Where to next with throat issues?

[Horsey07]

I had the results of my barium swallow and nothing abnormal was found. Despite that my swallowing problems are getting worse and I can’t bear anything around my neck because of the discomfort it causes. The ENT doctor won’t carry out any further tests, is there anything I can do to help myself?

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Previous post with full results

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Confirms autoimmune thyroid disease

Have you had coeliac blood test done yet

Are you now on strictly gluten free diet

Presumably you are working on improving low vitamin levels

Retest again 2-3 months after last test

[Horsey07 in reply to SlowDragon]

Thank you, I’ve just managed to switch GP practice and will make an appointment with my new GP next week. According to the B12 group my bloods are all in range so I haven’t ordered any extra tests and will now be getting top ups of the vitamins per your recommendations. Do you think a full food intolerance test would be useful? Next step will be to try gluten free diet (that’s going to be a tough one for me).

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Horsey07]

Also all thyroid patients should avoid all soya

Gluten free is easier than it seems

Lots of GF options available

[Horsey07 in reply to SlowDragon]

I’ve just baked some gluten free oat and raisin biscuits. Doves Farm have a range of gluten free flours. I’m not a soya fan; too much environmental damage so that’s an easy one.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Horsey07]

I love Doves farm flour, makes great cakes

I do far more baking now. No one ever realises the cakes are gluten free

[Horsey07 in reply to SlowDragon]

I’m from a family of bakers and I’ve baked for as long as I can remember. Baking is satisfying and good for the soul. I mastered sourdough during lockdown, now it’s time to master gluten free. My grandparents owned a bakery.

[Lalatoot]

I find the exercises here helphey.nhs.uk/patient-leaflet/...

[Horsey07 in reply to Lalatoot]

Thank you, that looks very interesting.

[DippyDame]

I find swallowing is affected if I'm undermedicated.

A month ago your results indicated undermedication...or a need to be medicated!

Medics are quick to blame other conditions before thoroughly investigating thyroid function. They seem to forget/misunderstand the importance, to the whole body, of the thyroid gland.

[Imaaan]

Hi,

Aside from low levels of thyroid being the cause I found that my throat tightness increased when I drank milk (cow) and ate eggs( chicken) and gluten. I only stumbled on it when I eliminated them (4 weeks). Also silent reflux can cause a tight/choking sensation.

Maybe you can ask your family physician to send you for an ultrasound or even a ct scan of the throat. I asked mine and she obliged.

Hope you get some answers

[Horsey07 in reply to Imaaan]

That’s useful, thank you. I don’t want to eliminate too many things from my diet; I’m a vegetarian, and picky with it, but if eliminating gluten doesn’t work I’ll start trying other things. I’ll have a chat with my new GP, too. Hopefully they’ll be more helpful than the last one.

[Imaaan in reply to Horsey07]

You can always try alternatives instead of eliminating. Once I realized that I had issues with cow dairy and chicken eggs I replaced them with goat milk and duck eggs.

Wishing you all the best with the new GP

[Horsey07 in reply to Imaaan]

Thank you.

[london81]

throat issues were the main thing i had that took me to a doctors office ( realised later the gut issues, weight gain and fatigue were linked but the throat freaked me out and i ended up in a&e)nothing of note was found and i had the usual speculations of “ acid reflux”

anyway 7 years later my throat is much better. i attribute the following:

going gluten free

reducing stress

healing my gut ( probitics, elimination diet, enzymes, glutamine)

moving out of london where the pollution and stress added to my issues

hope it’s helpful

[Horsey07 in reply to london81]

That’s very helpful, thank you. Janie Bowthorpe writes a lot about healing the gut and reducing stress as much as possible. I’m off to Holland and Barrett in the morning to see what they have.

[london81 in reply to Horsey07]

i take probio7 which i read had a strain useful for gas, that was a big issue for me

eliminating trigger foods and starting on glutamine helped and now i’ve reintroduced a lot of stuff except gluten

i would reccomend reading izabella wentz website regarding probiotics to see what type might suit you based on your symptoms

i found going gluten free really essential

good luck