throat

[anbuma]

hi does anyone have a tightness in their neck.i have.mine is from the top of my collar bone up to top of neck.it feels very sore(on ends of collarbone)and quite lumpy my cough came back last night and everytime i lay down I would cough .

[Hidden]

Just an off the cuff thing.... If your cough is dry and only at night .... Do you have or have you been checked for asthma for some people the start of asthma is a dry cough only at night ... I am not saying it is ...but just wondered if your dr had ruled this out as a suggestion.

VG x

[anbuma in reply to Hidden]

I think it is dry and it is mostly at night.i haven't recently been checked for asthma but the dr did prescribe me an inhaler some time ago but I couldn't get the hang of it,(probably sounds stupid)I first saw my DR sometime ago -I think last September-and he said that my chest was fine and did no more.when I went to A&E a while ago cos I couldn't get an appointment to see him -he was the dr on duty and gave me a mouthwash to use which seemed to help but not rid of it completely.i have just had a ct scan to check my sinuses but have to wait 2 weeks for results.

[ladymoth]

I get a dry cough all the time, worse at night, and it's due to medication that I take for high blood pressure. Just saying - maybe it's a side effect of medication?

Moffy x

[anbuma in reply to ladymoth]

I suppose it could be - mine started about last august and my meds have been the same for years.

[anbuma]

you aren't a know all .did anyone say you were??my chest is fine -my concern is the tightness in my neck/throat.i told both my dr and rheumatologist that I had lost weight in sept which is why I am concerned its more than fibro/raynauds and because my stomach is so much bigger..my dr ddi weigh me but he said my weight was the same.taht doesn't account for the weight gain in my abdomen and loss elsewhere.

[Jjudith]

I had this on the left hand side of my neck, I saw a specialist privately who gave me a trigger point injection into my neck and it instantly cured it. I have myofascial pain syndrome which about 70% of people with fibromyalgia have, and it causes trigger points to develop and with it the fascia of the muscle distorts and the muscles shorten.

[Frangi-pan in reply to Jjudith]

Just been reading down the answers with the thought in mind that my tight feeling and sore collar bone ends were almost instantly relieved by a stellate ganglion injection. Aaaahhh! heaven... also had trouble swallowing a 'lump' just below that investigations failed to identify - only to disappear with same injection! Then I saw Jjudith's post - so happy to hear it helped you too Jjudith : )

Not saying it's the answer to Life, The Universe & Everything (that's 42 after all), but worth bearing in mind ; )

Happy gentle hugs All

[anbuma in reply to Frangi-pan]

hi frangi-pan.just read your blog SO I CAN SHOW THIS TO MY dr when I see him next week and tell him that things aren't in my imagination.my abdomen is much more swollen tonight and very hard to touch around navel especially.

[Frangi-pan in reply to anbuma]

Hi anbuma... poor you. really difficult especially when you don't know what is happening. are you in pain where the swelling is? hope all goes well with doc... x

[anbuma in reply to Frangi-pan]

hi

did your gp give the injection and was that painful at the time? i have never heard of it before.my dr says its bloating tho he hasn't ever actually said that to me.as I have always said I believe it to be a cyst or tumour one reason cos of the weight gain which is all abdominal.it can be very uncomfortable especially at night and I have had these pea -sized hard lumps all over my tummy.no one says what they are only that they cant feel them.have pre op assessment next week hope will give me the chance to find out what it is either then or when i have my op(gallstones /gallbladder removal)

XX

[Frangi-pan in reply to anbuma]

no, not gp - doc from pain management clinic in hospital daycare. it was very painful at the time but sooo worth it. she injected lower spine too so even went back to bike riding!!!! weight dropped off once I was freed up. waiting for part 2 just now as I slipped over 3mths ago and set everything off again...

good luck for all tests etc. x

[anbuma in reply to Jjudith]

hello Jjudith

what exactly is a trigger point injection and was it painful?i haven't heard of myofascial pain syndrome,does it affect appearance?

[Jjudith in reply to anbuma]

When you have myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) the muscle has a knot in it called a trigger point, the muscle distorts and shortens, then the covering of the muscle (the fascia) becomes distorted and the whole thing causes the pain to keep getting worse - pain itself causes more trigger points to form. As 70% of fibromites have MPS, it is important. Trigger point injections are directed into that trigger point (which can vary from the size of a pinhead to the size of a pea), and they cause it to release immediately, with immediately relief of pain, like magic. You can also have trigger point massage, which presses on the knot until it disperses - either from a therapist, or you can learn how to do it on your own body. The injection it not at all painful, although most doctors add a local anaesthetic into the jab. The trigger point massage is excruciatingly painful, but funnily enough it is also sort of enjoyable, that is how you know you are on a trigger point, the pain is very specific and they call it 'exquisite pain' and you will recognise it the minute you feel it, and also, it often as you press the trigger point it refers to another part of the body, such as you can press on the calf and get the pain in your foot, or you can press on a trigger point in the neck and get the pain radiating to the top of the head. I do my own trigger point massage in moslty now, it means I can deal with pain immediately and not have to wait until I see a practitioner, it is also free; I taught myself from a book by Clare Davies called Trigger Point Therapy Workbook.

MPS doesn't affect appearance, although I do have a very slight permanent spasm remaining in the left side of my face, but barely noticeable. But it does cause things like tinnitus, poor balance, muscle weakness, double vision or blurred vision,TMJ., etc., and also, I have recently found out that it can cause Interstitial Cystitis (IC), which I also have, and I am trying to find a practioner in UK who can do the trigger point therapy for IC but not easy, and I can't reach the trigger points myself. .

I am really surprised that pain clinics in UK do not employ trigger point therapists yet, and the ones that are trained in UK are not really trained anywhere near the standard of USA therapists. President John Kennedy had MPS and a doctor called Janet Travell was resident in the White House to deal with his pain; she wrote the first book about trigger points. I am thinking that one day I would like to go to Pittsburg USA and do a course - it is the best trigger point course in the world.

[anbuma in reply to Jjudith]

when you say trigger points can vary to the size of a pea could that be what the pea sized lumps I have in my tummy be?no dr I have seen has ever mentioned anything like this.

[Jjudith in reply to anbuma]

Firstly, amazingly in UK few doctors even so called specialists in fibromyalgia know about MPS and its link to fibromyalgia, and even fewer are aware of trigger points. Yet it is so well documented in so many books, apart from the two classic books by Jannet Travell, there are even books that show photographs of muscles with trigger points from autopsy, or scans showing trigger points (such as a book written for doctors, called Muscle Pain by Doctors Mense and Simons), so they can't be denied. There are even hospitals that specialise in myofascial pain in US.You have a lot of big muscles in your tummy area, so they could be trigger points. If they are active, pressing on them will cause pain, if they are latent then this may not cause any pain, but they have the potential for causing pain, so they should be treated. Either learn how to treat them yourself or find a trigger point therapy specialist, or a specialist who stretches the myofascia, who works in your area, but unfortunately you will have to pay yourself as this valuable treatment isn't available on the NHS. A good book written by a UK specialist is Fibromyalgia and Myofascial Pain Syndrome by Dr. Chris Jenner, a good book on trigger points is by an American woman who has fibro and MPS, her name is Devin Starlanyl and her book is Fibromyalgia and Chronic Myofascial Pain (which is the name for MPS in USA). You can get second hand copies of both on websites that sell second hand books like Amazon. Another good second hand book (you can only get it second hand because it isn't in print) is a book called Pain Erasure by Bonnie Prudden, she gives lots of stretch exercises that prevent trigger points and myofascial pain from forming. I was forced to learn all about my own illnesses because doctors knew little about it, my GP now recognises that I know a lot more than him and we just have an agreement that mostly works and suits him and me; I research, I organise and manage my own treatment and if I do need any medication that is available on the NHS (mostly I can only take Diazepam) I explain why I need it at this moment in time, and provide the research documents, we have a bit of a discussion and he usually agrees with me when shown good quality evidence. And by doing this I am gradually getting better, but it has cost me tens of thousands, doing courses, buying books and special equipment, going to lectures, paying for private investigations and treatment sometimes in countries outside UK, and most people with fibro, MPS and Interstitial Cystitis are trapped by poverty and can't afford the things I can. So I try to help by passing on facts where I find them. I hope it helps you, this is the least i can do. Love and hugs xx

[Jjudith]

ps - with the myofascial pain I had dizziness so severe it gave me nausea and so I also found it really difficult to keep my weight up, I had to take food supplements such as Complan to keep my weight up or I would have lost a lot of weight. That has gone now - in some ways I feel a bit sorry as the pounds pile on! But on the good side I do enjoy cooking and eating again.

[Hidden]

My OH developed asthma 10 years ago ... His started with a dry cough only at night which the GP said was the most unusual form of asthma .... Because we didnt know a dry cough could be the start of asthma he didnt go to the GPs till one night it bought on a full asthma attack.. He has since gone on to develop bronchiectasis, again puzzling all his consultants as it is identical in both lungs and he has never smoked ..

[LindseyMid in reply to Hidden]

A cough at night is apparently (according to my daughter's GP) a common way for asthma to start in young children.

[Hidden]

Where did i ever say i had vast medical expertise? ... some slight embellishment on your part there. Please check the Internet if you don't believe me. I have the proof sitting next to me .. My OH .... Sorry you don,t agree .. but the facts are there on the Internet ... It was the fact my OH had no chesty cough or wheezing that led us to ignore it until he had a full blown asthma attack in the early hours of the morning he has been on inhalers since and I am sure you will be happy to know he manages his asthma very well.

VG x

[Hidden]

I didnt dispute that it was a disease of the lungs ... I merely asked had anbuma mentioned asthma to her GP as she had a persistant dry cough only at night exactly the same as my OH

I know you have asthma I do read all the posts... And I didnt say anything you said was incorrect ... Neither did I state that you didnt know your own illness I just added my first hand experience as something for anbuma to maybe ask about.

VG x

[anbuma]

I have a drs appt next week to see if its my glands that are swollen or something else

[Jjudith in reply to anbuma]

Good luck - hope you have the one-in-a-thousand doctor that really understands!! Hugs xx

[Ginsing]

anbuma I wish you luck with the Docs, my son has had this dry cough for 5 weeks the docs are saying it is a reoccurance of asthma and suggest honey with cinamon to ease it. He is 34 years old used to have asthma as a child quite severely and is holy un convinced by all the doc says. I suggested he ask for chest x ray to put his mind at rest. So we will see. His Glands are swollen and he has a sore throat but as he his barking all the time it is not surprising. There are so many different ways to HAVE coughs etc your best bet is to just keep bothering the doc untill you are satisfied with the result. Good luck xgins

[CarolePer]

I had recurrent throat problems since chilhood. Got tonsils out in late thirties (age, not 1930's)

First recognised fibro flare was post strep throat.

2 years ago current flare up started with ear pain and cold like symptoms which were always worse at night.

Colonoscopy showed post nasal drip due to build up of gases while supine causing reflux, burning throat And causing chronic rhinitis in the morning.

New GP so thinks sleep apnoea as I waken suddenly as I feel as is throat is closing.

Too 'feart' to go to sleep clinic as yet.

Might be wortb asking about.

Gentle hugs.

Carole

X

[anbuma]

have to wait a month to see dr again(re new meds)but in meantime I have written another letter airing my views and concerns-basically telling of my weight loss /gain and asking a couple of questions and fro a scan on my neck? .do I send it?i noticed at my appts my dr has lost weight and looks quite drawn.is it me stressing him with my concerns (I am not saying he is at fault)drs in general