Anthony, North of England

For the past 3 years I have been clearing my throat/coughing all day. Sometimes every few seconds, especially in the AM. Sometimes I felt as if I was choking. I have been to see quite a few consultants. They had several different theories, but nothing really cured it. I even had my uvula (gaggle at back of throat) removed at their suggestion. They said it was longer than normal. But once healed I was back continuously clearing/coughing. I have had xrays, scans. I am tired of having that nano camera going up my nose. I am extremely healthy. I am 63 years of age. I go fell-running in the Lake District and the Howgills.Mountain biking in the same areas. Love road biking. I can run up a flight of stairs two at a time, without being being out of breath. I am going into overkill on activities, because if I had just put age=63 yrs. you might have thought it is his age.
The consultants have given me allergy tests. No allergies. I have given up dairy produce, just in case. Not a big problem as I have been a vegetarian for 40 years, but not the answer. They have suggested now that it is myself who has created ' a habit ' of coughing/ clearing my throat. I know it is not me, but something about my throat. I have tried meditation. No help.

About 10 months ago I found that chewing gum at best stopped the clearing/coughing. It certainly stopped me having such a sore throat. I now wake up and pop chewing gum in my mouth. Every day and all days. My jaws get tired, but on the positive side my jaw line has got firmer. It is the only thing that controls my problem. Sometimes if I got really bad I have tried my wife's asthma 'puffer' and it possibly helps a little. I have also had tests for asthma and I don't have any symptoms.

Only one other thing can subdue the problem for me. I like watching DVD movies in bed on my laptop. And my wife has noticed that as I get more into the film, I start to stop clearing /coughing.

I have this mental picture of this sad little creature chewing gum and watching films 24 hours a day.

My conclusions are the chewing gum keeps my throat moist, and possibly relaxes it ( Not too sure on the latter) and the 'puffer' opens up my airways ( as they are intended to), and the film watching ? Relaxes me? Lets me displace?

I hope you do not mind me writing to you, but you are the only other person I have seen who suffers from the same problem and coincidentally has found chewing gum helps.

I have come to the conclusion that I am stuck with this for the rest of my life.

The consultants have now suggested I go for Sleep Apnoea test,(Please Google it for a definition) because of my throat problems. They have almost admitted that they are running out of ideas.