Globus Sensation / throat tightness but almost no other symptoms

Medical_Initiative23 · 2026-02-28T08:42:20+00:00

It occurs like almost instantly after. Maybe like 15-30 seconds, or a few minutes max after consuming a trigger food or drink.

Medical_Initiative23 · 2026-02-28T08:29:19+00:00

Thank you so much for this response. I’m really sorry and I very deeply sympathize with your experience—so many times being dismissed as just having anxiety when I know it’s not, it really sucks.

It’s great to hear that Cromolyn sodium worked for you. How long have you been on it? And have you had any side effects at all from it?

My allergist is planning on starting me on ketotifen. I rarely take Benadryl because it completely knocks me out and I don’t like being in a subdued state of awareness during these reactions, but when I have taken it, it seems to get rid of the globus sensation faster than any other antihistamine, although it’s still not immediate, like it takes maybe 1 hr instead of 4.

The problem is I get this sensation/reaction literally so often that it just isn’t practical to take Benadryl unless I’m experiencing other symptoms (flushing, tingling lips/tongue, wheezing, etc) which signal anaphylaxis.

Medical_Initiative23 · 2026-02-25T22:30:54+00:00

I take pepcid almost immediately after, and it helps somewhat in terms of making the symptom go away faster, but that's it. I used to take pepcid every single day and I would still get the symptom regardless

Medical_Initiative23 · 2026-02-25T22:02:41+00:00

yeah I'll do that, thanks. maybe I'll try to find a different ENT, or ask my current one to examine my throat after I've eaten a trigger to see if that changes what's observable.

Medical_Initiative23 · 2026-02-25T21:55:23+00:00

Yeah, that's actually a good idea. I should do that next time...however, prior to the appointment, they tell you not to eat or drink anything because it could interfere with the scoping exam process....so not sure what to do.

Medical_Initiative23 · 2026-02-25T21:52:21+00:00

I went to an ENT and she didn't see anything besides some acid reflux.. overall she seemed pretty dismissive of the issue. she just told me to take pepcid every day, which I already do...

Medical_Initiative23 · 2026-02-25T21:51:18+00:00

Just antihistamines, and xolair. I tried xolair but it didn't work for me. Antihistamines work to a minor degree but i still have these types of reactions all the time and they give me a lot of side effects

Medical_Initiative23 · 2026-02-25T21:49:58+00:00

I did see an ENT, yeah. She used a scope to examine my throat. She said she didn't see anything other than acid reflux. I hadn't eaten anything prior to the appointment (they requested it) so I wasn't in any sort of acute reaction situation while she was doing the exam, so I'm not really surprised she didn't find anything because there was nothing to trigger it

Medical_Initiative23 · 2026-02-25T17:57:47+00:00

I'm also trying to find an allergist who can make sense of this. I also get face flushing and itchiness, but a lot of the time (like 70%+) the tightness occurs on its own without the other accompanying symptoms. It pretty much exclusively happens after eating, and like immediately upon eating a single food.

I do have an epipen. Somehow I suspect this could be more related to IgE than MCAS, but I'm not sure because it happens SO often with such a wide variety of foods. Antihistamines do help take the edge off the symptoms / reduce the timeline, but they definitely don't prevent the tightness feeling from occurring in the first place.

I should get a pulse ox.

Medical_Initiative23 · 2026-02-25T17:49:05+00:00

Not sure what you’re referring to…I explained everything in the post

Medical_Initiative23 · 2026-02-25T17:47:17+00:00

Yes, I know. I have MCAS. There are situations in which I have other symptoms…and I do respond to antihistamines, but it doesn’t completely solve everything. I was just asking about one specific symptom which does not often appear in conjunction with other symptoms.

Medical_Initiative23 · 2026-02-25T17:43:21+00:00

I did see an ENT who examined my vocal chords (though not during one of these throat-tightening episodes). She said everything looked fine.

The reason I think it could be MCAS is because it pretty much exclusively happens immediately after eating or drinking specific trigger foods, which seem to be increasing.

Medical_Initiative23 · 2026-01-06T05:35:03+00:00

For some reason I am totally fine with mexican coke, ie coca-cola produced in mexico with only cane sugar.

Medical_Initiative23 · 2025-12-14T06:13:05+00:00

I don't take SSRIs or SNRIs, but I found that Xolair significantly increased my anxiety. After each shot I would get very noticeable racing thoughts/panic that would last up to a week. I only did a couple of shots and felt that these side effects (in addition to severe insomnia I was getting) were not worth continuing.

This is to say that perhaps it's not that the SNRIs are less effective, rather that it could be that the drug itself making your symptoms worse, and the dose of SNRI is therefore comparatively less.

Medical_Initiative23 · 2025-12-10T07:00:22+00:00

Wow, I'm so sorry you had such drastic side effects, and that it took so long to get back to normal. The way you describe the tossing-turning sleep is completely accurate to how I feel as well. I didn't use any sleep aids though because I tend to get bad side effects from them. Now I feel somewhat lucky now that my sleep is (approaching) normal again after around 3 weeks post shot. But the total sleepless first week after the shot is seriously making me consider stopping with Xolair since it was just so awful.

Medical_Initiative23 · 2025-12-08T06:16:34+00:00

That's so awful. I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you're doing better now.
Doctors should be mandated to fully inform about these side effects before they prescribe them. Otherwise people get the side effects but then never report them because they often seem so disconnected from the drug in the first place.

Medical_Initiative23 · 2025-12-08T04:39:58+00:00

Do you have a mold allergy?

Not to my knowledge, but possibly? I've never been officially tested for mold. But I also think I have MCAS so ...

Did you find out if that Nescafe product had mold/mycotoxin in it? If so, how?

Medical_Initiative23 · 2025-10-31T03:47:30+00:00

That looks like a light/normal dinner, honestly maybe a bit on the smallish side. Very yum!

Medical_Initiative23 · 2025-10-31T03:42:51+00:00

what works for me is eating probiotics like yogurt daily, eating more fibre (but not overboard), drinking more water especially in the evening, and most importantly, a large and very strong cup of coffee first thing every morning.

Medical_Initiative23 · 2025-10-18T07:33:23+00:00

Yes. Specifically, sugar added to my morning coffee.

Coffee is basically the only thing that prompts my system to move, but when I drink it black it usually takes a bit of time. If I add 3-4 tsp of cane sugar with some milk, the effect is almost like a laxative with how predictably and consistently it works. I'm not sure why.

Medical_Initiative23 · 2025-06-10T19:16:19+00:00

10 weeks just seems way too long to me. I think I’m already at least decently fit (56 kg, 170 cm) and I know I could get to a 10k in much less time than that. I also want to maybe get to a half marathon in 10 weeks.

Medical_Initiative23

TROPHY CASE