hi everyone . i havent had surgery still figuring all this out , do have calcified ligaments .Have you experienced constant thick salivation almost to the point where i have to have a cup next to me to spit it out ( gross sorry) ?i had some gi issues a while back since a dr dilated mew no real reason for last july , found that had h pylori erradicated w nasty antibiotics. second endoscopy last september no discomfort after procedure ( as i did in first , different dr ) no bacteria no metaplasia . Recently i was feeling so bad that went to er and they did a barium swallow and found that a pill got stuck so decided to do another endoscopy different drs and facilities( which they found metaplasia and want to re do it im guessing to take more samples, which i wont at least not soon) and all my symptoms have flared up and I have even burning in my throat which I didn’t . i feel like i have pieces of glass on my throat, poking and can feel a lot of grindiness esp on my right side even my teeth hurt which worsens after i eat or even drink water !I had scheduled a ph impedance test for this April 24th, but afraid wont be able to tolerate the tubes since gag reflex is altered and in very much discomfort or if should even do it since it seems that every procedure aggravates .Should i wait to see an ES specialist before doing any further testing ? appreciate your feedback .thank you
@Eli - It’s good to hear from you as I’ve been concerned since you sounded so sick last time you posted. We have members who’ve mentioned having problems with thick saliva & others who’ve had hypersalivation (i.e. produced too much saliva). It sounds like you have a mixture of the two. You can find posts about both of those problems by clicking on the magnifying glass image in the upper right of this page & typing in “thick saliva”, “hypersalivation”, &/or “saliva” & lists of posts that mention those things will come up for you to read. It will be helpful for you to see what other people have experienced and how they dealt with it. One post mentions gargling and rinsing with salt water helped with the thick saliva so you could try doing that several times/day.
Metaplasia in the stomach can indicate a pre-cancerous condition so it is something you should follow-up with sooner than later. To my mind, that would be more urgent than getting the pH impedance test done.
The pain in your throat could be from your styloids irritating your glossopharyngeal nerve. An irritated vagus nerve can also contribute to throat pain & stomach pain. Pain in the teeth, if the teeth are healthy, is usually caused by the trigeminal nerve being irritated which it often is w/ ES. I’m not sure why, but people who have calcified stylohyoid ligaments but normal length styloids seem to comment more often about the feeling of grinding or popping when swallowing than those who have elongated styloids with or without calcified stylohyoid ligaments.
With the huge amount of pain your styloidhyoid ligaments are potentially causing, it would benefit you to see one of the ENTs on our list, if possible, to get a solid ES diagnosis & discuss surgery to get those ligaments removed, however, it’s also very critical that you take care of the problem in your stomach, too. I do understand your hesitation to get your stomach treated when every procedure amplifies your ES pain.
It’s my opinion, that you should work on both at the same time if you can. Get an ENT appt. ASAP to figure out what to do about your ligaments, & follow-up with the gastroenterologist who wants to do further testing on your stomach. Let the gastroenterologist know that the testing he’s doing is increasing symptoms from ES, & ask if there’s anything that can be done before, during or after the procedure to help prevent irritation to the nerves in your throat & face.
I hope others will join this conversation & express their opinions.
thank you so much Isaiah for replying . i had an awful 5 day stay at the hospital where every procedure done has aggravated and created new symptoms before the burning was mostly in roof of mouth now is even all in my esophagus the grinding is crazy . i regert going there even though its a very well respected hospital in chicago im unsure whats causing all this . one of the ent person that saw me lost the video study can you imagine after i told him that i was i a lot of pain and rather not do ot but wemt ahead and did oh well. i did follow up w a dr that was mentioned in the forum that she performed successfully by someone dr stepan but she mentioned that she didn’t think the calcifid ligaments would cause my symptoms so ocerall was very frustrating since i actually had to come back to chicago next week after i was in the hospital for 5 days next building to her but since was in patient and she only sees outpatient ;/
anyhow im feeling very desperate and unsure now what is causing what . the only apptmt i could make os on may w annino in boston but wish i could do a telehealth so i dont go w the wrong imaging or ask his thoughts if gi procedures would aggravate more like this last endoscopy . also called Hepworth and they are not taking people any longer . unsure if should try lyrica or gabapentin (only trid for few days since after endoscopy everything burns) . i posted stuff on the fbk group as well and im terrified of looking at that page since the stories are horrific .
i hope im able to get through this
appreciate your support
fabi
Did you try Dr. Cognetti, @Eli? He’s closer to you - Philadelphia & does video consults so you wouldn’t have to travel to see him. You would have to send a copy of your CT scan for him to look at though. You had one done in Peru, correct? You said the disc you had was lost by an ENT ofc you saw, but you should be able to get another copy of the scan even if you have to pay for it. If it’s in SA, then perhaps the information could be sent electronically rather than in CD form.
Do you have any family member, relative or friend who could come to your appointments with you to help advocate for your care, Eli? Being as sick as you are, it would be very helpful for you to have someone go with you.
The ENT you mentioned you saw in IL is not on our Doctors List so even if she was mentioned on our forum, we may not have ever heard from anyone who had her do their surgery. It may be she is one of the doctors who believes ES symptoms can only be caused by elongated styloids & not by calcified stylohyoid ligments.
Have you tried contacting either of these doctors? I hope one of them isn’t the doctor who lost your scan. 
•Dr Jason Cundiff, 27790 IL-22 Ste 27, Barrington, IL, (847) 649-6000, (Does intra-oral and external surgery) https://theentcc.com
•Dr Miloro, University of Illinois, Chicago 312- 996- 7640 http://hospital.uillinois.edu/Find_a_Doctor/Michael_Miloro.thm
Here is Dr. Cognetti’s contact information:
•Dr Cognetti, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia 215- 955- 6760 (Has done many successful surgeries on members). Only removes ligaments if calcified. https://hospitals.jefferson.edu/find-a-doctor/c/cognetti-david-m.html
So sorry that the testing you’ve had done has aggravated symptoms…definitely worth trying one of the nerve pain medications again, they can take a few weeks sometimes to build up enough in your system. Here’s a link to a recent discussion about burning mouth, there might be some useful in there if you’ve not seen it:
Double styloidectomy surgery update - Welcome / Newbies Guide to Eagle Syndrome - Living with Eagle
I hope that as @Isaiah_40_31 says maybe you’d be able to get a telehealth appt with Dr Cognetti, & I agree that if they do suspect metaplasia in your stomach or oesophagus then that be a priority to get checked for again…
Sending you a hug 
thank you Jules and wendy .im feeling terrible
from all the posts that you are aware of do you suggest either annino or comstantino?
i know hepworth seems to be the more holistic approach and take sin consderation the bpdy as a whole buy they arent even answering the phone anymore. ive ve been reading on the fbk page ab a woman who recntly had surgery w cognetti and im terrified of her posts i believve lshe goees by britt ashley
i have a face to face scheduled fpr may 6 w annino and i calle dtoday comstatino and he has an opening on two weeks for some reason i believe i read annino might look for more things but im perhaps just dizzy and overwhelmed
i tried the gapapentin last nite and woke up w very dry mouth my teeth and lips numbed and more burning in my throat /esophagus and the grinding i feel and spitting thick slaivation almost to the consistency of honey its so gross .my pcp ismt helping in guising me which steps to follow so im very anxious , hope i can get some input on any of those dcotors . i also dont think imsertimg more things in my throat or nose might be something i want to do or even if advised so thats why i wanted a telehealth to see if someone has input in that regards
thank you very much for all your help, truly means a lot . im not sure im copying wendy
fabi
@Eli - I would jump at that appointment w/ Dr. Costantino in 2 weeks. Getting a couple of opinions is VERY worthwhile.
I only know of one person who didn’t have an ideal outcome from surgery w/ Dr. Cognetti so I’m sorry to hear there’s someone else. It turned out the gal I know of had craniocervical instability (CCI) so even though her styloids were very short, her symptoms continued to be bad. It took her several years to get a proper diagnosis.
I’ve said this many times - no doctor has a 100% perfect surgical track record because they are human & can make mistakes, but more than that, they can’t predict how a patient’s body will react to the stresses put on it by a major surgery. Their experience may show that most people respond well to a specific surgical technique so they practice & perfect that technique as much as possible, but then a patient comes along who has terrible results. It’s frustrating for doctor & patient alike but can’t be the only data point new patients focus on when there have been hundreds of others with good outcomes.
Re Annino vs. Costantino - Trying to compare one doctor to another is sort of like comparing an apple to an orange. They all have slightly different approaches to surgery & slightly different things they focus on for the same type of surgery, but often, in the end, the results are very similar. You need to decide which doctor’s approach & personality seems to fit the best for your situation. That’s why we recommend getting at least 2 opinions. Dr. Hepworth is booked for an initial consult into Aug. or Sept. at this point. I think you need to see someone who can help you much sooner than that.
It’s certainly worth taking that appt with Dr C if you can do, see what he says and what Dr A does too; often people will feel more comfortable with one doctor more than another, they’ve both had successful surgeries…one of our members a while ago suggested that it’s best to focus on some specific symptoms, especially those which are well known ES symptoms (like the poking and pain in your throat), as some doctors get scared off if you mention too many symptoms especially those which are less common with ES.