Hi everyone, first off I just want to say I've been reading through some of this forum the past few weeks and you folks are all incredible people who are going through things that most can't even imagine, yet still manage to make others, like myself, feel comfortable on here. For that I am grateful. To my story...

I am 25 years old and have been in generally good health my whole life other than some anxiety. Don't smoke and drink only on occasion. About 5 months ago I had a pretty bad upper respiratory infection that left me pretty drained for a month or so. One night during this whole thing I went to swallow a pill and it felt like it got stuck in the back of my throat, so being my anxious self I spent the whole night poking and prodding and snorting and trying to cough up a pill that wasn't there. Ever since that night I began to notice that when I eat nuts or other crunchy things little pieces get stuck in the back of my throat easier. This feeling would come and go without any pain or noticeable swelling or any symptoms.

I never thought to check out the very back of my tongue until about 3 weeks ago when the lump feeling in my throat became prominent. Now every time I swallow without food I feel this scratch or bumpy feeling on the right side of my throat. If I look in the mirror deep back on my tongue I can see that my papillae in the back that form the "V" are swollen and the area behind it has large bumps on it. If I look back as far as I possibly can I see a bigger rough area that has to be causing the sensation in my throat. Can't see real we'll though. I've also been having right ear pain and a clogged feeling off and on the past few days so I don't know what's going on. I have an appointment with the ENT tomorrow, but right now I can't find any other diagnoses that my symptoms point to other than BOT cancer even though I'm pretty young for that. Still pretty worried about this though.

Shane, welcome to OCF! I sure hope you do not need to be here! Im very glad you already have your ENT appointment so will be going right away. Hopefully they will be able to diagnose this easily and its NOT oral cancer. Best wishes with your appointment, keep us posted.

There can be many causes for your symptoms, not just cancer, which is less likely than others, but it's best to get checked out by an ENT. Good luck with your appointment.

Thanks for the encouragement. The ENT felt my neck area and stuck the camera down my nose to check everything out and said he didn't see anything concerning. He showed me the video and I didn't even see anything that could be causing the lump feeling. I'm starting to think the ear pain is from opening my mouth and sticking my tongue out as far as possible 20 times a day. I've always had a swooshing and popping in that side of my jaw. Going to stop poking and prodding my neck and mouth for a few days and see how it feels. Thanks again.

Shane,

You might have Acid Reflux. I felt the same way I thought I had throat cancer my surgeon told me to take prilosec 20mg twice a day it's over the counter. You might want to give it a try it won't hurt you. See if that helps the feeling of a lump in the throat.

Connie

Your description about the pill and crunchy things like nuts feeling like they get stuck sound like something I had many, many years ago.
It was a pouch which is a pocket in the throat. It may cause difficulty in swallowing, sensation of a lump in the throat and troublesome regurgitation of food. Food may become lodged in the pouch.
Seem to remember the first ENT did not see it but some time later another did. Over time it fixed itself.
Gabriele