1. < Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT)

Mucus in throat but lungs and sinuses clear

Posted by bjlevine99 @bjlevine99, Sep 25, 2018

I have a problem that has been going on for months now. Mucus build in my lower throat. I can feel it rattling if I breathe through my mouth but not if I breathe through my nose. My sinuses are clear and my lungs seem fine. I cough up clear or occasionally light yellow tinged mucus. Worse at night when I am horizontal. I live in Florida where we have nearly year round pollen. Taking Zyrtec and Flonase. Not sure what to do about this.

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rsy | @rsy | Oct 20, 2022
In reply to @bride "Someone has requested an update on how I resolved my mucous and sinus issues. Well, in..." + (show)
@bride

Someone has requested an update on how I resolved my mucous and sinus issues. Well, in short, I haven’t. But I have come to terms with the problem. The main thing for me was, after ensuring that there doesn’t appear to be any major issue, I accepted that it doesn’t matter whether the doctor understands or not. I just need to deal with it. And I am certainly not alone. Mainstream medicine is great for acute issues but not so much for chronic problems. And doctors don’t like hearing about problems they can’t solve.

For my sinuses I do a saline irrigation daily, using heated sterile water. I really believe this helps. I use Nasonex intermittently. I have stopped recently because I felt it helped keep my nasal passages clear but the post nasal mucous seemed thicker and more problematic. Occasionally I think the mucous irritates the Eustachian tube and my hearing gets a bit distorted. That drives me mad but rarely lasts very long. For the mucous in my throat, especially at night, I drink lemon juice in boiling water with a pinch of cayenne pepper or hot water with a piece of raw ginger. If my throat gets very irritated then a spoonful of honey seems to help. I also take guaifenesin but I am not so sure it helps. If I do take guaifenisin I make doubly sure I drink lots of fluid.

And that’s about it really. No great breakthrough but life is good.

Jump to this post

Have you been diagnosed with LPR?? If not, Google LPR and see the symptoms, sounds like that may be what you have. Somewhat hard to diagnose, ENT can perform endoscopy and maybe diagnose what is going on.

REPLY
1 reply
bride | @bride | Oct 20, 2022
In reply to @rsy "Have you been diagnosed with LPR?? If not, Google LPR and see the symptoms, sounds like..." + (show)
@rsy

Have you been diagnosed with LPR?? If not, Google LPR and see the symptoms, sounds like that may be what you have. Somewhat hard to diagnose, ENT can perform endoscopy and maybe diagnose what is going on.

Jump to this post

Thank you so much. I definitely have diseased sinuses on CT, but I think you could very well be correct about LPR as an additional problem. The suggestions to manage LPR are very sensible and I intend to pay more attention to them. Looks like it is chronic issue though with no magic bullet. Just getting help understanding what is going on is so very helpful. That's why I really appreciate this forum.

REPLY
2 replies
camaroyo | @camaroyo | Oct 21, 2022
In reply to @bride "Someone has requested an update on how I resolved my mucous and sinus issues. Well, in..." + (show)
@bride

Someone has requested an update on how I resolved my mucous and sinus issues. Well, in short, I haven’t. But I have come to terms with the problem. The main thing for me was, after ensuring that there doesn’t appear to be any major issue, I accepted that it doesn’t matter whether the doctor understands or not. I just need to deal with it. And I am certainly not alone. Mainstream medicine is great for acute issues but not so much for chronic problems. And doctors don’t like hearing about problems they can’t solve.

For my sinuses I do a saline irrigation daily, using heated sterile water. I really believe this helps. I use Nasonex intermittently. I have stopped recently because I felt it helped keep my nasal passages clear but the post nasal mucous seemed thicker and more problematic. Occasionally I think the mucous irritates the Eustachian tube and my hearing gets a bit distorted. That drives me mad but rarely lasts very long. For the mucous in my throat, especially at night, I drink lemon juice in boiling water with a pinch of cayenne pepper or hot water with a piece of raw ginger. If my throat gets very irritated then a spoonful of honey seems to help. I also take guaifenesin but I am not so sure it helps. If I do take guaifenisin I make doubly sure I drink lots of fluid.

And that’s about it really. No great breakthrough but life is good.

Jump to this post

I have similar problems too and read about apples, apple juice are supposed to help with mucous too. I drink 4 ozs a day. Seems to help some too. Google it. I also use honey sometimes. Good luck with this. (Additionally, I have vocal cord damage from an intubation they messed up on me adding to my issue with “drainage”, so a bit different)

REPLY
wendymb | @wendymb | Oct 21, 2022
In reply to @bride "Thank you so much. I definitely have diseased sinuses on CT, but I think you could..." + (show)
@bride

Thank you so much. I definitely have diseased sinuses on CT, but I think you could very well be correct about LPR as an additional problem. The suggestions to manage LPR are very sensible and I intend to pay more attention to them. Looks like it is chronic issue though with no magic bullet. Just getting help understanding what is going on is so very helpful. That's why I really appreciate this forum.

Jump to this post

Having a similar issue with overproduction of mucus and post nasal drip, it all settles in throat. My ENT recommended Alkolol, a nasal rinse that you add to Neilmed for rinse and gargle. That and warm water with honey are my go-tos. Good luck.

REPLY
fab44 | @fab44 | Oct 22, 2022
In reply to @bride "Thank you so much. I definitely have diseased sinuses on CT, but I think you could..." + (show)
@bride

Thank you so much. I definitely have diseased sinuses on CT, but I think you could very well be correct about LPR as an additional problem. The suggestions to manage LPR are very sensible and I intend to pay more attention to them. Looks like it is chronic issue though with no magic bullet. Just getting help understanding what is going on is so very helpful. That's why I really appreciate this forum.

Jump to this post

What's LPR?

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strsus80 | @strsus80 | 2 days ago

@bjlevine99 I came across this question thread from 2018. Did you ever figure out what was happening with the mucus in your throat. I’ve had the exact same problem since 2017. I have mucus sitting around my larynx but can’t figure out what is causing it. I’ve have looked into and tried everything I can think of with no results (sinus surgery, endoscopy with acid tracker placed in throat, I tried the Clatifix treatment, Protonix for 6 months, nasal steroids, allergy meds, you name it. Nothing works. I get little sleep from having to cough to dislodge mucus. I’m hoping you finally figured out what’s wrong?

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con123 | @con123 | 2 days ago

I have this issue, but it’s usually just in the morning for a few hours. I’ve tried a prescription antacid for several months that didn’t help, had sinus surgery, drink lots of water. It is very annoying but since it’s just a few hours a day, I live with it. Maybe I’ll try the ginger chews. I cough up thickish mucous that is clear.

REPLY
1 reply
strsus80 | @strsus80 | 2 days ago
In reply to @con123 "I have this issue, but it’s usually just in the morning for a few hours. I’ve..." + (show)
@con123

I have this issue, but it’s usually just in the morning for a few hours. I’ve tried a prescription antacid for several months that didn’t help, had sinus surgery, drink lots of water. It is very annoying but since it’s just a few hours a day, I live with it. Maybe I’ll try the ginger chews. I cough up thickish mucous that is clear.

Jump to this post

Mine is definitely better after a few hours in the morning, but it’s always there 24/7. I’m pretty sure it’s stomach related because there are times when I feel a slight gurgling sensation as if it’s coming up from my esophagus (usually when I eat something that aggravates it.) G.I doctors have ruled out LPR though and acid refulx (I had the Bravo capsule to test throat acid for 3 days.) I’m just at a loss as to what could be causing it. Some suggestions have been Laryngeal paralysis and Achalasia. I think my next step is a swallow test.

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niml | @niml | 2 days ago

I have that same problem. Usually at night time and in the morning. It does go away during the day most of the time. I have learned to live with it.

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jw9 | @jw9 | 12 hours ago

I am wondering if anyone noticed that having Covid started this problem with mucus in the back of the throat? While I live in near literal grass farms(!) and have tested for only a few allergens, one is grass (of course), I have been all right with treating my allergies until I had Covid last Fall. Since then, I experience the same thick mucus, affects my voice, cannot cough it up.
I hydrate better with water, one thing that has helped is menthol cough drops. Interesting post as there seem to be many possible causes. In my case, I think it could be Covid in combination with the fact I am many years post op salivary gland cancer and radiation treatments. So the radiation actually burned my throat and I lost my hair in the back on my head. It never came back! But I've had many years of a good life. Excuse me while I go find another cough drop!

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