I've had serious muscle tension issues in the throat that cause all of thr symptoms that people in this comment chain are describing. Brain fog, headaches, depression etc in addition to the chronic pain. It's caused by muscle tension, certain muscles in my head and neck getting tight, causing the pressure. My abdominal muscles and pelvis all get tight too, causing all sorts of issues - digestive, hair related, libido, etc. I don't know what it is exactly, it does something to your nerves and hormones. The wrong nerves getting compressed, maybe.

You say it prevents you from talking. Does talking make it worse? Have you tried head and neck massage? How did the pain start?

I just want everyone to know that brain fog, depression etc caused by these chronic pain conditions is real. They're all symptoms caused by the intricate systems of the body being disrupted in a chain reaction of problems caused by a root issue (the first thing that ultimately lead to this chronic pain, for me it was a vocal fold injury that lead to muscle tension dysphonia that advanced severely to the point of tightness literally everywhere in my head, neck and shoulders - it's like a virus of symptoms).