Excessive Mucus in my Throat

I have an excessive amount of mucus in my throat that I can't seem to cough up or spit out. Sometimes, I can get a little out, but it still feels the same. It feels like a big lump of gunk in the back of my throat and I can taste it when I drink or eat. It is especially bad at night and when I lay down it is hard to swallow. Sometimes I get panicky because I feel like I can't swallow and I'm going to choke. It does bother me all day long, but it seems to get wose at night. This began in October of 2005, so it's been a year now. It has been constant, every single day.... there has not been a day of relief. When this all started I was about 3 months pregnant. I was a smoker for about 7 years before (I quit about 3 months before I got pregnant). I never smoked more than half a pack a day. I had the baby in February, but the mucus is still there. I have been to two ENT's about this and I am currently under the care of an allergist and I am getting allergy shots. I am on the last bottle of my allergy shots before I will be at a maintenance dose. I have been on every allergy medicine out there from Allegra to Zyrtec to Claritan and I have been on all of the nasal sprays, seriously.....Rhinocort, Nasonex, Astelin, Flonase, just to name a few. I was on nasal spray for at least 4 years and nothing worked, so I just recently (about a month and a half ago) discontinued use of all nasal sprays. It was getting ridiculous....I was on two at a time. I use a nasal saline rinse (Entesol) everyday still though. And I have tried antibiotics, but those didn't help either. Oh, and I had nasal surgery in 2001....I had two polyps in my sinus cavaties removed through my nose. It was such a painful surgery! I currently live in Phoenix and I moved here on the advice of my ENT that did my sinus surgery. He thought it would be better for my allergies, but they have actually gotten worse. I grew up in Cleveland, OH and never had any allergies until I moved to Cincinnati, OH after college. I first started having allergic symptoms while in Cincinnati, which is where I had my sinus surgery. Anyway, so for the long post....I am desperate for something to work. I don't understand why my doctors can't give me something to clear this up. Someone please help! I can not take this much longer.

I live in Georgia. I've had Excessive Mucus in my Throat for many years. It all started when I had a bad cold at the age of ten. I had a cough that lasted for many months after I had gotten over the cold. After the coughing finally stopped, I've had the mucus in my throat ever since. I'm now 31 years old. That is a long time to suffer. I have to constantly clear my throat because I feel that I will be unable to speak or even breathe if I don't. It feels like there is a glob of mucus just hanging right where my vocal cords and wind pipe are. There are times when it isn't as bad and then there are times when I feel I will choke on it. It is worse in the mornings and after I eat anything. I don't even have to eat dairy products or drink milk for it to happen. That's why I don't think it is a lactose intolerance or allergy. I don't have heartburn or any other acid reflux symptom that I can think of. I know someone who has a similar problem and a doctor told her she had acid reflux. But the medicine he gave her didn't help. For me, the mucus in my throat is many times accompanied by an excessive amount of thick, clear mucus in my nose but not always. My mother has had the same problem for many years, also, constantly coughing up the mucus. My sister is just now beginning to have the same problem. Neither of us have ever smoked a day in our lives and neither of us live with a smoker. I've been to a doctor who gave me samples of every allergy medicine out there. None of them worked. As a matter of fact, the Allegra, Flonase and Rhinohort sprays that I tried gave me allergy symptoms that I never have, such as sneezing, runny nose and watery eyes, making me worse. I've recently tried Mucinex and so far am not impressed with it, either. It has really become a problem lately because people at work are complaining that my constant throat clearing is getting on their nerves. They think it's just a nervous habit and even had the supervisor approach me about it. One person even sent me a nasty e-mail, telling me to stop. She almost got fired for being so nasty to me. It hurt my feelings and made me angry because I can't help it. My mother went to an ear, nose and throat specialist and all he did was give her medicine that didn't work. We are beside ourselves on what to do. I wish we could find a doctor who would be willing to find out what is causing it instead of giving us medicine that doesn't work and send us out the door. If anyone out there can shead some light on this problem I would appreciate it so much!

I have the same problem for the past week or so.

Nothing I take seems to clear it, I have come to the conclusion that it is the combination of sinitosis, chest mucas infection and allergy.

I recommened breathing in vicks or some menthol product in steam for 30 mins a day and also taking antibiotics, this is my next step.

I am going to see the doctor tomorrow and get the anti-biotics and continue to breath stream, i think this will cure it.

i have recently been suffering for 3 months of not being able to clear my throat or cough anything up, i tried everything, antibiotics, steam inhalation, cough medicine etc and then i found what the problem was, it was my ears, i had Otitis Externa, ear infection, (for 3 months!) that was draining fluids down my throat causing the feeling that i needed to clear my throat but couldn't, i was given otomize ear spray, steroid antibiotic anti flamatory spray and from the 1st time of using it, it all cleared up, it was a blessing as i thought i would be suffering with this problem for a lot longer, if you have the same problems as i was having please get your ears checked out

i had the same for 3 months, finally just found the answer today and treatment is working ... was to do with my ears ...Otitis Externa, ear infection, draining down the back of my throat, please go and get your ears checked out, i been prescribed otomize ear spray, an antibiotic anti inflamatory steroid spray, and from the first use, the feeling of needing to clear my throat has gone!!!

i had the same for 3 months, finally just found the answer today and treatment is working ... was to do with my ears ...Otitis Externa, ear infection, draining down the back of my throat, please go and get your ears checked out, i been prescribed otomize ear spray, an antibiotic anti inflamatory steroid spray, and from the first use, the feeling of needing to clear my throat has gone!!!

Some of the reasons for mucus build up in the throat is allergies, sinus and different types of medication, even over the counter medications can cause a mucus build up in the throat. I find that if I have a warm cup of tea mine usually gets much better.

I am five months pregnant and have very similar symptoms. Also had during my previous pregnancy. There is a thick green mucous in the back of my throat, just below the "swallow." Sometimes I can cough up a little of it, but most of it just sits there--I can't cough it up. My throat is very sore as well and I am constantly coughing and throat clearing. My husband had an ear infection a few weeks ago when my symptoms began. I wonder if my problem could be related to the ears, like the other respondant.

I also have this same problem with mucus in throat and it's making me crazy. I don't think doctors care beyond what they learned in school. They don't seem to think out of the box. What I have found helps me a lot is something called "nasal irrigation". You can find instructions on how to do this on-line. Basically you run room temperature, sea salted water into one nostril and if you have your head in the correct postion (the tricky part) it flows through a bit of your throat and out the other nostril. When I'm done, I blow my nose into a tissue and my ears pop and not only does it clear the mucus out from my throat, but it gets rid of the headache I sometimes wake up with and I can even hear better (something I don't even realize is a symptom until I clear it this way) Good luck to anyone who gives this a try. Oh, P.S. you may find that until you find the correct position for your head, the water will dribble to the wrong area's and it feels the same as when you get water up your nose when swimming. Some web sites also suggest using a "nasal irrigation pot" to pour your water with, you can use anything like a teapot that pours.

Guest wrote:

i had the same for 3 months, finally just found the answer today and treatment is working ... was to do with my ears ...Otitis Externa, ear infection, draining down the back of my throat, please go and get your ears checked out, i been prescribed otomize ear spray, an antibiotic anti inflamatory steroid spray, and from the first use, the feeling of needing to clear my throat has gone!!!

WOW, glad you found some relief. I have had constant clearing of the throat and cough for over 20 years! I 've tried everything docs can think of. Barium swallow, nasal septum repair, all steroids and nose sprays, Nexium, etc. etc. Nothing helps. Keep thinking it's either GERD or LPR, but all the meds for it don't help. I'm currently trying Astelin again, but the side effects I've read or horrific.

Not sure what to do next. My doc (just this week) told me to go to an ENT and get scoped. My gag reflex is HIGH; not sure if I could survive that! And if they find redness in my throat, all they are going to say is that I have either GERD or LPR. But I'm already taking all of the meds that that is to treat.