24/7 Extreme Globus for over a year - My story and resolution

Thanks for posting this. Nice to hear that you found a cure.

I believe that a muscle relaxant would help me too but I haven't tried because I won't get a prescription for it. My symptoms are not as severe and it would be hard to get a prescription from a doctor. I once suggested it but my doctor was against the idea.

oh my goodness i have every single syptom you have expressed except for how it started mine acually came out one night last year September 3rd at 9:30pm. i heard a huge pop come from my upper chest lower neck throat area ....excactly after that i felt breathless it was the worst feeling to deal with for a year and still. i never took the medicine because i was afriad of my small breathing i did have , get shorter beacasue of medicinces drowsy affect as a relaxant. but wow man yes it is a struggle and its nice to know that there Are other people who experience this I have terrible breathlessness very tight neck and throat and sometimes stomach and its hard for me to inhale through my nose. Everybody take me as a joke they think it can’t be a big deal since all my test came back normal.and im sitting there like i can not breath please help me! ..... In the past year I have went to the emergency room over 40 times it is very very very scary so I completely understand all your symptoms I went through the same thing and I’m still going through it all though day with a grain of salt it gets better. I see that you took in some kind of medicine from your doctor and I’m going to ask my doctor about the medicine that actually did end up working for you did you also get low belly pain? Also It Makes me think that it is going to take my life and times it’s very debilitating . I’m glad that you are able to have some relief it must feel amazing. blessings to you and congradulations!

Hello, just read your story.. I have been suffering with Globus for 13 months.. Seen many Doctors with different treatments (acid reflux, anxiety, etc. etc)

had endoscopy, esophagus dilation. on and on). Nothing helps. Going to speak to my doctor about the muscle relaxer you are/were taking.. Thanks...p.s. are you still on the medication..? does it make you drowsy?

IMPORTANT! THIS HELPED ME AS WELL!

Executive summary:

The solution suggested by the author Brightsyde worked for me. I used different drug with different substance, but similar in effects. Don't act without consulting a good doctor but DO CHECK this solution if you suffer from similar symptoms of Globus (object/feather/hair in throat).

Full post:

1. I need to start with sending my deepest thanks to Brightsyde for his post. I found it while searching the internet for help on another sleepless night. It was a stepping stone for solving my problem with Globus as well. What he did, is: he used the Internet the right way, the way which can make the world a better place. He shared true and detailed information on a solution of a rare problem, to make it accessible on every corner of the world. I found it on another end of the globe. Thank you. Those words are not enough. I will try to contact you directly, I'd love to at least buy you a dinner at your favourite restaurant. And I promise to you and the world to dedicate substantial amount of time to make knowledge about this still little known approach to dealing with Globus popular among the medical society. Well, no one deserves to go through what we had to endure.
2. After I read Brightsyde's story I was mostly devastated, as I suffered from Globus for barely 1,5 month and it was already killing me, so his story of a year+ long struggle looked terrifying.
3. My symptoms: feeling of a hair, a feather or an object deep in throat (so real, you are certain that there has to be an object there). This is not a pain, just an endless feeling, which for some reason strongly influences your psyche. Like this thought, that sth obstructs your throat and can bring hazard to your life gets a priority in brain.
4. Coexisting symptoms:

   Chronic laryngitis (inflammation of larynx) proven with endoscopic camera 3 times, dry cough. Those are possibly the underlying causes which lead to my Globus or helped for it to develop. I am still fighting these problems. They are a nuisance but, NOTHING compared to the Globus.

5. I live in Warsaw, capital of Poland, with access to pretty much best doctors around, with modern equipment. I wasn't limited with finances /insurance or in any other way in my access to professional help.
6. Similarly to Brightsyde, once my Globus appeared, I visited and consulted a long list of doctors, laryngologists, gastroenterologist and was under constant support of a psychologist (as definitely psyche plays one of the major roles here).
7. I took various medications including steroids in various forms for inflammation, omeprazole for reflux, anti-allergy drugs and more.
8. Three times I had an endoscopy with a camera down my throat to see that there is really nothing there and the larynx inflammation isn't all that bad.
9. Important thing to stress at this point is that similarly to Brightsyde, medical personnel didn't take my symptoms completely seriously. This condition is known for long as "Globus Hystericus" and in fact the "hysteria" part is not treated seriously.

   In the meantime the doctors tried to cure the underlying condition (again, similar medications to Brightsyde) - which is good and important, but does not deal with the Globus feeling itself.

10. The regular psychotherapy helped me stay sane and function in life during this time. I need to stress this: get a good shrink if you suffer like we did. There are good universal methods that can be trained, on how to sustain prolonged suffering and anxiety. This made it possible for me to keep an ~80% of normal efficiency at work and home life, which is not bad given the sleepless nights. Don't hesitate one day and get a good psychologist. Important: I didn't get to a point of taking any antidepressants, it is up to you and your doctors.
11. Eventually, when the Globus feeling increased, I started to research the topic myself. In fact this was double hard, as my psyche was getting even worse while reading all the terrible case studies of people suffering around the world and the symptoms I experience myself. I also read worthless marketing materials from pharmaceutical companies. I read Chinese research papers (they have some interesting findings), everything, you name it. Eventually I also read this post by Brightsyde. I didn't treat it 100% seriously, only as one idea out of many.
12. At this point I believed my condition was most likely acid reflux/ GERD related (It still might be). An acid burn sounds reasonable, right? During a long, multi hour analysis with a gastroenterologist, we decided that although reflux can be a component here, some pieces are missing and some don't add up. The camera recording from inside my throat didn't show a situation bad enough to explain this unbearable globus feeling. (Further examination is required to confirm) the reflux.
13. I finally consulted another very good clinical laryngologist. She very quickly mentioned: THIS MIGHT BE A PROLONGED SPASM OF THE ESOPHAGEAL SPHINCTER (warning: my translation might be inaccurate). This reminded me of Brightsyde's post. We both confirmed that the exact location of the Globus feeling is EXACTLY where this muscle exists. I quickly asked the doctor about any experience with similar approach to the one Brightsyde used. This approach is not yet used in Poland (or popularly known), but it made sense to us and I was very eager to test it. The medication and this substance which Brightsyde used is NOT available in Poland and possibly not in Europe. (This fact shows, that this substance must be used with caution!)
14. In consultation with two further doctors (look how careful we were!) we chose another medication with similar purpose, to make an experiment. I will not mention the name of the medication/substance. Please pursue this direction with a doctor who prescribes such muscle relaxing medications on a daily basis (for other conditions).
15. I took half a pill. Just half of a small pill. Within 1 hour, the globus feeling started to decrease. Within 2 hours, it was gone. Gone. Just like that. I felt just like Brightsyde. I wanted to cry. This felt just too good to be true.
16. ONCE AGAIN: The medication used for relaxing the acute spasms of muscles worked on relaxing the spasm of the esophageal sphincter and in result removed the globus feeling. The pain and numbness in my inflamed larynx remains, but this is not unbearable anymore.
17. This is not the end. I continue to search for the underlying causes of problems with my larynx and I continue my psychotherapy. I understand the Globus was just an unlucky side-effect of underlying health issues, which was particularly unbearable.
18. MOST IMPORTANT: I will also continue to consult and examine the solution we discuss above up to the point of getting it clinically approved and popularised among the doctors. I am bloody serious. I went through hell. Brightsyde went through hell. Probably many of you go through such hell. It is HIGH TIME we put an end to this.
19. And let's remember the Internet was not made for porn and sharing pictures of what sb had for dinner. Lets promote using it, just like Brightsyde did.

If you suffer from Globus: write your story here. You are not alone. We've been there. We understand your suffering. Let's fight this together!

Hi maciejmalisz, Brightsyde and everyone else in this thread!

In 2 weeks, by the 14th of November, it will be 1 year... The worst year of my life, by far. This is ruining my life in every way. And I have 3 kids, two of them really young (2 years), twins. It would make all the difference if they had their dad with health, which is not the case at all. And I seriously doubt I can keep living like this for much longer.

I'm so sad, anxious and depressed. I just wish that what I have is globus. Because if it isn't globus, then I may be doomed to live with it for the rest of my days, as it could be some sort of permanent damage from which I will obviously never recover. At least the symptoms haven't changed, they are basically the same as in the first months.

How can I be sure that it is globus? Any advice?

maciejmalisz, I understand your happiness and relief. I also know that you might be right and some cases of globus might be solved with the treatment that you and Brightsyde went through with success. But I also think (from what I have been reading) that not all globus have the same origin. If what is causing the globus is muscle tension, as in the upper esophageal sphincter, then a treatment with a muscular relaxant makes all the sense.

I'm not going to make you read my story, but if any of you want to know about it, here's the link: https://patient.info/forums/discuss/is-this-globus-please-help-me-find-out--771650

As I said, I can only hope that it is globus or some sort of psychosomatic symptom. Because if it is a damage to the epiglottis cartilage, as an ENT theorised that it can be, it would be the end of me. I would apply for euthanasia as soon as it gets approved where I live, which seems that it's going to be very soon. And I had a good life, that's what's keeping me with strength.

I'm taking antidepressives, 30mg of mirtazapine per day now. I never had to take any meds of this type before. This feeling in my throat is a nightmare, it's like hell on earth. But in my case it does not feel like a muscle tension. It's hard to explain, but it's more like as if there was something stuck in the left side of my throat and when I swallow it's like if my throat bended. Also, something seems to be touching the back of my throat and kind of scratches it.

If one day I get rid of this, I will be the happiest person in the world. But I'm so afraid that day will never come... 😦

Thanks for telling us about your experiences and for all the advice!

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i also suffer from globus sensation and it has been going in for about 10 years now some times it is worse than other times but i long for this sensastion to be gone.

iam wondering if you are still taking the cyclobenzaprine? did you experience any severe side effects?

thank you so much for sharing your story and im so happy to hear something worked . congratulation

sincerly