throat issues

[JayneR]

Is anyone else having issues with their throat, I have blisters in my throat and it causes problems with eating, swallowing and often bouts of coughing..

I’ve had a camera down, but they say it’s not an infection but might be a reaction to RA meds - not thyroid but my lymph nodes are enlarged..

Has anyone else had these issues..

[Chester1975]

Sorry to hear this. I get a lot of mouth ulcers and I know it’s when I’m run down, so I take a spoonful of green powder every other morning mixed with water to keep my vitamins topped up. I also gargle with a little bit of TCP in water when they start and when I feel a sore throat starting. It clears it up almost immediately or within a couple of days. Xx

[cyberbarn]

Problems with my throat were a lot worse before I was diagnosed. I had a sore throat for six months, with the back of my throat very red all that time. Useless GP said it was I virus and would be gone in a week. I pointed out it had been there for six months, so he finally referred me to ENT and then rheumatology.

ENT got all excited about 'silent reflux' so I pointed out the only silent thing is my voice, no one seems to listen to me! But he said it was mild, just take PPIs.

I tried again with an ENT a few years later, this time in the pandemic and he said you're just getting old, don't worry about it, just keep taking the PPIs. So I stopped taking the PPIs because they made no difference other than to upset my stomach!

I have since found out that the little bones in your neck both from your spine but also your hyoid bone, can be involved, and when I got the diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis it all started to make sense, the pain in my neck probably wasn't from inside my throat, but from outside my oesophagus.

I also have an under active thyroid, but when I was on methotrexate it started working a bit better, so I suspect the inflammation from the arthritis and the thyroid was irritating nerves in my neck, because as one of the ENTs explained, it is a small space with only so many nerves, so sometimes they send confusing signals back to the brain.

So 10 years later I still have a sore throat, it is still really red, but I just ignore it. If it turns out to be cancer one day I will enjoy channelling my inner Spike Milligan and say. 'I told you I was ill!'

[medway-lady]

I assume you've had a blood test to rule anything sinister out ? if not try not to worry but talk to GP and ask about blood test to check the lymph nodes. I'd suggest keeping a food diary too, in case it's an allergy. And if you're taking some medications like MTX or AZA then we get prescribed a stomach protector too to stop ulcers so might it might be acid reflux? I take AZA with food so no need for stomach protectors so worth checking. I hope it resolves soon.

[LucyZuma]

yes. I have RA and my throat bothers me to swallow and sometimes burns. I found naxaproxen or alleve works really good to fix the discomfort. I hope this helps

[Hisue]

I had mouth ulcers with mtx, which were abated by taking Rx folic acid.

[emmajj1971]

Go back to your consultant it could be due to meds or another auto immune condition

[Posseteria]

stomach acid ra

[MistyDay]

Try a pinch of bicarb in your drinking water. It works as.well as PPIs, without the side effects and it reduces any effects of excess acid which may come from the stomach.It works for me for Laryngitis and a dry throat.