Hi @sysrup! Welcome to our awesome forum!
I’m sorry for the symptoms you’re having, but unfortunately, they do sound like ES symptoms. Elongated styloids/calcified stylohyoid ligaments can cause compression of up to 6 of our cranial nerves. The ones that seem most often to be affected are the glossopharyngeal (GN), trigeminal (TN), facial, & vagus nerves. Both the GN & vagus can cause throat pain w/ the GN being most likely to be the perpetrator. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kmx8ZYqhGIo
Our moderator, Jules, wrote a couple of long, but very thorough posts about ES symptoms & it’s worthwhile reading them as they will help answer your questions about symptoms. As scary as surgery may sound, in general, it’s very successful & that throat pain you’re suffering with would most likely go away once your styloids are removed. Dr. Samji in the San Jose area is one of the most experienced ES surgeons on our Doctors List. It would be worthwhile contacting his office to see about either an in person or video appt w/ him. He will want a copy of your CT scan on disc & the written radiology report before he’ll commit to seeing you. He did my surgeries in 2014 & 2015 which turned my life around as my symptoms were pretty debilitating.
I hope this info is helpful for you.