Continued Post-Nasal Drip and Constant Mucus in Throat

You described the phlegm exactly.I no longer have the thick strings of phlegm I experienced for awhile. Now it has thinned and is almost worse. No amount of coughing or clearing my throat gives me relief. My throat feels coated and miserable and nothing comes up. Have you found anything that helps this feeling? I had Covid about 3 years ago and these symptoms continue to haunt me.

Black elderberry syrup with vit c and zinc. Also glucosamine chondroitin with msm tumeric. I think the maganese counteracts something in my blood. Magnesium stearate or just a cheap over the counter guaifensin for 6 months x 3 daily started to help. The vaccine really made this come back 10 x worse. Lots of water of course and vitamin c. Hope you find some relief.

I feel weird asking this but how do you do it? I have tried many times and can’t get a thing up, even though i can feel the phlegm in my throat. I just can’t seem to “get to it” . I feel it there constantly. It’s quite thick. I have used musenex to thin it and I drink tons of water but nothing works. So frustrating!

What is Thera zinc throat spray? Where do you get it? I have had this throat clearing problem for over a year and I’ve tried everything . Help?

@poppy67 Hi Poppy. Please don't feel weird asking ANY kind of question on Mayo Clinic Connect.
We've all been there at one time or another!
Regarding your question of how I got rid of that awful, thick, Covid phlegm. .....(I've had Covid twice this past year despite taking every precaution and having 2 vaxxes and 3 boosters)....my method is to have two hot showers per day so that you raise a lot of steam in the bathroom, be sure to run the hot water (not TOO hot) over both your chest and your back for a few minutes, bend your head forward, and then try to cough as HARD as you can. This often started the gag reflex with me but you have to stay with it, even if it causes you to throw up a bit. It's not just a matter of "clearing your throat". You have to cough very hard, right from your boots. Once out of the shower be sure to blow your nose really thoroughly too, so you don't get post-nasal drip and thus more throat phlegm. Rubbing some good old fashioned Vick's Vapor Rub on your chest and throat helps, and trying Fisherman's Friend OTC "original" cough drops helped me too. Whew, they're very strong! Also, I used Buckley's Cough Syrup, which is very strong, tastes awful, but it works.
Let me know how you're doing, Poppy. Good luck horking! It's an awful word, and it's an awful unladylike thing to do, but ya' gotta do it!!

I had covid in July and a strange chest cold in December. I too seem to have thick mucus constantly in my throat. It does come up with coughing but I am always clearing my throat. It seems the only thing that helps me is saline nasal spray and I use the kind in the pressurized container to assure I am getting the saline way back into my throat. The saline thins the mucus and allows it to slide away.

Good luck everyone. As one of the previous commenters mentioned, so many have so much worse.

Same here since Spring 2020, and also my kids for a while after COVID infections over summer 2022. Medically, research is suggesting that one of the reasons COVID has been so deadly is precisely because the mucous is very sticky and hard for us to clear. Thus it makes sense from this perspective why we're having issues. I've been trying turmeric to help the inflammation, and it has helped that tremendously. I don't have chest pain/palpitations anymore. Plus, my body feels more relaxed. I did this experiment after reading a science paper about how turmeric can inhibit the virus from bonding to the ACE2 receptors. However, the sticky throat remains. I would say, however, it has gotten a little better.

Something that helps me temporarily is to take a saline rinse bottle, empty out the contents, and fill the bottle with a sodium bicarbonate mixture (1/2 teaspoon baking soda with 1 cup alkaline water mixed before putting in bottle). Then I squirt the mixture in the back of my throat while I inhale or I gargle it. This is kind of like a saline rinse, but a gastro doc asks patients to do this with Laryngeal reflux. Hope everyone feels better!

Truly have to agree with @artist01 , really is to get into a steamy shower a few times a day or boil some water and use like a towel or som over your head and open those air ways open and just hock it up. I was having really bad episodes of gagging and chocking. I have also used oil or herbs in the water like eucalyptus mint even lemongrass anything that can open your airway lemongrass has a way of opening your airways and helping you relax at the same time but once you get those airways open you got to get that stuff out. I have yet to find anything to aid in the process. I am going on now 3 years this coming week for the 1st. Contract of Covid -19. I am just now starting tombe able to move around, but I tucker out fast. And this cough and sludge in my sinus cavity sinus cavity and check does not do any justice. I also agree with Artist that Elderberry will aid in giving your immune system a good boast

I had the sinus issues not no throat clearing until I had the vaccine in April 2021. Still very very miserable on a daily basis.

@poppy67 , and @billie6977
I've just had my nice long morning shower, which included shampooing and conditioning my hair. I could feel this awful Covid phlegm loosening with the steam build-up but I still couldn't get rid of it while in the shower. Don't give up at this point! Immediately blew my nose (even before toweling off) so that nothing could drain down into my throat), dried off, and then over at the sink while applying lotion to my legs, etc., everything began loosening up beautifully in my throat. Now was the time to start a serious effort to bring that nasty stuff up, which I did. Success! Lots today. My head, nose and throat are beautifully clear again....until tomorrow. It's a disgusting subject, but I hope it might help those who need it.
Good luck, Covid sufferers.