Throat Issues

[NikkiNicole]

I've been having a problem lately and I would like to bounce it off my fellow esteemed Weggies, if I may.

My throat hurts every day. It hurts like I'm fighting a cold but it never seems to progress from the throat pain to an actual cold. I have a scratchy voice 50% of the time to the point that people ask me "Are you sick?" and ... I can't sing anymore. My voice cracks and it feels like my throat is closing when I am singing. It's weird. Then, there's the lovely neck/jaw cramps when I am chewing even the softest of things.

This has been awhile with the throat pain and scratchy voice. I keep chalking it up to eventually getting a cold but ... with the increased joint pain that I am having I am a little worried.

There was a lapse in medication for at least a month as I switched from MTX to CellCept. I have a small dose right now until I do labs on Monday and then if everything checks out I will be going to the full dose of CellCept. Doc suggested a short taper of Prednisone but, I don't want to take that if I don't have to.

And yet, at the same time, I feel like things are slowly trickling downhill. I've never had throat issues like this before. Not to mention the joint pain is daily ... even on days where I don't walk a lot.

Seriously ... does anyone else have these throat things?

[Alysia]

Dear Nikki, I am sorry things are not getting better for you, and I apologize for not writing back to your threads here in the last months.
while I was smoldering I had constant sore throat. I checked for strep A. sometimes I had it and got antibiotics. sometimes not. you need to check it. but you should also consider that this might means wg activity together with the joints pains.. sorry. isn't it time to give you rtx, after so much suffering and useless meds ?

[NikkiNicole]

Thank you Alysia. I am waiting til my bloodwork results before I push harder. I get to raise the dose of CellCept to get to the full dose soon and I am hoping that helps. If not ... I'll be pushing for RTX again.

[drz]

Post nasal drip has affected my voice. People often asked if I had a cold or if I was sick.

[MikeG-2012]

I have a constant sore throat that is slowly going away. Mine is caused by the staff infection from my sinuses draining to the back of the throat, and accumulating there. ENT looked at it one morning and noticed a slight tonsillitis, and prescribed a 2 week course of antibiotic for the tonsillitis. Well, te major sore throat is gone, but the mild one persists.

Sounds gross, but the only thing that clears that particular crusting is to rinse my nose and let a little run out my mouth, then I sort it out the back side--trying not to snort it down too far, or else I gag, cough, throw up, etc. This is really the only sinus issue I have right now, finally!!

[im so blessed]

Hey Nikki! Missed u on here. I dont wanna be dramatic at all. But in my tracheal stenosis it was left go for about 9 months and chalked off as...pg hormones..allergy's ....dry air. When we finally thought to look for a stenosis there was so much scar tissue that balooning it was not an option and he had to just remove some scar tissue instead. We would have had a much better end result had we found it much sooner! Get to an ENT and be scoped...it will be worth it

[annekat]

Post nasal drip has affected my voice. People often asked if I had a cold or if I was sick.

People are constantly asking me if I have a cold. That is one of the most annoying things, having to tell them I don't, that it is something else, and it is not contagious. Their next question is, "is it allergies, then?". I'm to the point of saying, "yeah, something like that", since allergies are an immune system response, and it is now allergy season where I live. I'm tired of trying to explain vasculitis or autoimmune conditions and getting a blank stare, especially to someone like a cashier in a store. What they need to know is that it's nothing contagious. Aside from that rant, I've been lucky enough not to have a sore throat through most of this. So, I'm sorry that people are dealing with that.

[NikkiNicole]

I am lucky enough now to have a raging sore throat and ... a kidney infection. The two are not related of course, unless they were both caused by my friend WG.
I did my check up labs today to see if I can bump up to the full dose of CellCept.
And ... I should have listened to the little voice and stayed home from work today.

[BookNut]

I do NOT have WEGS, but I have chronic sinusitis, which causes similar throat and nasal symptoms. As a result, I have a constant, slightly sore throat, and a hoarse voice. I too have lost my singing voice. Very frustrating, as I had looked forward to joining a choral group in my retiremwnt. Oh well...that ship has sailed. I can second the recommendations of nasal rinse. It does help. If you have a lot of post nasal drip, you might find guifenisen (Mucinex) to be helpful. If I find myself losing my sense of smell, I start taking it for a couple of weeks. If it gets especially bad, I have to take an antibiotic to combat the streptococcus aureus bacteria which also causes bronchitis. The constant post nasal drip causes my asthma to act up as well. I never had adthma till the sinusitis started up....so it is probably wise to get control of that to avoid lung involvement. Good Luck!!!

[Alysia]

I am lucky enough now to have a raging sore throat and ... a kidney infection. The two are not related of course, unless they were both caused by my friend WG.
I did my check up labs today to see if I can bump up to the full dose of CellCept.
And ... I should have listened to the little voice and stayed home from work today.

Dear Nikki, kidney infection is too serious. I am sorry. I think that you MUST rule out wg activity in the kidney. asap.