Throat Clearing-Irritation Not CPAP-Related

For many months before CPAP therapy I awoke each morning and within a few minutes found myself having to clear my throat. Repeatedly and typically all day long. This has continued unabated, to my disappointment, throughout my CPAP therapy which is now in its third month. This condition is complicated by small involuntary swallows of air followed by quiet, almost silent, belches which comes and goes. The throat clearing is more persistent.

Yes, I have been diagnosed with acid reflux/GERD. However, I am treated effectively I believe (as does my gastro doc) with Prevacid and no longer experience heartburn or stomach issues.

Anybody else seeing these symptoms upon arising in the morning. The throat clearing is so persistent it causes some soreness. I'm pretty sure CPAP is not the culprit and I do use a Resmed H5i humidifier set to Climate Control 80.

Hi - I'm pretty sure it's an allergy/post nasal drip related thing... whether seasonal or otherwise, so you might want to follow up and see if it fits... good luck.

Some BP meds, particularly ACE inhibitors, can cause this. Along with a heck of a lot of other things.

yes, I was on BP medicine Accupril and I had the same type of symptoms. Previcet (sp) didn't relieve it. One day at a visit to my doctor, he switched me to another family of meds. All the symptoms went away. It was very, very annoying with the throat clearing because I was never able to clear it. And while others would be talking normally, I would be trying to clear my throat at every sentence. Grrrr.

John Fisher posted in the most recent ASV thread that getting real sleep allows your body to do a lot more lung clearing and that it will taper off over time...
viewtopic/p683744/viewtopic.php?p=683503#p683503

Heart burn is only one symptom. I had the same pre cpap and it cleared up with tilting the bed and cpap. GERD does not always cause the sensation of heart burn at night, especially if you are also swallowing air.

archangle wrote:Some BP meds, particularly ACE inhibitors, can cause this. Along with a heck of a lot of other things.

Just to clarify. Many(most) ace inhibitors don't do that. But Lisinopril does...
J

Being as I have the same problem, I would say it is one of 3 things. I could be sinus drainage that hits your folds and you then clear your throat. Or, you could have asthma and are bringing up plegm from your lungs (doubtful if you haven't as yet been diagnosed). It may be a habit that you need to break. I do have asthma and also a lot of sinus problems so I am a big throat clearer. You probably, at a minimum, need to check with your family doc or an ENT. Remember, all we can do on the forum is give an opinion.

Papit wrote:For many months before CPAP therapy I awoke each morning and within a few minutes found myself having to clear my throat. Repeatedly and typically all day long. This has continued unabated, to my disappointment, throughout my CPAP therapy which is now in its third month. This condition is complicated by small involuntary swallows of air followed by quiet, almost silent, belches which comes and goes. The throat clearing is more persistent.

Yes, I have been diagnosed with acid reflux/GERD. However, I am treated effectively I believe (as does my gastro doc) with Prevacid and no longer experience heartburn or stomach issues.

Anybody else seeing these symptoms upon arising in the morning. The throat clearing is so persistent it causes some soreness. I'm pretty sure CPAP is not the culprit and I do use a Resmed H5i humidifier set to Climate Control 80.

This could also be from acid reflux. The acid does a number on your throat and your throat responds by trying to heal via phlem.

Prevacid is OTC.
I found most OTC drugs ineffective for excess acid after my cholicystectomy.
I took Aciphex for several years until BCBSNE took it off formulary last summer.
Now I take generic pantoprazole--which works as well but at a much lower cost--even than the OTC.