What is with this darn throat thing with so much moisture and mucous in the back of the throat but my mouth is so dry. I am destroying my tongue with taking benedryl at night and drying out my mouth. But in turn it helps this throat mucous for a short while. I am having the worst time in the afternoon and late evening with mucous in my throat. I don't know what to do for this as nearly every antihistamine dries me out and believe me i have tried every antihistamine. I am fed up this happens the same time every year when it gets cold out. Any suggestions?
Have you tried a wearing a polar fleece or knit mumps scarf?
No I can't have anything touching my face like that when i sleep, it will cause me to be up all night. Plus I toss and turn all night I'll end up choking myself or something. I hate tea with honey as this has also been suggested on another forum by numerous people. I have tried to like it but it makes me want to throw up. There has to be something out there that can help this problem and not dry me out so badly.
Jessi,
have you tried mucinex yet? It THINS secretions, rather than drying you out. It helps my mucous problems like this. You can also try finding a different hot drink that you like. I find that plain old hot water helps clear my throat from this junk too - even if just temporarily.
Is the mucous coming from your sinuses (if you can tell)? Does it keep you from sleeping?
I have tried mucinex many many years ago. I had a weird reaction to it. I felt like a couldn't breathe. It was like there was swelling in my chest but not my actual throat. So my dr told me to stop it right away and to not try it again. I was on it a week before that started so i really don't think it was an allergic reaction at all. It worked great though but I remember my nose was really irritated while i was on it.
Styx, the mucous feels like it is right at the top of my throat. Not sure how i tell if it is from my sinuses I always assumed it was. Yes it does keep me from sleeping but only if i lay on my back. Which I am a side sleeper so it isn't too bothersome at night anyway. The problem is when i wake up in the morning until about evening.
I found a change in my diet took care of that horrible feeling. I follow Dr. John McDougall's diet - if you google his name you'll find his website contains complete information on his diet as well as a forum with support, recipes etc.
I'm not sure exactly what it was in my diet - but dairy products are often implicated.
I have already tried to stop dairy but unfortunately when I get stuff stuck in my esophagus because of the darn sjogrens I have to have something thick to wash it down so I use milk most of the time. I do not drink milk every day it may be every 3 days or once a week. I usually don't eat or drink dairy at all so that can't be causing the issue.
I know that dairy is very hard to give up. I myself was addicted to Greek yogurt.
Instead of milk, see if you can switch to one of the non-dairy milks such as almond milk or soy.
Been there done that, those both taste absolutely horrible and made me want to throw up.
Well throwing up is not good either LOL.
Skylar, is it possible this is a virus, allergies, etc? How long has this been going on with the mucous in the back of the throat?
Styx
This has been going on for about 5 years now but only happens in the fall and winter.
Quote from: Styx on December 05, 2012, 11:25:18 PM
Skylar, is it possible this is a virus, allergies, etc? How long has this been going on with the mucous in the back of the throat?
Styx
Styx, I don't know what is causing jessiblah's problem, but I had it on and off for most of my life - and it is really, really, really annoying. In my case it might have been allergies or it might have been something else. I do have a lot of allergies but have tested negative for dairy. Frankly I'm just glad it's gone, and I no longer have that choking feeling of some blobby stuff at the back of my throat - and I no longer choke when drinking water, no more coughing fits etc.
I would recommend going gluten-free and no dairy. I have had similar issues and that has really helped me! For months, I had this awful wet heavy choking cough for hours every morning. I still have drainage down the back of my throat all the time, but I don't cough and choke anymore. If I slip and have some dairy products, I really pay for it with mucous issues! We run the humidifier a lot too and that helps. I know what you mean too, I have all this drainage in one place in my throat while the rest is crazy dry.
I have the same problem. I also have an interesting thought. Do you have acid reflux? Do you clear your throat constantly? (I do)
You might ask your doc if it's OK to try a Proton Pump Inhibitor like Prevacid or Prilosec. I take Protonix which is prescription only. Reflux can cause this feeling of and actual mucus in the throat. I always have it, but taking my anti-acid producer does help.
Just a thought!! Good luck.
KellyG
I am on pantoprazole 40mg once a day for GERD and it doesn't make a difference in the mucous in the back of the throat.
Quote from: jessiblah on December 06, 2012, 03:34:20 PM
I am on pantoprazole 40mg once a day for GERD and it doesn't make a difference in the mucous in the back of the throat.
lol me too, I take 40mg 2x day ppi and while I dont have the pain and stuff from reflux I still have a clogged throat most of the time.
I used generic Mucinex (guaifenesin) for several years and it really helped that gunk. You must drink plenty of water for it to work.
However, earlier this year I decided to take a break from it. Now the dryer I get (winter coming on and heaters in buildings) the gunk is back. Causes couphing. Drinking more water helps.
I believe it is the normal moisture that flows down there all day long normally is thin but with us and our dryness, that is NOT thin like it should be. So it hangs all gunky. I would guess whatever you are doing in your mouth, if it dries the mouth, and the mouth is what makes some of the moisture that passes down, that mouth stuff you are using is making it WORSE by preventing or changing the quality of your mouth moisture. I hope you are not taking that in your mouth for your dry throat, because it is doing the opposite.
Spring,
I can not use mucinex. In an earlier reply to a reply on this post i talked about an adverse reaction i had to it. I am using benedryl once a day to help my allergies as well as help put me to sleep. I do not use any mouth products other than steroid paste(RX) for mouth sores. My mouth does not get severely dry like most people with sjogren's but I do have issues with dryness and in turn it causes mouth sores. I totally agree with the mucous being super thick. I have been able to cough this crap up once or twice and couldn't believe how thick it was. I have tried biotene toothpaste to help out with the dry mouth but it has a horrible after taste and i end up brushing with another toothpaste afterwards. I wish i didn't have a reaction to mucinex as I believe that would help solve my problems. I just wish there was some other product out there that could help.
I don't have any advice just glad to know I'm not the only one that has this. It is terrible, I carry a spit cup everywhere and gag constantly. Not looking forward to holiday gatherings centered around eating.
I also have tried everything, hot drinks, mucinex, Prevacid, tons of water, no dairy. Sometimes the hot and sour soups from Chinese restaurants will help unlodge it, must be the spicy combined with the hot soup.
If anyone has other suggestions keep them coming, this drives me insane!
I hesitate to mention this and advise caution, but here ya go:
I asked earlier if it could be a virus or allergies just to rule that out. I also suffer from this affliction, and I have it quite severely, more severely than the Op described. Irish and Navydad have mentioned similar symptoms.
For me, it is so bad that I cannot get more than 1-2 hours sleep a night, and that is if I am lucky. For those that contend with similar symptoms, I simply do not know how you do it. It is absolutely debilitating, and life is not worth living with it, IMO.
I tried the various (elimination) diets, including GF and CF; none of them worked. I do not have any allergies based on testing. I have GERD, but it does not appear to be related (particularly given the below). I encourage everyone to rule these out before taking the next step...
I have, however, successfully eliminated this symptom, and I am planning on posting a topic about it. Unlike most of the typical sicca manifestations of my disease, this manifestation has responded very well to immunosuppression, specifically azathioprine. I've had the unfortunate opportunity to "rechallenge" myself after a flare since I had some issues with toxicity and azathioprine in the past, which I believe I've successfully circumvented.
I'm not recommending that people jump on azathioprine if they have this symptom, but that is my anecdote. As I said, I'll post a topic about it later. I'm waiting a month just to be sure it doesn't recur :)
Styx
Update: I just noticed that my last post was addressing Skylar and not the Op. Sorry about that; I meant to ask the Op. This has not been my day apparently :|
I'm having some mild poster's remorse about the above post, but I'm keeping it there :) Only consider what I wrote if you are being debilitated by your mucous problems.
In your case, it doesn't sound like that, so I like the smaller hammers that others have mentioned. Also, have you tried nasal washes?
Styx
It's important to know if it's the dreaded Post Nasal Drip, which can be caused by allergies. Sounds like it's seasonal, so it could be. If that's the case, a steroid spray (I use Nasonex along with Azelastine, which is like an inhalent Benadryl with FAR less drying effects) and after some time it got rid of the Post Nasal Drip. Works even better in conjunction with a Nasal Wash. Use everything diligently, even twice a day.
I don't know if it's the same thing or not but.....for a long time, every year as the season changed in late Fall/early winter, I would get a small cold that would slide into my lungs and I would get such an awful case of "bronchitis" and would completely lose my voice. It would get worse before it got better; and then I would spend days and days and days coughing up all the junk that had been clogging my lungs and muffling my voicebox. One time, I took a chance and decided to test my hypothesis that it was caused by excess inflammation (in response to a simple cold), and increased the steroids (cortef) that I took on a regular basis anyway, at the very beginning of feeling that tickling sensation. Sure enough, I was able to block the progression.
That's just me, though. I'm sure it depends on the cause. Good luck!