms gradually came back - also left side chest pain on lying down - that got me sent for heart tests, nothing showed but gave me an angina pump "just incase" - that too went last treatment, but came back
GP did say that the symptoms are often mild, but mine were very severe & she agreed it can get that way for some if left?.I do also have Fibromyalgia, which affects pain sensitivity, so that maybe why I feel it more, but throat symptoms etc where there to see
Nearly finished second lot of triple treatment - been a rough ride as I'm prone to drug side effects, but fingers crossed its gone for good this time - symptoms have eased a lot - slept through the night for the first time in months & can almost talk normally again - GP did say & I know for last time that I will stay on the acid suppressants for quite a while, as it takes a while for the swelling in the stomach lining to subside after the infection clears.
Now have another new GP :( - & she was a bit dismissive of my asking if the treatment was long enough - she reckoned I probably didn't need it yet her far more experienced counterpart accurately diagnosed my ongoing problems last time & it came back 
Fingers crossed the course is long enough
X