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Phlegm in my throat and post nasal drip after Covid
Post-COVID Recovery & COVID-19 | Last Active: 2 days ago | Replies (1118)Comment receiving replies
@mikedod May 06, 2026, thanks for that, I found the opposite -- if this info. helps anyone. Ph balance changes over time. Some do not have acid reflux, and acidic foods actually HELP. My ENT agrees with me. When I get phlegm that rises to the level of real bother, I drink about 1/4 cup of vinegar. Or cut up cucumbers and put vinegar on them and it it. Phlegm stops. Reflux medication did zero for me, counterproductive. Exercise and a lot of fluids also helps. AND, of course, weight loss.
Replies to "@mikedod May 06, 2026, thanks for that, I found the opposite -- if this info. helps..."
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@anonymous620
Yea, if your condition gets better by eating or drinking more acidic things, I suspect it is not LPR.
LPR reflux is commonly NOT acidic in nature and many times gaseous like a mist, so many people (like me) don't even know it is happening, and they attribute it to respiratory symptoms (instead of the GI tract) because it often has onset after a respiratory virus like COVID due to vagus nerve damage. Unless you have perceptible reflux, GERD or the feeling of burning acid coming up, medications to reduce acid in the stomach - PPIs like Omeprazole, or even Pepcid (Famotidine) may do very little because the issue isn't acid in your stomach making its way up, it is often non-acidic pepsin making its way all the way to your upper throat.
I think LPR is pretty hard to diagnose definitively diagnose, especially because most GI doctors perform a pH impedance test only in the esophagus, and LPR reflux is often non-acidic, and needs to be detected in the throat. For LPR episodes to be detected, the probe has to have a sensor placed in the pharynx/hypopharynx and use HEMII-pH which is combined impedance and pH monitoring. I think this is the most accurate way to diagnose LPR. Visualizing the vocal folds via scope also gives some good indication of whether reflux is occurring. This article kind of summarizes the current situation in LPR diagnostics: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9181144/
I think the easiest thing that most people can try to self-diagnose at home is to order a salivary "peptest" that detects pepsin in the saliva, and you can just mail it back for analysis. Not as accurate a test as HEMII-pH, but much more accessible.
Bottom line, if pepsin is in your throat, acid will absolutely be detrimental, because pepsin is activated at pH 6 and below, and when it is active, it starts digesting proteins in your throat cells.