throat full feeling for a year...

[robinzb]

I had my tonsil removed one and half year ago. one year later, my right throat, face(rare) and eye start to have this full feeling, it lasted almost a year. Right now, after using restasis, my eyes are in a good shape, but the throat pain(full feeling) is still there and its really annoying esp sometimes it becomes worse when u sit down to do ur job.

Lately, I have tried this nerve block injection once (anesthetic with steroid to throat nerve) and clonazapam. the injection didn't help me at all, the pills helps a bit, but they make me feel sleepy n thats probably why the fullfeeling becomes less troublesome.but still, i cant work properly if i keep having this drowsy feeling.

I have seen various ent doc, they said I got chronic pharyngitis, but most of them told me that the full feeling is probably not related to the pharyngitis. when I asked them whether it is because of my tonsils surgery, most of them said no as the place where the tonsils were is pretty clear. Almost all of them said there is nothing wrong n just try to bear with it.

so I gave up seeing ent specialists and try this pain specialists.but I still haven't got a clue where the full feeling is from n how i am supposed to deal with it. shall I just live with it or shall i keep seeing doctors? honestly its really hard to concentrate on my job with this full feeling in my throat going on.

anyone could help me or knows who could give me some advice? Thank you guys so much!!!

[Dotanne]

Hi Robinzb
Have you tried a lower dose of clonazapam? I only take half a tablet per day(0.25mg) and that made quite a difference to my face pain and burning tongue/dry mouth. It made my pain manageable and got me out of the depression that comes with pain. I do not feel sleepy at all. I take the 1/2 tablet in the morning as that was when my pain started and got worse through the day ( I was generally OK at night and for the first couple of hours in the morning). My theory was that if things got worse I could always take another 1/2 tab later in the day but I prefer to keep things to as low a dose as possible after having disastrous effects from SSRIs and amitrip.
It may suit you better to take the clonazapam at night before bed. I think the idea is that it quietens down the nerves that cause the pain.
I found that things gradually became better - over several weeks.
Another plus is that clonazapam is subsidised here and I don't pay anything for my prescription.
Cheers
Dot

[robinzb]

Hi, Dotanne. Thank you for your reply.
My Pain Doctor did tell me to take one tablet at night before bed. The first day after taking one tablet, i felt dizzy almost the whole day and couldn't walk properly. but in the evening, when drowsy feeling got away, the full feeling came back. so later I decided to take 1/3 (hard to cut )of the tablet in the morning and 1/3 in the afternoon if needed though it still makes me work less efficiently...

I just feel like this is not the right way to deal with the pain in the long run. I think I need sth which is more effective but with less side-effect like restasis to dry eye. I will go to see my pain doctor again and also Counselling Psychologist next week. my dry eyes are under control so now i really want to have a complete normal life rather than distracted by illness everyday like it used to be...

[robinzb]

by the way, u only take 0.25mg per day? my doctor told me to take one tablet(1mg) at night before sleep,isn't it too much? no wonder i feel so sleepy after taking it even just half tablet(0.5). I have seen my pain doctor today, he insisted that I should take one tablet (1mg) at night before sleep although it really make me feel a bit sick. I guess I should stick to ur way...

hopefully my doctor wont blame me when I go to see him next time

[robinzb]

im trying to get a way of taking this tablet to balance my throat pain(full feeling) and sleepy feeling.

ur way seems to work well on me, but i also take 0.25mg at night before sleep so that i wont have various weird dreams at sleep. i felt much better the next morning.

hey, do u think we are gonna be addicted to these drugs? My parents aren't that happy to see me taking these things, me either actually but i have to work for living

[Dotanne]

Hi Robinzb
I have thought about the addiction side of things but this is a very low dose of clonazapam and it makes my life much more manageable. Eventually when you have been symptom free for a while then you can start lowering the dose very gradually by shaving a bit off each half pill each day till you are down to nothing! (My GP's advice) I think you are doing very well with what you are doing if you are feeling good and can manage a full day's work. After all you are taking a lot less medication than before.
Many years ago my husband had a throat choking feeling after breathing in petrol fumes and he was given a valium type medication and he came right and was able to get off his pills after a few months.
With the clonazapam I am almost free of my facepain and rawness in the back of my nose and burning tongue/dry mouth - I can live normally. I was so miserable before! Many people take clonazapam. I feel much happier when this low dose works for me. I do have stupid dreams at night and don't sleep well because of hot flushes (but that wakes me up so I can put more gel in my eyes so there is a positive ? side!). My eyes are much better through the day if I keep them gooped and covered at night.
I don't think we have anything to worry about re addiction at this low dose. But we mustn't be tempted to increase the doseage to much greater levels as that is when the problems can start! Keep in touch with your Dr.

[dryeyes2]

acid reflux?

I read your question and my first thought was, have you check to see if you have acid reflux? That can cause a full feeling in your throat and irritation. Also I notice that if I sleep on my right side, I have more a problem with that and when you mentioned it being on the right side, it made me wonder if that might be the case for you. It might not be, but just thought I would throw the idea out there.

Best wishes,
dryeyes2

[robinzb]

hi, dryeyes2

normally, I dont have acid reflux.but u just mentioned which side i sleep on, i will try to sleep on the opposite side n see how it goes...

hopefully i will get good result tonight. thanks for ur tips~~