Hey there,
My name is Elle, I just read your post and I know it was three years ago now but I was just wondering how your going and if you ever found out what the problem was because I’ve currently been going through the same thing for 2 years now and it’s soooo frustrating!!!
Hope your better 
Thanks Elle
I’ll throw in my two cents’ worth to this zombie:
I’ve had the sinus problems, chest congestion, and asthma symptoms on top of it. My family doc finally sent me to an allergist, and I had the zillion shots for the allergy testing.
Out of ALL those jabs, he determined I’m allergic to ragweed.
So what is making me miserable? He says it’s my nose. I have used Flonase off and on for years, and it’s somewhat effective…up until I start getting nasty nosebleeds. He gave me another Rx nasal spray Astro-something. It helps.
I’ve done some reading, and there is mention of something called “environmental asthma.” This is caused from perfumes, scented detergents, room fresheners, smoke, smog…basically chemical triggers.
Get rid of the regular laundry detergent, buy the “-FREE” versions that have no perfumes or dyes. Same with the fabric softeners. Eliminating fabric softeners entirely and using white vinegar in the rinse cycle is helpful for some.
Madison Avenue wants you to perfume every single aspect of your life: room fresheners come in every single form imaginable, and you can get them for your car, too! Get rid of the damned things!
Buy the unscented antipersperant, don’t use any colognes or aftershaves or other personal scents. Don’t use a fireplace, and if you have a wood stove for heat, make sure it is the airtight variety.
Avoid driving through smoke.
And DON’T walk down the laundry detergent aisle in the grocery store!
~VOW
To throw my own pennies on the dead horse: I’ve had periods of constant throat-clearing unrelated to colds or the season. A little Googling revealed that it can be cause by acid reflux, but it is often a compulsive action. Thinking about it makes it worse, and the constant throat clearing irritates the throat and ends up creating mucous.
As a woman, I enjoy telling men that their little health problems are psychosomatic.
I’m done now.
Yeah, my wife thought that was funny until it happened to her, too. Now she burns through asthma inhalers so fast that our pharmacist is concerned, even though they don’t do her any good. I have one last Primatine inhaler hidden because I need it now and then. It should last me a year, but she’d just use it up in three days.
She still complains bitterly about my voice, though a fellow at work thinks I sound just like a guy he listens to on the radio. I think she needs more oxygen.
I had similar problems with chronic chest congestion and throat clearing. All my tests kept coming back OK and medications weren’t helping. It turned out that I was allergic to the chemicals in the bedding that make the materials “flame-retardant”. I now have to have a doctor’s note to purchase a custom made bed without those chemicals when I go to buy a new mattress and I make my own pillows from organic materials when my pillows need to be replaced. I haven’t had any issues since.
My personal story with excessive throat clearing was cured by not drinking as much coffee. The acidic nature of coffee caused acid reflux. OTC acid reflux medications only helped temporarily; and I happened upon an article about coffee consumption and excessive throat clearing. It did the trick. Good Luck. You might try going to a different doctor? Are you going to a GP or an ENT specialist?
One thing that helps me to some degree is to drink warm lemon water, although there is some danger of too much acidity for your teeth. This seems to cut through and dissolve some of the back throat drip. I am not sure if alkanizing the body may help, but it may. Lemon helps to alkanize. So does baking soda. Bacteria, virus, fugus thrive better in an acidic environment than an alkaline one. Therefore, alkanizing the body will help create an environment that these parasites do not like.
Also, honey in warm tea, perhaps with lemon should help. Or you can take a spoonful of honey directly. Some say that local honey that has the local allergens (preferably raw honey) can help to clear up your chest and throat back drip.
These are some of the things that I do, and they seem to help.
As you appear to have done a thorough and earnest job or running through possible physical causes, have you considered mental?
The mind can have powerful, unconcious effects on us. Have you been depressed or experienced upheaval recently? Are you able to control the phelgm and coughing if you focus?
I don’t want to suggest that this is ‘all in your head’, but as you seem to have done an excellent and logical job of successfully ruling out physical causes, perhaps it’s time to examine mental ones. And there is no shame in something being all in your head. I don’t think those causes are any less legitmate than physical ones and can often be successfully treated.
I had this for 6 months. Finally figure out it was my blood pressure medicine. Ace Inhibitors are notorious for causing this but doc just forgot to tell me.
I’m glad you mentioned that. I went through several months of misery when I was put on lisinopril. Not the same symptoms as the OP described, mine was like the inside of my throat itched, and I coughed to try to scratch the itch. In my case it only occurred at night and behaved exactly like a nasty case of GERD, but GERD treatments failed to help at all. I had speculated all along that it was due to the lisinopril because the timing was nearly perfect, but the doc made a good case for it sounding like GERD so we went with that for a bit. Finally I said this is bullshit, and demanded a different BP med… and the cough went away within a week.
The OP hasn’t been back to this zombie since 2009 so hopefully his issues, whatever they are, have been identified and sorted out. But there’s good info here that others might find helpful.
I’m not a doctor but you just described my problem I’ve had for 19 years. I’ve been diagnosed with acid reflux disease and prescribed Prevacid which helps if I take a maximum dose 30 mins before breakfast and 30 mins before dinner. The gastroenterologist did an endoscopy on me and said I have a slightly damaged esophagus that allows the acid to leak out but that my body does a so far fantastic job of protecting my throat from acid damage by producing a lot of mucus, which is what makes me clear my throat all the time. Doctor Oz did a show on this disease that you should watch. The author of a book was on his show. The book was called Dropping Acid and she described this problem exactly and said its also caused by eating a lot of healthy foods that contain acid. Oranges, tomatoes, peppers, coffee, the list goes on. She said that Barrett’s Esophagus (a pre-Cancer condition) can result if you dont get it under control. Sometimes I start coughing just from brushing my teeth!’ The toothpaste is so acidic I guess. My problem all started when I was pregnant for my 3rd child and had pneumonia and my sucky HMO insurance would not allow my doctor to prescribe the proper Rx to treat it!! No lie! I coughed the last half of that pregnancy and ever since. The baby was 8 1/2 lbs at 3 weeks early!! It damaged my esophagus. However my Dad coughs very similar to mine and he is 80 so it might run in families too. Idk. Hope this helps.
Even though this thread is quite old, I just now stumbled upon it. I have had this problem for at least 3 years, but lately it’s gotten worse! This year alone, I have seen an ENT (said it was acid reflux- Nexium is worthless). He looked up my nose, down my throat and did a barium swallow: next up, an endoscopy, which showed no problem down below; after that, Neurologist #1, who had me get a CT and MRI. He could not properly diagnose the results, so he sent me to Neurologist #2. After looking at all previous tests (but conducting none of his own), he said there was nothing in my neck bones causing the throat problem. Basically said I was getting older and to deal with it. On top of this, my psych doc and therapist thinks it’s caused by general anxiety disorder! Either way, none of the prescribed medications have made a bit of difference! I’ve tried Clonazepam, Zoloft, Xanax, Remeron and Seroquel! If my primary doctor cannot figure this out, I will request a new doctor! Thanks for listening!
Don
I have had this same issue now for at least 10 years. It cleared up some when I lost weight AND also when I went on a gluten free/dairy free diet. Main problem is not just throat clearing, but chronic coughing. Has gotten worse since getting respiratory flu in January - and was at a reception following a memorial service where everyone was smoking - DEADLY - I have not recovered since. I have been living on Robitussin every 4 hours – I have mild COPD and asthma and take Advair and Spiriva - these meds helped control my problem until the illness in Jan and irritation in Feb…I’m now wondering what else I can do
Chest xray and sinus CAT scan all clear (recent) - pulmonary function good, spirometry readings in the 90s percentile…was given new Rx for gastric reflux to replace Omeprazole but insurance doesn’t cover it…
I plan to revisit accupunture to see if that will help (tried this in 2000). I no longer drink coffee, no milk (almond milk only) and limit dairy/cheese – maybe limiting gluten would help – It is definitely a quality of life zapper…
I will post anything else I find in the next few weeks
As mentioned upthread: are you on an ACE inhibitor or an ARB (angiotensin receptor blocker, I think) for blood pressure? ACEs are notorious for causing coughing; ARBs are less of an issue but it can happen.
And for reflux: Depending on what the med is, you may be able to get a variant of it. I was given Dexilant (a dual-release version of lansoprazole which is same as Protonix, I think); we were able to get insurance to cover it but if need be I could switch to twice-daily doses of Protonix (or generic) to mimic it.
I have had the same symptoms for what seems like forever… like others I tried everything. Someone suggested that I try cod liver oil~
For me it was a cure!!!
I hope others have the same luck.
Obviously this is a problem for a lot of people! My SO has chronic nasal drip and sneezing. It took his *dentist * to tell him he had a deviated septum, he’d seen several doctors for this problem who never said anything about it.
Might be worth a second or third opinion to confirm that this isn’t an issue for some people in this thread.
Copout-That is always what people say when they don’t know or can’t figure it out, especially doctors. ask yourself this- How come it doesn’t work the other way around? That answer is always the brain is complicated and we just don’t know. I call BS.
I am reading this thread because I too have this issue, although it was mostly alleviated by eliminating dairy, which was hard, it’s in everything, even most chocolate. It took me about 3 mo. to identify all sources in my normal food. I was completely clear for almost a year and now it’s back, not as bad but still. I’ve never been allergic to any animals but I’m going to try another pillow and see what happens. I have long suspected dust mites could be an issue as well. I wish myself luck on that one.
I have a prescription for Montelukast, which is the generic Singulair, and it seems to be dirt cheap.
Another type of med I didn’t see mentioned in the OP is inhaled corticosteroid. These reduce inflammation. There are several types available – all of them expensive. There are also inhalers that deliver a combination of corticosteroid and long-acting bronchodilator. Examples: Advair and Dulera. I am finding these to be (somewhat) helpful.
Libre, you wrote my story and I hope after all these years you found some help. Please let us know! I’m on month 15 ������������