Constant feeling of needing to clear my throat

I have had throat clearing for a year and a half. Seen ENT all clear there. Gastro says all ok. Had recent Endoscopy. All ok. It just one day came on me. I do it every day and night. Only have relief for a little while in the a.m. I have tried being off certain drugs. Only thing changed about that time is I started Gabapentin and Losartan. Tried being off Gabapentin for 2 months. Nothing changed. Hear doc let me come off Losartan and maybe 10% better. Still off Losartan. Back on Gabapentin. I was having a lot of feeling of not swallowing very well. Thats why I had Endoscopy. Oh and had Swallowing Test at Hospital. At one point Gastro Doc said maybe related to Sjogrens. I also have Lupus. Every day I hope going to be better. But the same. I hardly go anywhere. It's very annoying even to my family. I am so miserable. Plan to read all comments here.

@donjo
Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect!
I’m sorry you don’t have an answer yet to this annoying problem.
It reminds me of my husband’s problem. For quite a while he has had a similar problem. He also had an endoscopy that was all normal in addition to having normal pulmonary function tests.
His primary care doctor recently put him on asthma inhaler- combination with an inhaled corticosteroid- as a trial.
He has noticed an improvement now after a couple of weeks.
Maybe something to discuss with your doctor?

Maybe a food diary?????

Try Navage for your sinuses.

Thanks for answering. I am going to get ready and try food diary. I do know some days are worse than others. I have read a few comments on here and I ? dairy... Dont do alot of dairy as also have stomach problems.
Thank you

I have seen ENT 3 times. She says nothing. But PCP is better with trying different approaches,
I have thought maybe sinus problems.. Will try, Thank you

Hi @donjo. I read through all the messages directed to and from you. Here's my story. About 5 1/2 years ago I began having throat clearing. Months dragged on and I began having coughing. I would ask the doctors (PHP, ENT and GI) why?? They pretty much dismissed the situation with, "I don't know." If I suggested something they would say, "maybe, or could be." I finally paid out of pocket to get a Advanced Heart Check which included a CT. Because I paid out of pocket the radiologist called me direct. He said my lungs look like they have ground up glass in them. The next comment was almost funny. He said, "I'm surprised you're not coughing." I told him I had been for the last eight months. I finally got to a pulmonary doctor, had a bronchoscopy which revealed pseudomonas and Mycobacterium Avium Complex. I won't go into the lengthy story of how things went from there but I was told to avoid dairy, chocolate and peppermint. Best of luck going forward.

Thanks for your reply. Some of the notes I have read have said this. I suck on peppermint mints as I have Sjogrens,,, love chocolate.....and dairy. But I am going to try this. If it works would be a blessing..
Thanks again for taking the time to respond.

donjo. Just to be clear. I was told that dairy, chocolate and peppermint can cause mucous in the esophagus. Therefore, the "clearing" can become an issue.
Faye

Another possible cause of chronic coughing is the fungal disease, blastomycosis. The disease is caught by inhaling the spores, which come from bird droppings and grow in dead leaves. The spores are also present in older buildings/homes when they are razed.

It usually starts in the lungs. I got it on my vocal cords, probably from trail running. It's hard to get as you need to breathe in a good number of spores. I was put on an anti fungal for 6 months and wasn't allowed to talk for one month. It did finally clear up.

This happened many years ago, and so I don't recall a lot of coughing. My primary symptom was difficulty speaking. The fungus was only present on one vocal cord.

It seems like the cause of chronic coughing is very difficult to diagnose. This seems like a long shot, but for people who are having trouble finding a cause, it may be worth at least a talk with your PCP or an infectious disease specialist.

All the best.