Throat burning when I talk or laugh, hard time breathing, sharp pains, panic attacks?

Posted , 5 users are following.

Hello,

I am trying to figure out what is wrong with me and am wondering if anyone shares the same symptoms.

I was extremely stressed out 6 weeks ago and kinda had a mental breakdown. Prior to this I was yelling a lot at a 17 year old (my younger sister) who is a drug addict and tried running my household after i let her move in. After I kicked her out 2 weeks later I started getting horrible panic attacks.

I started getting a sore throat out of nowhere and then it progressed into a burning sensation from my stomach up my throat. The burning could be slightly felt on my tongue and roof of mouth as well. Accompanying this I had odd little bursts of feeling like I was being choked in between my collar bones. I feared cancer due to my health anxiety and went to the doctors.

The nurse practitioner said acid reflux or GERD was the issue and prescribed me novo-pantoprazole 40 mg once a day. I took these for 3 weeks and the burning would not dissipate. I went back to see another nurse practitioner who prescribed me apo-ranitidine 150mg twice a day. I was given a thyroid ultrasound (still awaiting results) a blood test for thyroids (came back clear) a normal blood test (came back clear) and a throat swab due to the practitioner saying my throat was red (still awaiting results). I have an appointment scheduled with an ear, nose and throat specialist but am unable to get an appointment until August.

The burning sensation has gone down but gets worse if I talk for more then 10 minutes at a time and if I laugh.

I now have a sharp pain in the right side of my throat.. kinda like where my lymph node is.. but not tender or painful to touch on the outside. It seems to send a sharp pain up my throat and into my right side of my eye nose and jaw. I do have my wisdom teeth which are impacted so maybe it has to do with that?

I am very stressed and depressed due to all of this.. I feel like I'm alone in these feelings and I can't seem to get any clear answers. sad

S.O.S please help.

1 like, 10 replies

10 Replies

  • Posted

    Your issue sounds very similar to mine! However my feeling is sort of like a scratching, crushing feeling in one VERY specific area to the left of my Adam’s apple and it also came on after I work up with a sore throat (which went away within an hour leaving me with this current issue).

    As with yours, mine only comes on when I talk and also I get tonnes of phlegm coming from the area of irritation. 

    I’ve seen 3 ENTs and had 6 nasal laryngoscopes along with an ultrasound and various blood tests and they found pretty much nothing. I’ve had this issue for 5 months now and it’s no better now than it was on day 1.

    I’ve been told it could be silent reflux and they put me on PPIs which made no difference, I’ve tried every throat tablet/liquid on the market along with ibuprofen etc. Nothing has worked. 

    Letting you know that you’re not on your own and your issue is similar to mine. I can’t offer much more insight though sad

    • Posted

      Thanks for the reply! I appreciate it. It's good to know that I'm not alone. So weird, if I put my hand on my throat like around it and move it side to side it sounds like there are a bunch of broken bones in there. I will swallow food or drink and my stomach will click as well. Now eating makes me bloated and nauseous.

      Do you still have your wisdom teeth? Have you tried taking antibiotics? Maybe there is a bad infection in there?

    • Posted

      Hiya! smile

      Defo not alone! Can’t be sure if yours is the same as mine though but sounds damn similar eh!

      Yeah, mine does make a clicking noise when I do as you just said too. I also notice that I sometimes get a sharp bone on bone feeling when I turn my head in certain ways too...

      I do have my wisdom teeth yeah and could well be an infection! Especially with the phlegm I said I get. The ENTs I’ve seen haven’t suggested using antibiotocs yet and I can’t get them without a prescription but I really want to give them a go!

    • Posted

      Well depending on where you're from you can go into urgent care (we call it emergency here in Ontario) and say that you feel your wisdom teeth are impacted and they will give you antibiotics. They are all generally the same. If it doesn't work then you know that you probably don't have an infection. Maybe try seeing a dentist as well? I'm trying to get my wisdom teeth taken out but unfortunately don't have $3000 to pay for it right now sad

    • Posted

      Aha! Good tip, I’m in the UK so urgent care would mean an up tappointment 6 hour wait in the emergency room sad

      I will say that your issue seems marginally different to mine though, yours actually sounds exactly like LPR (silent reflux) and it can take months for the symptoms of that to go away with correct treatment.

      Mine feels like a cross between LPR due to phlegm in throat, pain when talking which is indicative of damaged vocal cords from reflux etc. Along with damage to my larynx. Just odd how all my nasal scopes came back clear 

    • Posted

      Well if you have had the scopes they would have seen the damaged larynx so it's possible that there really isn't anything wrong there. Do you have any issues with anxiety by chance? I have come to realize I have hypochondria health anxiety, which means every little symptom I have freaks me out and no matter what doctor I talk to that says im okay, I never believe them. Unfortunately we do not have mental health coverage here and it is very expensive go get treatment for it. I have been reading some anxiety and cognitive behavioral therapy books... Makes me feel crazy like all my symptoms I just told you are all in my health

    • Posted

      Hiya smile

      Yep! I do have HA and I’ve had it for a good 15 years or so and suffer the exact way you just described. Always thinking the docs have missed something etc. 

      I’ve thought that it could be related to that but I’ve no idea HOW anxiety could create such a specific and localised problem which ONLY seems to be made worse when I talk and gets worse the more I do... I know anxiety can do crazy things to the body but I’m not sure it can do that. 

      Shame you’re not coveted for therapy in the states. If dealt with properly by a professional, it can be cured. 

      I’m yet to see a proper professional but will be doing in the coming weeks. 

  • Posted

    I have had on off throat dryness and irritation almost 2 years. If i talk too long my voice cracks and hurts a little. I have had endoscopy and biopsy. In 3 weeks ill have a scope. My ent looked with a mirror and said my voice box was red. So I'm taking antibiotics. You are doing the right thing by getting checked. I would ask for a less busy ent for sooner appt. Wish u the best. And try not to stress, makes out worse

  • Posted

    I'm in the same boat although slightly different. I suspect everyone's symptoms dont present the same! Hope people have time to read this. Yes all this messes with your head there is no doubt. At the end of the day I'd like to meet anyone who doenst have some level of health anxiety. I'll try and best describe my issue and maybe it will help you and other also. At current I have a very odd burning sensation in my larynx when I talk, it gets worse the more I talk also. I'm self employed and this makes it extremely difficult to talk to clients, i tend to avoid talking to people because of this which sucks. Some symptoms and then a little history. Male in the early 40s, dont smoke, very athletic and eat well. Burning sensation localized on left side only of larynx in a specific spot beside my larynx. This pain area cant really be felt on the outside with my hand but I sure can feel it when I breath in oddly enough! Sometimes when I relax I almost feel normal. I also get this cold air feeling throughout my mouth and tongue which is worse somedays than others, (this may be anxiety but I'm not so sure yet as it's never presented this way). The left side of my larynx feels like I have a knife stuck in it from about 8am till 10pm. This odd ache and hot sensation seems to travel towards my ear on the same side and I swear I can feel it in my teeth. Neck muscles a slight bit sore also same side. Sometimes I feel a wierd tickling left side chest, this all seems to send some wierd charge and somewhat electrify my whole body as if its an anxiety feeling. So strange how they seem tied together. This all started after what I think was some sort of viral throat infection left sided (I could see it when I looked way down) June 2017 over 1 year ago, one thing to note the wildfires were so bad that year...months of thick smoke makes me wonder. My symptoms have changed throughout this year period and some have come and some have gone. One strange one I'll never forget in my whole larynx cramped up for like 3 months. Lifting my chin up and putting it to my chest felt very tight and delivered a slight bit of pain. Talking was such a fricken strain you wouldn't believe it. If i tried to sing a higher note...wham it almost dropped me to my knees always left side Layengeal muscle, that's a bit better now but if I sing I'll pay for it for 2 days so I dont bother. During this time I actually thought I was on my way out, I'm still not so sure...lol! In the beginning it took me 2 months to finally see a doctor, he looked in my mouth said it's not a bacterial infection and shrugged his shoulders, my fault for probably going in to emerg at 12Am guess I panicked but I was going on a trip where there was no communication for 10 days... Then when I returned I fought this thing with garlic and ginger etc etc for months and it wouldn't let up left side always...finally I went into the clinic in that Dec...throat was all red. Well of course here come the ppi's as he figured I had reflux. At this time it felt like my head was gonna pop off and I had a belt strapped around my neck! Ha. Very scary let me tell ya! When ppi's did nothing then he said it was anxiety and depression...well no kidding after all this. He tried to get me to take anti depressants which I did for 7 days and it felt like my skin was on fire so forget all that. Since about January till now ive watched what I eat big time, I've had blood work including thyroid...all perfect. 3 larynx scopes saw a bit of inflamation on first 2 but all looks fine on the last. 1 endoscopy w/ stomach biopsy, tight lES etc.....nothing. they just shrug their shoulders. Now I'm scheduled for an ultrasound and more talk with the ent. We will see, my last visit with him he suggested Spamatic Dysphonia. My gut and research tells me that I have nerve damage somewhere left side of my larynx. I'm not sure of LPR but I haven't ruled that out yet as it seems it can be very complex. Nerve damage can reek havoc on these delicate systems so who knows if its causing some type of relfux. I'm pretty sure I had muscle tension dysphonia for 3 months there...wow. Maybe this all has a neurological component to it...why wouldnt it after all of that! Still at the end of the day I had something happen left side of throat deep down into where my Arytnoid of my larynx is, maybe its chondritis, Maybe I'll never know...fyi otc pain killers do very little if nothing and im totally fine when I sleep and for about 30 minutes in the morning till thing cranks up. Sure makes you focus on the pain, changes your whole perception on life and how people must suffer. Maybe not a bad lesson but I think by now I've learned mine.

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