Laryngoscopy and scared

[DeeFish71]

I have had a call from ENT and this to be done next week. I am terrified if it's cancer.

A thyroid scan and endoscopy earlier in the year showed no cancer, but what if it's developed?

According to the letter I will receive (seen an online version of it) it says nothing about general anaesthetic or not eating for several hours. So I assume its a tube down throat procedure.

My sore throat has been ongoing for 8 1/2 months now and I am terrified I am going to get really awful news in time for Xmas. I also have breathlessness, tight chest, anxiety and still not got the results of my 24 hour ECG. Also ongoing rib pain.

Anyone have any advice on what to expect? Thank you.

[DeeFish71]

Thanks for replying. I had the scan and no goitre was found. Reflux was ruled out at the first ENT appointment too. It's been an awful year. Glad you are ok x

[thyroidmom84 in reply to DeeFish71]

That’s great news!

[DeeFish71]

That is a great help - I have always suspected pill induced esophagus, no thanks to those Doxycycline pills I took in April for a chest infection but no doctor believes me and I cannot understand why the first ENT appointment would not shown this up. Thanks for the link x

[Sem74]

Hi

deefish7

Could you describe what sort of sore throat are you having??

d is you notice your voice changed?

I have had pain in my right side of my throat ;just above thyroid

it was like pain every time I swallow,I'm waiting USG scan

[DeeFish71 in reply to Sem74]

Hi there. The pain is intermittent but there every day. Dry throat when wake up (think its because I breathe through my mouth), then the constricted and tight feeling. My voice can sound so croaky at times but others normal. The Doctors thought it was reflux at first and gave me omeprazole but they didn;t work and ENT said i just had swollen lymph nodes and no reflux so came off them *(glad to as well - they absolutely ruined my body, lost 7 pounds in weight after coming off them). The throat stings a lot of the time lately. I have been trying Lockets sweets but they don;t really do anything long lasting and not keen on keep eating them. Best of luck with your Scan and hope it comes through soon and please keep us updated .

[RockyPath]

The scope is a tiny camera which (prepare yourself) they thread down your throat via your nose. You will be sitting on the edge of the examining table and, prior to the scope being poked up your nose, they will spray a topical anesthetic everywhere they can reach (nose and throat), and wait for it to take effect.

The procedure is brief and quite memorable but I would characterize it as uncomfortable, but not at all painful.

The camera allows the examiner to see which tissues are inflamed and registering as sore throat. When I went in for this exam, I had inflamed laryngeal tissues, which were attributed to GERD, but the examiner was projecting her own disorder on me (she had acid reflux). I simply had an infection, which cleared after another week or so.

If your longstanding sore throat is due to acid reflux (GERD) they will want to prescribe a proton pump inhibitor (fancy antacid), which will impair your digestive ability. If you're in this group due to Hashimotos, your digestion is already somewhat compromised. Hence, it's a bad idea to accept the GERD hypothesis outright and take prescription proton pump inhibitors for the rest of your life.

There are lots of possible causes of sore throat, particularly with hypothyroidism, so please try not to focus on the worst possible and least likely. If you've already had an endoscope procedure it's unlikely they'll find something new. Those of us with Hashimotos tend to present with unusual medical mysteries.

Sending you good wishes for a positive outcome.

[DeeFish71 in reply to RockyPath]

Thank you - sounds identical to the endoscopy I had in June. The doctors thought I had silent reflux in April/May and prescribed Omeprazole but they did not do anything for me and the symptoms kept coming and going and could not be connected to any one food or drink. The ENT doctor said it was NOT reflux and I had swollen lymph nodes due to an infection and using Difflam spray would help and it would be gone in a couple of weeks. The spray was useless and it never went away. Just more and more new symptoms by the week. Glad to come off those Omeprazole things - they made me gain weight and then lose 7 pounds after I stopped them over a few months. I think they have contributed to more thyroid problems. Thanks for your reply and good wishes xx

[LAHs]

Are you taking any medication? If you are, make sure you are swilling it down with at least 8 fl ozs of water in order to get it into your stomach. I can guarantee a sore throat if I just pop my pill and swallow it with saliva - which I can do, but it's not a good idea. The pill can stick to your esophagus and start getting absorbed there. The esophagus lining is not meant to absorb stuff, that's the job of the stomach, you can permanently damage your esophagus lining by letting pills lurk around for 15 minutes or so. Make sure you swill them down, get them into your stomach asap.

[DeeFish71 in reply to LAHs]

I do that - I have a pint of water when I take any pills but for some reason something had not gone down quite right which I cannot understand.

[DeeFish71]

It hurt the last time I had it. What is the difference between Laryngoscopy and endoscopy though?? This has been 8 and a half months and there are other symptoms too like bruised and sore ribs, easily catching colds, shortness of breath, anxiety, chest pain and ectopic heartbeat all since this wretched virus happened. Thank you anyhow. I just feel this will never be over and they will never find what's wrong and i have to live the rest of my life in this pain.

[DeeFish71]

I have had an underactive thyroid for over 11 years and regular blood tests, but they come back normal. I have been advised to get Medichecks tests done but at the moment just plain cannot afford to. I just worry about cancer as it's been going on so long and nobody seems to know what it is, plus I had unexplained weight loss (7 pounds in about 2 months and not put it back on). It is not reflux or glandular fever, which doctors wasted months on saying it was. I suppose I worry about cancer as I do smoke, and lost a friend recently to the disease and another friend of mine's husband has terminal thyroid cancer and it terrifies me I could be next.I still think it's Ord's thyroid but my doctor refuses to listen to me as never heard of it and Endochronology refused to see me as "my blood tests were normal". I have tested positive for a few small gallstones (which surprised the lady scanning me as I am not overweight). It seems to move in cycles - one hour it's the ribs, then the throat constricts, then my sinuses sting, then I am short of breath. Yet nobody can understand it. Thanks for your reply xx

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to DeeFish71]

Ask your GP to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12

On just Levothyroxine we frequently have very low vitamin levels and low FT3

Low Ft3 linked to high cholesterol, fibromyalgia, and AFib