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Original poster

Weird lump in my throat, hard to swallow, what is it?

19 replies

Greensleeves · 12/07/2006 17:13

I have a lump in my throat, not in the visible bit where the tonsils are, but further down, so that it aches when I swallow. When I was drinking water earlier I noticed that it seemed to be taking longer to "go down" because this lump is in the way. Does anyone know what it could be? It's very uncomfortable and I am a bit freaked out by it

OP posts:

hub2dee · 12/07/2006 17:21

frog ?

(sorry).... bumping...

trinityrhino · 12/07/2006 17:22

do you suffer from any anic type thing???

Is there any pain?

It could be to do with panic and being tense or if your not panicked then I would go to the docs

Sorry no help at all, feel for you

waterfalls · 12/07/2006 17:23

I had this a while ago (2 lumps) cant remember what they are called, but were harmless, but they did follow a throat infection, not just appear randomly

trinityrhino · 12/07/2006 17:24

that should say panic type thing

sunchowder · 12/07/2006 17:28

I would go to the doctors to have them have a look at you. See if drinking warm tea will help---have you recently had a sore throat? Is is swollen on your neck under your ear lobes too?

fuzzywuzzy · 12/07/2006 17:40

I had this when I was pg with dd2 so dr could give me nothing. After lots of gargling with salt water and weeping copiously they went but god it hurt..

Go to your gp she'll probably give you antibiotics for it.

bakedpotato · 12/07/2006 17:43

I had this a few years ago... well, it wasn't an ache, it was a sense that there was something obstructing my throat when I ate. Properly freaked me out.
In the end after having docs look inside using tiny cameras on tubes [barf] I had a barium swallow [double barf] to see if it was to do with reflux. It wasn't. The consultant said maybe I'd scratched the inside of the throat fishbones are usual culprits on this score and my nerve endings had gone into a frenzy. Basically he said not to worry, just one of those things...
Strangely I can still feel the sensation when I concentrate, but I've got used to it

Original poster

Greensleeves · 12/07/2006 17:48

Thanks. It seems a bit less scary now you haven't all screeched "Cancer of the oesophagus!!".

OP posts:

Original poster

Greensleeves · 13/07/2006 10:28

It's still there I can feel food getting caught on it when I swallow. I am getting really paranoid about it.

OP posts:

Mercy · 13/07/2006 10:44

I had this last year - it was very uncomfortable and quite distressing. I went to the GP who prescribed diclofenac - an anti-inflammatory drug. It got better within about 36 hours.

Greensleeves, I really think you should see your GP asap. This is the second time this week I have seen you post re feeling ill. Poor you

Ellbell · 13/07/2006 10:48

Greeny

Go to the doctor's and get it checked out. It could just be some sort of throat infection or the aftermath thereof. (I sometimes get hard lumps in my throat which I can eventually cough up - sorry, gross I know. They are about the size of a pea. Could it be something like that? How long have you had this? For me the 'lumpy' sensation only lasts a few hours before I manage to move it, so if it's been going on a while it's probably not that.)

My mum had a polyp in her throat several years ago, which does sound a bit like this. Nothing sinister, just a loose flap of tissue, but it was partially blocking her oesophagus. She ignored it for AGES (like, about a year... the dozy old bat) and eventually had a real problem. By the time she finally got it seen to she couldn't eat any solid food at all and was surviving on thin soup and Complan. At the beginning, though, it was mainly things like bread that she had trouble with. BUT it shouldn't have got to that stage, this was all because she 'didn't like to make a fuss'. It was finally treated with laser treatment which 'zapped' the polyp and got rid of it.

Based on my mum's experience, I'd defnitely get it checked out sooner rather than later if it sounds like it could be a polyp.

Good luck.

Original poster

Greensleeves · 13/07/2006 10:50

I think I am "run down", things keep popping up - cold sores, sore throats, IBS flare-ups - I am a class A miserable git at the moment . I am one of these people who panics - seriously - at every unusual symptom and decides it's cancer.

The trouble is the GP appointments system means everyone rings at 8.30 when the phone line opens, and by the time I get back from dropping ds1 at pre-school all the bloody appointments have gone. And the house is a pit because I'm too tired to do anything. And dh is ill too, and he's working stupid amounts of overtime. And ds1 is going through a clingy needy phase and it's driving me up the wall.

OP posts:

Ellbell · 13/07/2006 10:56

Given how low you are generally atm, it's much more likely to be linked to some sort of low-level infection than to be a polyp. I always get sore throats if I'm run down. (Sorry if I've scared you - I was just so annoyed with my mum for waiting till it was so bad before going to the GP.)

Hope things improve for you very soon.

Original poster

Greensleeves · 13/07/2006 10:57

The polyp does sound similar, thanks Ellbell, I will make an effort and get to the doctor - I could always go to the walk-in centre if I can't get an appt here I suppose (it's a walk and a bus journey and I would have to take both boys with me, so I've been putting it off)

I've only had the lump a few days, but it's really uncomfortable and not like a sore throat at all.

OP posts:

Original poster

Greensleeves · 13/07/2006 10:58

I keep X-posting

No yuo didn't scare me, it's helpful to have non-terrifying suggestions as to what it might be. I really should get to the doc, I know.

OP posts:

Mercy · 13/07/2006 10:59

It's awful when you get into that vicious circle isn't it?

If you have a mobile phone programme it to dial and redial at 8.29 or whatever. Take it to school with you.

Original poster

Greensleeves · 13/07/2006 11:03

That's a very good idea

I only got my mobile a couple of weeks ago (have had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century, don't even have a microwave) it never occurred to me to use it to get a GP appt - that must be what everyone else is doing to beat me to it!

OP posts:

Ellbell · 14/07/2006 13:40

How are you today, Greeny? Is the lumpy feeling still there? Have you managed to get a GP's appointment?

Thinking about you.

Kazziegirl · 14/07/2006 14:27

I had a similar lump in throat feeling when I was anaemic greensleeves - a course of iron tablets and it went. You mentioned tiredness too - could you be anaemic? Hope you feel better soon.

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