Wondering,

This could be a myriad of different conditions in the head and neck...however...just for peace of mind get an appointment with an Ear Nose and Throat Surgeon and ask for a scope of your Oropharynx area, specifically your base of tongue & tonsils.

Understand that your cranial nerves are 12 paired nerves in the head and neck area, and are very closely tied together. Your tongue is actually innervated by 5 of these cranial nerves, but most associated with the CN-IX nerve, also known as the Glossalpharyngeal nerve. A tumor in the base of the tongue could cause the issues you are describing, even the nerve sensations and would be difficult to catch with an MRI.

The reason I even point this out is that the fastest growing subset of oral cancers are HPV related and will present in either the tonsils or base of tongue, and as we on these forums know all to well, 80% of the population will have contact with at least one form of HPV by the time they are 50, so it's plausible, if only a long shot, that you may have a tumor presenting in this area.

Get it checked out, even bring my write up to your ENT and have him or her contact the Oral Cancer Foundation for more information on this, but be your own advocate and continue to look for answers.

I hope this helps, but just remember....you DON'T have cancer unless a biopsy says you do as biopsies are the only way to tell if you have cancer, imaging won't.

Eric