Need to clear throat/cough

[PhoenixGrey]

I have this constant feeling of needing to clear my throat or cough - but clearing my throat doesnt get rid of the feeling... and coughing is nigh on impossible cause there's nothing to cough up!

Does anyone else get this? Cause its doing my head in! And im burping a lot as well :-S

[EmmaJane]

Hi,

I have this at high times of anxiety or if im nervous. I have had this problem since a teenager. Try not to worry, i would bet its a nervous/anxiety thing

[jojo2316]

Yes yes yes! With me it's a really weird feeling, a kind of tickle or something........ like tight muscles in the chest are causing some nerve to be stimulated. I feel like I need to cough, but when I do consiously cough it's really unstatisfying because there is nothing there. Usually I just clear my throat but that doesn't help either....

Can you describe the feeling more? I want to know if you get the same as me!! xx

[PhoenixGrey]

It actually feels like i should be able to reach into my throat and pull out the thing that is blocking it!

Usually comes in tandem with a numbness in that side of my face, or a blocked ear - i thought these were real symptoms until without warning they switched from the left hand side to the right hand side of my face!

[Nookster]

I have had this come and go over many years.
Its definately anxiety related as when I am really
calm if I had the symptoms not a few minutes before
they just go.

Things I have found that can increase the feelings
are to much dairy products like milk or cheese. I
also find when I am anxious that I sometimes feel
I have a tiny amount of water sitting at the back of
my throat and this sensation to will go as I become
relaxed once more.

Dont know if any of the above matches with you
but I hope it helps :D

[ali8385]

Yes yes yes! With me it's a really weird feeling, a kind of tickle or something........ like tight muscles in the chest are causing some nerve to be stimulated. I feel like I need to cough, but when I do consiously cough it's really unstatisfying because there is nothing there. Usually I just clear my throat but that doesn't help either....

Can you describe the feeling more? I want to know if you get the same as me!! xx
Oh my goodness...I am so pleasede that I have found this thread!!! This is exactly what I have on the right side of my throat/chest and it is driving me mad...it feels exactly like jojo2316...ahhhh....it is very frustrating as feels like coughing should clear the sensation but it doesn't. It also sometimes feels like perhaps a sinus is blocked in that side of my face...but the cough/tickle is just so annoying!!

[LisaLisa]

Hi everyone

I have the answer!! I posted it last week when the dr put me out of my misery!

Its stomach acid coming up the throat and causing a feeling l ike somethin dripping down the back of your nose!! ever notice that you burp more and or feel a burny feeling in chest as well? it kind of feels like blocked nose and sinus stuff too but its stomach acid. Its same as GERD but its called something wierd like water brash or something - i didnt want to ask dr to repeat it so i couldnt google it! She said some people actually cough with it, espesically at night, it seems like the thing at the back of the mouth /throat feelin g is something to do with drinking liquid and it meeting the acid coming up your throat. She gave me omeparazole for it.

Loads of people seem to get it. Girl in my office has it and so does my dad too.

Hope that helps!

Lisa
xxxxxxx

[RichieRich]

Hi, I think I have the same thing and it's really annoying. I don't know whether it's stress related or what makes it worse but my symptoms are as follows:
tickle at the back of the throat and it feels like I need to cough but it feels like I can't shift it. I thought it might be asthma because when I breath out it feels like my chest is "bubbling". Occasionally when I cough it feels like something has shifted and I can breath better but this is only for a short time.

Sometimes when I sneeze I can hear a wheezing sound afterwards. I have been to doctors and they have said they don't think it's asthma because they can't hear any pops or clicks in my lungs. They have tried treating me for acid reflux but I didn't feel any different. They also gave me medication for anxiety but this also didn't rectify the problem.

I am now 30 years old and I have had this for years. I have kind of gotten used to it but it does get me down. I am very active and I enjoy running but I feel I can't reach my fitness potential because of this ailment.

Any advice or tips would be wonderful. I would like to try natural remedies if possible. I've been looking into Buteyko therapy but it hasn't seemed to work for me so far. I don't know how long you're supposed to do it before you get results but I tried a few weeks.

Regards,
Rich

[xfilme]

post nasal drip is mucus that drips down onto your chest but is difficult to clear. I have this... maybe you do too?

[Cococj]

I used to have this all the time, for me it's one of the first symptoms of an acute phase of anxiety to show up and one of the last to go. I hated it. I used to swallow lots of air too which made me gulp, then I'd need to burp of course, I'd end up bloated, and I'd probably then have to cough and clear my throat, which of course then necessitated the cycle starting all over again. Course all that swallowing also annoyed my stomach and I'd have lots of acid coming up which would then lead onto other issues. Bah.

As others have pointed out the connection with acid and post nasal drip etc and they're all valid, but the underlying cause is anxiety and it's one of those symptoms I hated.

Have a hug! :)

I'll try not to burp.

[tag]

Hello,

I think I've had something similar for the last month or so.

When I'd breathe in hard - for example when exerting myself - running maybe - I'd get that irritated feeling in my windpipe, like a tickly, raspy sensation that'd eventually go after about 20 mins of 'normal' breathing.

Then I started getting it pretty much all the time & still have it now - a tickly feeling at the back of my throat which occasionally makes me want to cough but fairly rarely.

It feels a bit like the sensation you get after a cold when you're heading for the coughing phase but doesn't go any further than the tickling.

I do seem to be prone to Post Nasal Drip and my nose feels pretty bunged up a fair amount of the time currently & I'm permanently clearing my throat again.

I also seem to be feeling a bit 'refluxy' too although that seems to have only appeared in the last week or so.

Of course, being a panicker, two weeks ago I went to the Doctor (before the acid reflux became more noticeable) convinced that I had lung cancer. He had a good listen to my chest & heart & said they were clear - probably a virus. Looking down my throat he said I looked congested so presumably he could see the muck from the PND.

Anyway, I now find myself with chest discomfort appearing anywhere from behind the breast bone to all round my chest - most of which only appear when I breathe in and then tense. I've had these on & off for ages so presume that these are a tension/muscular thing.

Dr Google has now convinced me that I have Oesophegal (SP?) cancer so I'm seemingly back at square one although I don't think I'm having trouble swallowing so maybe not..

Any thoughts greatly appreciated, many thanks in advance.

[MoonlightFire]

Wow, this is almost exactly what I've been experiencing over the last few days!!! I had a bug last week which has gone now but I've been left with this irritated feeling down my throat and I've been clearing my throat a lot. I don't think it's the bug because it's been almost a week since it went. I have had Post Nasal Drip and cattargh etc since I was 12 because of dust allergy and hay fever so this could be connected. I am starting to wonder if it's anxiety though...there's been a few people on here complaining of the same thing and it does seem to improve when I stop worrying or when I'm focusing on something else! Also it feels a lot better after a hot drink and in the morning when I wake up.

[blottobox]

:wacko: I have been constantly clearing my throat and coughing since I was 16 years old. I am now 37 and although I've somewhat become used to it, it is annoying as hell. Not to mention embarrassing. When sitting in a class, or a restaurant, movie theater, etc... The throat clearing is a killer. If I try not to do it I can't breathe and the more I think about it the worse it gets. At night its horrible, I have to sleep with a towel or blanket over my face to dampen and warm the air to fall asleep. The towel/blanket/pillow concept helps to not disturb my girlfriend as well. I also have GERD constantly and I'm sure this contributes to it. I have been diagnosed with generalized anxiety w/ ongoing panic attacks, severe PTSD, and paranoid personality disorder. I'm currently on Klonopin 4 times a day which doesn't help the throat clearing, but makes it less noticeable. I've been on all kind of acid reducers, but the only one that worked was Nexium and it has no generic and costs as much as my car payment. No allergy pill on earth that I have taken has not sent me into an earth shattering panic attack, so all that is a no go. I'm coughing up a storm right now so bad that it has given me a headache. Nothing to cough up nothing to clear but it feels like i'm drowning. grrrr I hate this. :shrug: Don't know what to do anymore.

[TracyL]

OMG I get the exact same thing. I have had this persistant cough/post nasal drip thing for many many years. I feel as though I have to cough all the time to clear my throat which just doesn't happen. People often say to me, gosh how many cigarettes have you smoked!!! I have never smoked in my life. I had a sinus operation many years ago which helped for a few weeks but it came back again. I"m going through a bad bout of it at the minute and my chest is achy and hurts when i cough now because i think i've strained it. Not sure what the answer is but would love to find something to stop it.
Take care
Tracy xx

[madeuprolemodel]

Had this for 3 weeks! along with being ever so breathless

[tbourner]

I've just started getting this feeling the last few days, It's worse after I've just eaten, feels like something is stuck in my neck somewhere so I keep swallowing and feel like I need to burp to clear it. Don't notice it in the morning just as the day goes on and mostly after I've eaten. Freaking me out a bit. I have been more stressed the last week or 2 than normal, had several people say I'm not myself at the moment, mum and wife both want me to go to the doctor for depression.

[mlea]

Hi. I'm new to this site. I haven't been diagnosed with these problems but they sound like what I'm dealing with. Is anyone dealing with a shortness of breath along with that acid reflux thing? For over a month I have had to use a nebulizer twice a day. Anyway its working. But like y'all I'm constantly coughing. There's the feeling that I've got something in my throat like an itch. Drs think its asthma. Allergy. Or acid reflux. They don't even know for sure without running tests. They are expensive.

Thanks. Mlea