Hoarse voice for 14 months (and other symptoms) hope I'm not alone

hoarseofcourse, God Bless You and praying right now.

1) Have you had COVID? It left me with sticky thick mucousy stuff in the back of my throat. I constantly cleared my throat. It has gotten better, but, not completely gone.
2) Have you been to a gastroenterologist? Silent Reflux can mimic what you are talking about with hoarseness. This can be greatly improved by going on an acid reducer. A gastroenterologist may do an endoscopy on you to see down in the throat & esophagus. There is nothing to it...you will be under mild sedation. I had this done last May and my esophagus needed dilating (food was getting stuck, so essentially he stretched my esophagus). I had so much thrush in my mouth from all the antibiotic and steroids I had to take for COVID pneumonia. He checked my esophagus for Candida and I did not have any. Constant throat clearing (I do that!) is a sign of reflux as well.

I am trying to encourage you to not think the worst on this. Please keep me posted on your progress. Hugs & Blessings....

Thank you for the response, I really appreciate it. I haven't had covid yet thankfully (or at least never exhibited symptoms/tested positive for it).

I went to a gastroenterologist, but prior to all this happening as I have had issues in the past with acid reflux and had an endoscopy which showed nothing much but mild gastritis. That was 2+ years ago now though that I had it. I haven't been having any of my normal acid reflux symptoms throughout the last 14 months though since my hoarse voice and constant phlegm started.

I will ask the ENT at my next appointment on whether she would suggest seeing a gastro again. I may also ask for a big allergy test too. That is, of course, if she doesn't see anything on this trip back. I'll likely push for the CT scan too. I'm just so tired of feeling this way and not having my own voice for this long, not be able to talk for long without it getting sore/weak, and the throat clearing.

I did go on an acid reducer twice on my ENTs suggestion, but they did nothing even though I tried two kinds and a month of each.

Yes, you are right. You have a symptom. It has gone on for over a year. It's not a fantasy. Something is going on.

You have to pursue this issue with vigor, until you get a definitive answer.

Of course, first thing is to get a second opinion from a different ENT.

US News Publishes Lists of the Best Hospitals in the Country.

Best Hospitals for Ear, Nose & Throat
https://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/rankings/ear-nose-and-throat
if you can, find one of these top places and try them out, see if them can find some more definitive answers for you.

Take care now.

As I have aged my allergies have become much worse and I suffer the same as you. Someyimes cany even talk its so screechy. Halls cough drops help. Sometimes when the sore throat comes or my upper teeth hurt, I could swear it's an infection but its only inflammation. The weather has caused the pollen counts to get excessively higher since 2014. Stronger Storm fronts and changes in barometric pressure also trigger me like never before in my life.Menopause changed my hormones and my thyroid also changed. This all has caused a higher histamine response. I now even react to certain foods I never had a problem with. The Dr's even sent me for speech and breathing therapy.Saw 5 Ents . NONE of it helped. It's the histamine response. So now I am very careful what I eat and do, so not to have additional triggers that produce the mucous. I have hepa air filters with uv lights running, I use a Vicks personal steamer, limit outside time or wear a mask when pollen counts are high, removed all rugs and feather pillows. Bottom line, look at your environment and what you eat. Limit Hisyamine response
Also Meclinzine and Benedryl are first generation antihistamines and work better and differently than all the new ones, like Zysal, zyrtec etc. Stick with saline spray, Flonase made me worse. Sometimes I use some Afrin or Azelastine when desperate. Mucinex also.
Hope this helps, Good Luck.

I have similar symptoms since I had covid last year. The hoarse voice (not hoarse when no congestion), regular throat clearing, phlegm, but also watery nose, and congestion. I saw an ENT and he found nothing unusual. Have follow up soon. (Mainly, due to my smell/taste disorder, a result of post covid syndrome.)

I’ve also seen a gastroenterologist and taken acid med, that made no difference. I don’t really have reflux symptoms, but just in case. As a precaution, I avoid foods high in acid, citrus, eating at night, chocolate, grease, etc.

My congestion, watery nose, etc. symptoms vary. Some days are worse than others. Some days I’m clear. So, I’m suspecting allergies. I’m going to request a referral to an allergist from my ENT at my next visit. I can’t take antihistamines due to my dry eye and Flonase causes me blurry vision.

I have health anxiety, so I know reading various things online can get you pretty worried. I try to avoid that, if possible. I’m trying to focus on my good diet, exercise and decreasing anxiety about my health issues.

I’ll look forward to seeing what you find out. I understand how stressful this is.

I feel your frustration! For several years I have had daily episodes of constant throat clearing accompanied by hoarseness. I have had an endoscope, seen an ENT and Gastro MDs, taken acid reducers, nearly every OTC allergy med., apple cider vinegar, gluten free diet, all to no avail.! After researching the I-net, out of desperation, I self- diagnosed myself with LSN (Laryngeal Sensory Neuropathy). I am now taking Amitriptyline (Rx), Flonase, and Allegra with some reduction in symptoms but it is certainly not a cure. If you search Utube you will find several MDs discussing the topic. Hope this helps a bit!

Thanks for the responses. I'm hoping it's something in my environment that just started up randomly and has been causing the issue since without me noticing the trigger. Though I did spend 5 days away from my home late last year and there was no change unfortunately.

I had just started using flonase 2 days ago again because I just felt the need to try something again, but I don't wanna make it worse so maybe I'll stop and just see what the ENT says.

It does seem like I'm more likely to have issues with the phlegm after eating (though not all the time and sometimes it's just the same) and it does go away when I lie down to sleep which I'm hoping all are signs that it's NOT something like cancer, but I'm not sure if I'm just trying to convince myself of something positive and there's nothing there that would suggest it isn't. Hopefully the voice is hoarse due to the phlegm and constant throat clearing and silent reflux or something even though nothing the ENT suggested has helped yet. Just hard not to think it's something serious when it's literally been every single day without fail for over a year.

I will investigate all of that, thank you. I haven't heard of LSN before, but I will see if it fits my symptoms. I'd love to just feel ANY sort of reduction in symptoms through a medication because then it would show that it IS something that can be treated and isn't serious. Until I have a day if relief though, I'm gonna be worried.

You can look at the info at this site you can decide if any of it applies to you.
https://jamiekoufman.com

I'll definitely take a look and hope it does, thanks