I'll be brief ... but need advice or questions answered ... thanks..
soreness in throat started about 12 weeks ago... also at that time if someone touched my neck (throat) it felt like they were choking me...
two weeks later went to Dr. - did test for strept ...did not have ... gave me zirtromicin and steroid shot... a week later no improvement ... went back to dr. he felt a lump on my left side under my jaw... gave me bactrin - antibiotic and another steroid shot... a week later no improvement .. got worse... was choking on food and when swallowed ... dr. sent me to ENT dr. ... had a ct scan .... ENT said looked like a limph node was a little swollen but that was all he could see... put me on vioxx ... and more steriods... a week later no improvement ... had me start taking 300mg. of zantax for reflux possibility ...
fast forward to today .... just left the ENT ... he put a scope down my nose and into my throat ... said my vocal cords looked a little swollen but that was all he could see... still in pain ...
another prescription of steriods ... keep taking vioxx... and keep taking zantax and see him in another week ...
I get the feeling that he is just giving this time to see if is going to go away before he takes it serious ...
I have had very little sleep over the past several days because I have started snoring so loud that I wake myself up ( never snored before) or I wake up choking and coughing ....
one more thing ... before I satarted taking the steroids I saw an increase in weight from 184 lbs. to 202 lbs. in approx. 6 - 8 weeks.

any suggestions about what I should do next or should I just keep following the ENT 's directions ????
tahnks any advice would be helpful.
george

George -
I would ask them to do a CT scan of neck and throat, just to be on the safe side.

Ruth

George, have you considered a tooth/gum abscess, bone infection, root canal gone bad? Maybe a trip to your dentist would yield some results. Just a thought . . .

Marykate

Also, start reading up on thyroid conditions, and then follow-up with some reading on andropause [the male equivalent of menopause]. Most of the commonly used thyroid tests are unreliable because they focus on only one or two of the most common of the many possible problem areas.

Here's the link for thyroid conditions:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/thyroiddiseases.html

Although the andropause article mostly discusses reproductive consequences, there are many other problems such as osteoporosis, heart disease, Type II diabetes, weight gain [with muscle loss], cognitive function [memory], etc. Follow the links from this article for more information.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/004017.htm



[This message has been edited by Jay Tor (edited 06-24-2002).]

i have the same problem except my neck is not sore. i went to the doctor a couple of months ago i had step throat well she put me on 2 different kinds of antibotic caause it wouldnt go away well it finally helped but its right back again. its weird one day it will hurt and the next day it will be fine again my throat looks kinda bad so i dont know what to think my doctor keeps telling my its allergies i dont think so never had them. well good luck on yours