Suddenly I Have Phlegm

[BonusMom]

About a month ago I caught a cold from my daughter, the first one I've had in years, although I was on Imuran last winter.

The cold lasted only about 10 days. Suddenly, I've got thick phlegm in my throat and into my chest.  Occasionally, I have a thick, mucous type cough.

In the past week, I've also developed joint and muscle pain. I understand the weather change may be contributing, but I've been under an incredible amount of stress the last 14 months and think it's landed me smack dab into a flare.

Is the mucous normal with SjS?  It's a new symptom for me and I don't know what I should be on the lookout for or if I should be treating it with something to break it up.....

[Jozee]

About once a week I will cough and without warning a big ball of gunk will come up. (Sorry, gross)
Not sure why. I don't have a cold or anything at all.

[Diane54]

I have had the phlegm issue for the past two weeks....I am attributing it to the change of weather.....don't know exactly why I have the phlegm ...........

[KellyG999]

I have a constant battle with thick phlegm in my throat... I use Mucinex, warm liquids and LOTS of water...

[newhorizons]

I have constant phlegm, some clear, sometimes grayish, and usually cough it up shortly after getting up in morning...

Have been faithfully for last couple years using my Netti Bottle every morning after eating breakfast...

If the phlegm shows any yellowish in it, I take Guaifenesin, 400 mg at least 3 times a day.

What is guaifenesin? It is what has been available way before Mucinex was 'invented'...

I purchase it in 200 mg from my pharmacy without a RX... as I am old enough to get myself in the Medicare 'doughnut hole' each year.

I let the yellowish phlegm get in by bronchial area and it went on to lungs... I ended up on oxygen for 2 years 24x7. Why do I bring this up?  It is much easier to break up the mucus with as KellyG indicated Mucinex, warm liquids and lots of water...say at least 4-5 bottles a day.

Bonusmom, you remind me of my daughter that suddenly started having joint pain and more than usual allergy flares and she was diagnosed by blood work with Sjogren's as I have. Just wondering... Do you have Sjogren's?

Please do take action on this issue... It can possibly lead to pulmonary issues as I indicated above.

newhorizons

[buddybelle]

SJS can affect the quantity and quality of saliva. I also have thick saliva. It causes mucous plugs that end up in my lungs. Be careful that you don't get pneumonia. I have had it twice in a year.
Buddybelle

[irish]

I am a long winded person as most of you all know. I think I could write a book about "mucus" and "phlegm" as I have been struggling with it since January of 2000. I have gone to more doctors than you can shake a stick at and have complained of more weird symptoms, had more dang infections, irrigated with every type of appliance and solution under the sun and instilled antibiotic solutions into my sinuses several time a day for months at a time. Bear with me cause I am leading up to my lates escapade that may shed a little light on a few things.

I have driven my ENT NUTZ with all my issues and he has scoped me under anesthesia 3 different time in surgery. He is very meticulous and I have been driving him crazy. He actually starts to look depressed when he sees me coming cause he can never "fix" me.

I have coughed up what I think are abscesses that rupture and drain and no one can find it. It can come on so suddenly that I can't get in to see a doctor in time. I finally got in to see a doc in urgent care after something ruptured and I had gotten a specimen to be cultured.

The doc checked me out and the one side of my face was swollen but he couldn't feel any enlarged nodes or glands. However, he could not see the ear drum when he looked. He had to get a pediatric scope and could only see a small portion of the drum. He said the ear canal was so swollen shut that I either had an abscess or a tumor.

Well, after a bloody miserable year I am finally figuring some of this stuff out on my own. I was getting such a full feeling in my throat and down into my airway that I was getting miserable. I felt like I had scabs down into my airway that needed to be coughed up. I could feel these small areas way down just below my cough reflex and I would retch and cough and irrigate.

I have felt like this swelling, scabs, drainage, obstruction---what ever you want to call it has been getting worse and could lead to a trachetomy.

Anyway, I have also noted that my tissue in the back of my throat would swell up, especially on my right side. My ENT finally took me to surgery and used laser to remove a very small amount of  lingual tonsil tissue (base of the tongue) that had pus pockets in it. He thought that this would give me some relief-- although he never promises me a rose garden!!!

I felt much better with the swelling and drainage for a couple of weeks but it slowly got worse and I was again miserable. I talked with my immunologist and he put me on Plaquenil to see what would happen as all my blood tests stay very, very positive. This was in response to my general health status--not necessarily for the mucus.

I have been on it for 12 days now and I have to tell you that there is something different going on that seems to be an improvement. First of all, it seems sort of crazy to say that a sjoggie has a lot of mucus. Well, it isn't that it is a lot of mucus, it is the consistency, location and amount of aggravation this darn mucus puts me through.

I still buy about 30 boxes of Kleenex a month for the cars, basement by my washer and dryer, each room and bathroom in the house. I can't go anyplace without a bottle of water, a box of kleenex and a plastic bag for the soiled Kleenex. I have learned to do this with more dignity than I thought possible.

In the past 5 months  my neck, throat area and into the right side of my neck have looked swollen and felt swollen but the doctors felt nothing on palpation and cat scans show nothing.I have come to the conclusion that the lymphoid tissues in my thyroid area, throat, nose, ears, etc all over between below my eyes and above where the clavicles meet (at the lower most part of my neck) have been swelling up all these years due to inflammatory response.

When they swell up these areas then trap the mucus and bacteria. I have felt like this swelling is slowly going down---slightly better to the point that I am not as miserable. However, I will not say that the plaquenil is a success for a long time yet.

I tell it like it is and I told my ENT that "snot has taken over my life". I am sorry this got so long, but I wanted to explain a few things---might be of help to the rest of you.  The plaquenil is a very strong anti-inflammatory and this could be decreasing the inflammatory response in my lymphoid tissues. The white cells rush to areas to attack our body. Irish

[buddybelle]

Irish,
You are an expert on lung issues. I have learned a lot from your posts. I am sorry you are having such a difficult time.
Buddybelle