Phlegm in my throat and post nasal drip after Covid

suefish not S And F

Agreed with issues

I referred to this post 4 months ago and now that I feel I'm close to recovery I want to at least share my experience. In July 2024 I got covid (never tested but had the same symptoms of those around me who tested and had it - fever, bad mucus, fatigue...etc) and thought it would heal eventually, at least within a couple weeks. Fast forward 1 year later and 10+ visits to the doctor and I still had mucus constantly in my throat that if I didn't spit out would give me an upset stomach. It was disrupting my sleep, work, and social life. The mucus itself was generally white but would sometimes be yellow and none of my ENTs had solutions that worked for me. I tested and received treatment for:
-Sinusitis (CT Scan showed this was not the case)
-Allergies (4 months of antihistamines, 6 weeks of nasal rinse, 2 international trips and experiencing every season did not relieve it)
-Food allergies (6 weeks of cutting gluten, dairy, egg, many nuts, and more had no result)
-Imagined sensation (took Chinese herbal meds to help me forget I was sick - didn't help)
-Chronic Bronchitis (Got X-rays and meds for it but it seemed to just come back randomly)
After so long and having other health issues arise due to stress, I eventually quit my job in September 2025 and moved back in with my parents, a perk of being a young adult. With the aid of ChatGPT I narrowed down my likely troubles to LPR and long-covid, and LPR being more likely I gave a treatment for it a shot. Because I was annoyed of having doctors treat me like a formula (X symptom = Y disease so take Z medication) I consulted AI and it told me what no doctor had before - stop clearing your throat, cough as little as possible, and don't scrape out throat mucus with your uvula or tongue. Apparently with LPR your throat is hurt by an acid reflux so the body produces mucus to help it heal or something. If I remember right, the acid is what makes the mucus yellow. Anyway, coughing and clearing your throat only hurts your throat more so the body makes more mucus and a downward spiral begins. In the end, I had to drink lots of warm water to bring up mucus safely or just swallow it for two weeks before any big improvement. However, quickly after I started my treatment I stopped coughing for 30 minutes in bed every night, stopped carrying boxes of tissues around, and finally felt like I began healing. 2 months later and I'm not fully healed, but I do feel a lot better and have a lot of hope that this LPR I have will go away completely. I'm not saying that generative AI has any medical authority, only that I found it useful in figuring out my problems. The frustration is real and I feel for all you who are going through this or something similar for much longer than the 18 months I've dealt with it so far. Hope this helps.

@frindlydog thanks for the update. I think many of us have considered LPR, but it can be very difficult to actually diagnose, and to treat - and you’re right, current conventional medicine doesn’t even take its possibility into consideration.

I am glad that whatever protocol you are using seems to help. Please keep us updated!

If you want to read more on LPR (remember, everything with a grain of salt), try reading some of this guy’s takes on LPR: refluxgate.com (Gerrit Sonnabend)