This is meat, and I'll be forwarding it to my ENT and allergist. I have chronic sinus issues that so far have yet to respond to much.
I have phlegm in my throat, constantly. I need to clear my throat (through voluntary coughing) every few minutes. If I don't do that, the phlegm dries in place and I end up with a restricted airway and difficulty breathing. I can't really sing because my voice will catch on the phlegm.
If you know of anyone with this symptom, or who is familiar with this symptom, please let me know.
So far I've seen an allergist, an ENT, and a gastroenterologist, and the response from each has been "that's not my problem, see someone else". (The ENT did at least stick a camera through my nose and photograph phlegm stuck to the sides of my throat, which gives me a response to the people who say "what if you're just imagining it?")
And I've been coughing for three years. :/
[edit:
Sometimes when I cough there is a tearing sensation. If this happens, I generally interpret it as phlegm being dislodged from a place where my coughing wasn't getting it before. I will generally devote a lot of extra effort to coughing at that point. No effect overall, though.
A couple of times I've brought up blood spots after some particularly dedicated coughing.]
- Claritin
- Flonase
- Ranitidine (Zantac)
- Omeprazole
- A diet based around avoiding things that "might" cause heartburn. This list included literally everything I eat; this project had to be abandoned. But for a while there I was basically only eating chicken soup and milk.
- An allergy battery (negative on all tests)
- Nasal irrigation
- Mucinex
I had the same issue, and it didn't respond to Inexium (PPI) but cleared up totally with Pantoprazole.
The ranitidine, omeprazole, and pantoprazole are all intended to treat pain[1] from heartburn, and they've all worked at first and gradually lost effectiveness. (While still being mostly effective, just not totally effective.)
However, going without heartburn pain for weeks at a time has not helped my throat. When this didn't work, the gastroenterologist put a sensor down my throat for a day to record pH levels, and reported the results to me with "good news! You don't have heartburn!"
Of course, I do have heartburn. The response to "in that case, what does it mean that I have this burning chest pain after eating which is immediately relieved by tums?" was "well, some people are more sensitive to acid than others".
(I have many classic symptoms of acid reflux, including minor regurgitation of food after eating, "globus sensation" (feeling of a ball in the throat) when swallowing, and of course burning pain in the chest.)
But I continue the heartburn medication anyway, because heartburn hurts and I independently want to avoid it. :/
[1] Actually, they're intended to suppress the acid itself, not the pain you feel from exposure to it.
The theory is: instead of "too much stomach acid" being the problem, sometimes it's "too little stomach acid". Age, medications, and infections may all lead to reduced stomach acid production, which leads to unwanted fermentation and impaired digestion of carbohydrates in the stomach, which increases the production of gas, which increases intra-abdominal pressure, which causes the lower esophageal sphincter to malfunction and let the little acid that is left travel up into the esophagus, where it irritates the lining and can cause symptoms like you describe.
Might be worth looking into. A simple way to test this theory would be to get a "Betaine HCL with Pepsin" supplement and take it with meals to see if that helps. Do not try this if you have ulcers or other issues with the integrity of your stomach lining.
I only mention it because this approach cured my persistent heartburn and sore throat issues, after various PPIs worked for a bit and then failed. Conventional medicine is great, but why they continue to recommend PPIs for chronic GERD cases is a mystery to me. The stomach is meant to be acidic - the goal should not be to neutralize the acid.
Good luck!
If it is post nasal drip, pseudoephedrine/Sudafed would clear it right up, if only for a few hours. I wouldn't recommend being on that long term, but it is probably worth an experiment.
You didn't say you saw a pulmonologist. I just read about a guy that discovered he had CF at 55 years old.
But then, the phlegm could be a defense (mis)reaction to pollution or irritation by stuff you have accumulated in your sinuses - you may try to wash it (saline) and kill it (all bacteria whatever in layers, deep deep in, since years may be still there - kind of your suspended medical history).