Persistent Phlegm in Throat

[TheLeeWay]

I'm 18 years old, don't smoke nor live around smokers, and have no blood history of pulmonary ailments like asthma, etc.

Still, I was diagnosed with tuberculosis last December 2006 and took prescribed medication until June 2007. I thought I was problem-free from then on, but recently (around March 20, 2008), I've had trouble with excessive coughing and extremely adhesive yellowish-green phlegm for almost 2 weeks. Then for the next seven days, I took an antibiotic and Endorsteine(?) Zertin (through a friend's recommendation) which was medication for acute bronchitis though I was only 75% sure that my condition was even bronchitis.

But since then my phlegm has cleared up to a normal-looking white and I no longer cough nor feel the urge to.

But now my problem is this: a week after medication, I constantly feel the presence of sticky phlegm in the back of my throat. Coughing doesn't get it out, spitting only hurts my throat (except for a very controlled kind of spit which is very noisy and embarrassing to do in public) and it ends up expelling only little phlegm.

I'm wondering if it's possible that my tuberculosis has recurred somehow (to my extreme horror) or that my bronchitis is really something else? I've been told that it is possible for me to develop asthma; is this true?

But I do know and feel the presence of a lot of persistent phlegm in my throat that I have no idea how to get rid of. It doesn't come from my lungs nor my nasal passages; it's just ever-present in my throat and that's what's annoying me.

Any help on the right kind of medication that can loosen this phlegm up? I've tried Carbosisteine(?) plenty of times but it can't seem to do the trick.

My, these lungs sure are giving me lots of trouble.

[yusuf_nbs]

hi i am 30 yrs old male from india.i am having some problem since more than 1.5 years.i do throat clearing all the time .more throat clearing after eating. as if a small mucus is stucked in my throat,which is not comming out.i was admitted for this in hospital.they have lots of tests including ct scan of chest,mri scan of throat,barium meal,endoscopy,24 hr esophagal ph monitoring,usg,blood tests.all are normal.no GERD.what should i do now?
please help me.

one thing i must tell u.this started at sep.2009.at that time,one day i sprayed baygon spray(for killing bugs and moquitoes) in my room ,and then i had to sleep in that room.since then my problem increased.there was some smell of spray.

i am doing this for 1 and half years.now i cant cough and hawk anymore.pls help. ..

[zakei]

I had this problem for about a month, and after i tried drinking 3 litres of water daily for 3 days consecutively, my phlegm thinned down and cleared off. I drank bottled mineral, cause when i tried distilled, it seemed to burn my throat instead. Gatorade and sweet drinks made me cough more. Perhaps it was the sugar. But in any case, plain bottled mineral water seems to work best for me. I drank about half a cup each time, constantly through the day. I don't know if drinking it differently will result in a different effect.

Note: I had to go to the toilet really often, but i think the relief from the phlegm is completely worth it. Cheers.

[StinkyT]

I have the same problem, I do have bad allergies and do take allergy meds daily.  I have only found 1 med that takes it away and it is Singulair - but not without horrible side effects - depression, suicidal thoughts and skin rashes.  So that being said I don't take Singulair any longer and am suffering with the lump in my throat and constant cough or clearing.  Doctor is puzzled and just want to keep shoving different diagnosis' and meds but I refuse.  I did try acid reflux meds but they did nothing for me.  I will try the gatorade as stated above because I don't drink enough throughout the day and I do dehydrate easy.  I hope all of us figure this out.

[krazyling]

I have had this problem for around 2 years and at first I had spoken to my doctor about it who said that the only thing he can think of was that it was an allergy of some kind.  He wanted to put me on allergy medication but I refused to take medicine for phlegm.  I did not want to grow dependent on medication and I thought it would better if I could solve this problem by getting to the root of the problem instead.

My phlegm usually resides at the back of my throat and is not easily dislodge.  Often I would be clearing my throat so much that it would be sore after a while.  However, the phlegm seems so thick that I cannot hack it out to see what color it is nor can I swallow it down.  

Recently my phelgm is getting so bad that I sometimes have problems sleeping at night since I'm often clearing my throat. I sometimes find that it affects my breathing.  Also, usually in the daytime the phlegm does not seem to exist, however, it will arise immediately after I lay in my bed.  

I recently decided to go on a weight loss program and am detoxing and just today I drank a whole 24 oz container of water.  The phlegm seems to loosen up a bit to make it easier for me to swallow.  Very slight but it seems that water does help a bit....so it also might be because my body was sorely dehydrated.

I'm also doing some yoga/hollistic breathing exercises that seems to clear up my throat and make me breathe better after 1 minute of exercising.  

I will continue to drink more water to see if it will help me clear up my phlegm problem once and for all.

[mamashu6boys]

I'm trying to find answers for the same thing. I do ok when I completely give up all dairy products consistantly. But any time I get a cold the phlegm comes back in force and stays for months. I wash it out with a Netti pot, thats really just using a saline rinse in my nose and letting it pour down the back of my throat until a can cough it out my mouth. That helps me feel better for a few hours, then the phlegm builds up again. I've been diagnosed with dormant TB, my lung xrays have always been clear so I don't know if it could have anything to do with it?
I wish you all luck!

[Magdalo41]

How long have you guys had your symptoms? coz had mine for almost 4 months now, i don't cough, just have a constant feeling of clearing my throat and spits out white phleghm.  Really scares me, specially now that i am on my way for basic military training.

What could it be? Could it have something to do with HIV?
Hope not...

[keithrocks]

what i did is i drink more than extreme amounts of liquid with electrolytes.. ex. Gatorade. i drink 4 liters of it in a day.. and on the next day. it seemed to have vanished or only 2 to 3% was left. the down side is. u keep on urinating the whole day. and ur waste is kinda sticky

[crash89]

Even i have exactly the same problem. But i haven't had any respiratory disease so far other than frequent throat infection(my doctor says tonsils infection). Sticky phlegm sticks to the back of my throat very frequently and i have to struggle hard to get rid of that. :( Kindly mail me at ***@**** if u find any solution for this.