Infection or GERD ?

[Blair_a_h]

Hi, I'm a 25 year old non smoking male who is slightly overweight and for the past couple of weeks it feels like I've  been swallowing thick mucus. I have also developed a cough which varies between dry and throat clearing, sometimes it feels like there is fluid in my throat constantly and sometimes It feels almost like there is something in my throat and I have to swallow hard. When I look in my mouth my tongue is white with a collection of thicker white stuff sitting at the back. I haven't been felling too well since I developed these symptoms (General fatigue). The doctor gave me a weeks course of Amoxicillin which hasn't really done anything, neither has anti bacterial mouthwash or cough mixture. I seem to be okay first thing in the morning and it gets worse during the day when I'm out and about. The doc thought it might be Sinus infection but I have no other symptoms apart from in my throat. With all the bacteria on my tongue I'm not sure if this is just an infection or GERD because my symptoms fit into this category too. My breathing is pretty clear and my nose is clear but my throat is driving me nuts, sometimes the cough can almost make me gag. I have also suffered from Anxiety for about a year I have no idea if this makes a difference. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[National Jewish]

There are 2 likely causes for what you have described.  The first is that you have experienced a viral infection.  This has caused postnasal drainage and the fatigue.  At this time of the year, vial infections are fairly common.  It can take weeks for this to go away.

The second cause could be a sinus infection.  Amoxicillin does not take care of lots of types of bacterial sinus infections.  There are lots of other antibiotics that can be tried to treat this, if it is a sinus infection.  A sinus CT would tell if you have a sinus infection.

It is not clear if the anxiety issue has any bearing on what you are describing.

[JohnPJR]

I had a similar problem a few months ago. I did some reading and found that my symptoms were similar to those found in cushings disease. I evaluated what had changed in my diet and finally found that I had been eating yogurt 3 times a day which contained active yeast which caused the symptoms. As soon as I stopped eating the yogurt, my tongue returned to normal along with the other symptoms. Just some food for thought.

[littlevicko]

hi,my daughter has coughing for over 5 months,drs treated her for asthma,and cold for mnths got so bad she was throwing up plegm in large amounts,finally took her to lebonheur childrens hospital where she stayed 2 weeks ,she had severe sinus disease which had to have surgery,severe acid reflux(gerd)which contributed to her coughing and candid esophagitis,her esophagus was infected from the stomach acids,that alone will give someone a continuous cough,hope that helps some