I have been challenged with sticky mucus pooling in my throat for approximately 15 years. Recently I wondered if there was a link between taking thyroxine and my excess mucus and thanks to Google search I discovered that others have been challenged with this same frustrating and bothersome condition
I then decided to go off the thyroxine and researched which foods would support my thyroid and managed to get my thyroid back to within normal range
But then after several weeks the chronic mucus stepped up a notch or two and making it almost impossible to sleep as I constantly hawk up in the vain attempt to be able to breath . I am chronically sleep deprived and exhaustion is my constant state In desperation I went back on the thyroxine three nights ago but as yet no improvement
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Goingforth2021
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That's interesting, I've had similar for four years and have wondered why. I haven't ever thought it might be to do with my thyroid hormones. I look forward to seeing other people's responses to you.
It took me 15 years to join the dots Eventually I discovered a forum of people discussing the same challenge my Googling Thyroxine snd mucus It’s a total nightmare and recently it has become so much more and I only averaging 3 or 4 hours of broken sleep
All these years and so many people the same conditions all linked. Only just one month ago been diagnosed with low thyroid etc. I had two separate chest infections one lasted three months! Swollen glands every day almost hopping cough like sounds breathless pick up from holiday years ago. Doctor kept dismissing me. The other a few years ago again just couldn't breath on very strong anti biotics. So many reading all of this.
I thought I had a Eureka moment with excess mucus at the back of my throat. Yes its worse at night and I use a back support so im virtually upright. But I've just had to exclude all salt from my diet because I've been diagnosed with kidney failure. So did that make the mucus worse. If so I can do noth9ing about it. I wait and hope we get more posts on this subject. If I manage to clear it within the hour it is back!
Post nasal drip is a pretty common hypo symptom. I certainly find that when my levels are low, I get worse PND than when they are closer to optimal. I find running a humidifier overnight really helpful. Keeps the mucus thinner and easier to clear.
Also worth noting that lots of hypos have food intolerances which can also cause symptoms like this.
Regarding coming off and back on to thyroxine, you might find that prior to stopping you weren’t on a high enough dose, especially if you have other persistent symptoms. Once you’ve been back on it consistently for 6-8 weeks, might be worth retesting and posting results to get feedback from the group regarding optimal, not just “normal” results
Extremely common when hypothyroid to become dairy intolerant
Thyroid levels need testing 6-8 weeks after any dose change or brand change in levothyroxine
How much levothyroxine are you currently taking
If you are lactose intolerant you will need lactose free levothyroxine and lactose free diet
Lactose intolerance can be result of being gluten intolerant and often improves after year or two on strictly gluten free diet
Poor gut function with Hashimoto’s can lead leaky gut (literally holes in gut wall) this can cause food intolerances. Most common by far is gluten. Dairy is second most common.
According to Izabella Wentz the Thyroid Pharmacist approx 5% with Hashimoto's are coeliac, but over 80% find gluten free diet helps, sometimes significantly. Either due to direct gluten intolerance (no test available) or due to leaky gut and gluten causing molecular mimicry (see Amy Myers link)
Changing to a strictly gluten free diet may help reduce symptoms, help gut heal and slowly lower TPO antibodies
While still eating high gluten diet ask GP for coeliac blood test first or buy test online for under £20, just to rule it out first
The predominance of Hashimoto thyroiditis represents an interesting finding, since it has been indirectly confirmed by an Italian study, showing that autoimmune thyroid disease is a risk factor for the evolution towards NCGS in a group of patients with minimal duodenal inflammation. On these bases, an autoimmune stigma in NCGS is strongly supported
In summary, whereas it is not yet clear whether a gluten free diet can prevent autoimmune diseases, it is worth mentioning that HT patients with or without CD benefit from a diet low in gluten as far as the progression and the potential disease complications are concerned
Despite the fact that 5-10% of patients have Celiac disease, in my experience and in the experience of many other physicians, at least 80% + of patients with Hashimoto's who go gluten-free notice a reduction in their symptoms almost immediately.
Thanks for very informative and detailed reply Have been gluten free for almost 30 years and dairy and pork free for almost 20 years Will read your reply tomorrow as there is a lot to digest
Crazy thank you how I am learning and amazed. So many morning having my bowl of cereal or butter toast my mouth would swell in pain. I find it so interesting how the body reacts, although I wish it would react in a more positive way!
me too, but it has only appeared in the last year or so, and i've been on Levo for 20yrs. I eat loads of maldon sea salt and always have , so i don't think it's that.
I have an after dinner cigarette , so up till now i'd assumed it was smoking catching up with me.... maybe not if it's so common
I started with a morning phlegmy cough a year before I knew I had a Thyroid problem. Also phlegm in my urine.
My dose was titrated up for a year, too slowly, and I took matters into my own hands and started on NDT. I am dairy and gluten free.
When on 4 grains Thyroid S it stopped altogether, but, with fears of running out due to manufacturing delays I reduced to 3 grains and it is back again.
On 4 grains I was supposedly over medicated.
I’m debating increasing my Thyroid S by 1/4 grain now x
I've had this for years. Is it a well known thyroid problem? For me it started with feeling unable to swallow which would wake me during the night. In the past year or so I now have days where I'm constantly trying to clear my throat. I'm not diagnosed with any thyroid problems yet but I'm getting further tests done soon, so I'll mention this.
Espeegee I have this. Have you tested for Candida in your sinuses? I didn’t even realise it was a thing. It’s an overgrowth of yeast. My bloody nose has stopped since I went on a Candida diet. My nose is slowly getting clearer. Might be worth looking at that.
My post nasal drip also cleared up when I gave up dairy. Xx
I’m under Ear Nose and Throat at the moment whos arranged scan and allergy tests and found nothing. Hes not tested for candida! He says hes going to operate now x
My daughter’s ENT said the tiny camera they put in your nose can spot Candida in your throat. She said it’s incredibly common but people never think you can get it in your throat. The symptoms can be pretty bad. I had no idea until recently 😊x
Hello,I also experience this, more so when stressed and under-dosed with thyroid hormone- I'm on T3 only for the last 10 years after struggling with levothyroxine for 15 years.
My sense of it is that it is my body's reaction to having too little stomach acid to digest proteins well enough, and my oesophagus produces mucus to protect itself from being burned by reflux of undigested stomach contents. This after reading lots of theories and trying various approaches. I'm sure people will vary in what what they need to do. I find that after many years of this (I'm 74) , my swallowing muscles are a bit less efficient than they used to be , and i choke on the mucus more easily., or crumbs go down the wrong way.
What helps me is taking a Pepsin and Betaine tablet before every protein-based meal. Then ,
if my oesophagus is feeling sore I sip aloe vera juice slowly to soothe the inflamed oesophagus. And most days I take an aloe vera capsule or two to soothe my guts.
I have also found the folk remedy of eating apples is helpful, as is the cider vinegar approach.
Very informative reply thanks I have taken a variety of digestive aids and tried the apple cider vinegar Also readers if you have acid reflux don’t take acid blockers It sets you up for long term problems down the track As we age we need more acid notbless The Nix Institute is a very informative web site and Christian Nix a genuinely honest and knowledgeable bloke Highly recommend him
Neri pot is of no help Likewise salt gargling I am dairy gluten and pork free Have Had Epstein Bar twice and read that sets people up for Thyroid problems
NB I tried updating the info below on my profile with no success so experimenting to see if I can post it here Greetings all fellow travellers facing challenging health issues that our Medical system fails to address.I am a 78 year old woman living in Byron Bay Australia.
I have been challenged for many years with excess sticky mucus pooling in my throat.The medical profession has been useless.
Recently I joined the dots between taking thyroxine and mucus but I still can’t find a Dr to take my condition seriously.
Each night I only manage about 4 hours sleep (if I am lucky)due to the fact that I am continuously hacking up mucus and I cannot breath out when it pools in my throat.
The condition has escalated 5 weeks ago and I am chronically exhausted.
Unfortunately i
recently have been plummeted into further health challenges because 3 weeks ago I had a molar removed and subsequently developed a dry socket. A very painful condition that happens every time I have had a tooth removed so I am fully aware of the healing process.
So when I fell into debilitating sickness ten days later I realised something was radically wrong and thus began my relentless search on the Internet to explain my overwhelming exhaustion. Finally I realised that I was feeling very similar to how I felt some 20 years previously when for ten years I had chronic fatigue so I Googled ‘Chronic fatigue and teeth’ and Voila!I stumbled upon the following link.
Is a Hidden Infection Causing Your Chronic Fatigue?
Due to my current state of exhaustion I am not able to reply to individual messages and being new here I have yet to work out how it all works (grey matter not functioning brilliantly) Hopefully I can find a way to post my latest discoveries as a generic post to you all.
Just before I go may I take the liberty to make three recommendations?
Firstly For all those struggling with acid reflux I highly recommend The Nix Institute.
Christian Nix is a wealth of common sense information about this baffling condition.
Google the Nix insitute
I also recommend the web site’ ‘Doctors are dangerous Take back control of your life’
I have just been diagnosed and put on meds prior to this I have always had the same symptoms right back to child had tonsils removed maybe you and I are prone genetically.
This might be of no relevance to you but I'll pass it on anyway.
I'm an ex-smoker. I smoked a lot and I smoked for a long time, but I finally stopped about ten years ago.
Before I stopped smoking I would cough a lot, and feel that I had gunge in my lungs and throat that I couldn't cough up. I asked the Stop Smoking advisor that I was seeing when I could expect my lungs and throat to start cleaning themselves out. Her answer wasn't terribly comforting - she said it could happen after the first day of stopping, after a week, a month, a year or more, or it might never happen.
It turned out that I was in the "never" group. About two years after I stopped smoking I read about NAC - N-Acetyl-Cysteine - an OTC supplement that could help various conditions, including thinning mucus and allowing it to be coughed up more easily.
It was very successful for me, it has never given me any side-effects at the dose I use, and I still take it now. I take one capsule (600mg) a day, in the morning. It doesn't work quickly - I first noticed an effect after about three days. Depending on how "gungy" I feel I take it between 4 and 7 days a week.
Shop around for a good price - it tends to vary a lot.
NAC has "official" prescribed uses as well. For example, in hospitals it can be supplied as a gas and used for people with lung diseases to breathe in to help them to eliminate mucus.
As a supplement it also helps some people with common lung diseases e.g. COPD.
I've got this too. Nasal drip, constant need to clear my throat. Was referred to ENT and was told everything fine, but have reflux. Omeprazole for the reflux but doesn't help much and I snore like a train!
Omeprazole is a Proton Pump Inhibitor and can interfere with the absorption of vitamin B12 from food (though not from supplements) in some but not all studies. It may not, but it is possible so best to be aware. The Pernicious Anaemia Society (PAS is a charity) is a good site to look at the symptoms of B12 deficiency if you think it may apply to you. I was told by ENT I had Silent Acid Reflux but I won't take the omeprazole prescribed. I do have the mucus and constant clearing of throat, and now nasal drip; I do use Gaviscon. I don't have thyroid problems.
This is interesting LynLyn, I heard about silent reflux recently and have been wondering if I had it for another reason - 3 years ago I was told I have air trapping in my lungs, but my test results don't fit the normal pattern for most lung conditions, so I was told I probably have either mild asthma or mild COPD. But I've never had an asthma attack, nor breathing problems that would go with asthma. At the time I was asked if I had GERD or a lot of indigestion but I wasn't aware I had. Can I ask how you discovered you had silent reflux, and how you prove that's the problem? I must say that I found sitting in a salt cave for an hour every week helped a lot with the catarrh, but then the local salt cave closed.
Bless you. It’s horrible hey. Definitely look into it. For me dairy cleared it up amazingly. Couldn’t believe it. Was like a miracle.
Candida then struck 7 months later and I have a different type of sinus problems. The diet is helping and I’m losing some weight too. So I think it’s definitely Candida. There’s loads of info on the internet.
If I cut out sugar and especially chocolate (which is difficult) I find that the sticky mucus disappears. Obviously it comes back when I’m on the awful yummy chocolate. Xx 😊
Hi. I have had this mucus since starting throxine and was told I had reflux and to increase my antacids and sleep on 2 pillows. Before this I woke up during the night choking on this awful mucus. Much improved by the pillows...if I slip off them during the night, I definitely have more mucus in the morning
Thanks for your reply LynLyn, presumably then the silent reflux had caused some damage if the camera could identify what was going on. When the current situation is over I shall ask for investigations, or perhaps I'll just start to address it now. I've been gluten free on and off for a while and only have dairy in tea, but will do it properly!
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