Throat clearing

Living with Parkinson's Daily life
1
just trying to work out if this another sighn of pd.... hubby has had trouble this last week he keeps trying to clear his throat and it seems to take him ages to do it is worse in the morning when he wakes up. as he is recently dx i dont know what to put in notes to tell them at the clinic on our next visit...
2
Hello jzgirl and welcome.

Difficultly in clearing the the throat, especially in the morning is very common in PWP. I would suggest that you put in the notes that you take to the next consultation , (which by the way I think is an excellent idea), exactly what you have just posted - it is clear, concise and relevant.

A few tips that I have been given re this problem:

Pineapple juice (watered dowm)
Black grape Juice (watered down)

I have no idea why these specific drinks may helpful, but I cannot imagine that they would do any harm.

Best wishes
3
thank you annebernadette. its good to be able to link symptoms to the parkinson's and also get some advice that can help.... i am still very lost with it all. our gp is not very good so its no good asking him so will be relying on this website
4
I have this problem, a dry mouth at night makes it worse. I inhale steam from a tall narrow jug to loosen the gunk and sometinmes add Karvol/Ateaspoon of Vick to the boiling water
It cant do any arm to try it.
5

My OH 's throat fills with phlegm or froth and rarely clears. Often he feels all his tubes are full and breathing is hard. Chewing gum will bring up a lot of stuff and problem clears for a short time but soon returns. It is worse in the morning but remains all day and often he cannot lie down in bed because his throat is so full, Peptac and Omeprazole given by the speech therapist worked at first but rarely now and the problem is exhausting him. Does anyone else suffer, and has anyone ideas for treatment? We should be very grateful for help.

6

Hello erscar,

I’m sorry to hear that your husband is struggling with this, it does sound very exhausting for him.

I’m sure you will have other comments from forum members with similar experiences, but I also wanted to let you know that we have some information on saliva, including ways to manage problems that might occur: https://www.parkinsons.org.uk/information-and-support/eating-swallowing-and-saliva-control

I hope this is helpful, and best wishes to you both.
Min,
Moderation Team

7

If it’s worse when lying down, try a couple of house bricks under the head end of the bed, (one each side).
This raises the head slightly and helps stop gunk flowing up from the stomach or lungs.

Jim

8

Thankyou for the suggestions. The article was so helpful when OH was choking a lot and having trouble drooling so, on the whole, he has mastered this problem. Now it is the stuff that is constantly filling his throat and making breathing hard that is the problem and is too bad for the medication given by the speech therapist to work. I wondered if anyone else suffered this way and had any tips. Thankyou again for replying