To throttle my colleague who never stops clearing his throat?

[WanderingNotLost]

From 9 in the morning til 6 in the evening, several times a minute my colleague coughs/clears his throat. It's sort of a vocal 'hah-hah-hum' type of thing as opposed to a regular cough. He sits opposite me (with computer monitors in between) so he's about 5 feet away and doesn't cover his mouth, so I hear it loud and clear every time and it's starting to give me stabby rage. I've only been here two weeks

Now, I never thought of misphonia. Good point.

The thing is, there are other people in the office who are ill and have a bit of a cough, but it's an actual cough cough, IYSWIM- they do it a couple of times then they're done. With him, it's sniff, sniff, hah-huh-hmm, sniff and all the fucking time. I set my phone to record voice memo to play it to my DP (who think I'm exaggerating- I'm really not), sat it next to my keyboard and he did it three times in 50 seconds. My phone even picked up the sniffing And it's like that all day long. I'd post the recording on here if I knew how!

I have one who is a smoker. Coughing is endless, and goes on for hours on end as does the throat clearing. It's a bit like white noise when she's on shift apart from when she pops out for a ciggy. When you work with them over several days you do get stabby. YANBU.

My office mate has a 'cough-sniff' constantly. I solve it via headphones.

But then I used to be the one with the cough, which eventually turned out to be undiagnosed asthma.

He probably very much gives a shit, and if it's a tic (throat clearing is a known tic), people commenting on it will only make it worse.

And tics are very hard, often impossible, to treat. There is no 100% reliable medication, and the medications that do exist, come with a whole load of nasty side effects and might not work anyway.

Apologies for spelling, should have read Misophonia". (Multitasking and using phone). So much still needs to be done to raise awareness. Many, many people have it and have never heard the name. Wondering, you have used some textbook examples/language ( as have some of the other more sympathetic posters ). Please look on NHS website under Misophonia/4s and Google as there are some support groups.

I have a colleague who shouts "Jesus Christ" all the time. Really makes me jump. So offensive as well, can you imagine shouting "Allah!" and getting away with it?!

Rapunzel well no, not really because people use exclamations like 'Jesus Christ' as a figure of speech not literally. Inappropriate to shout in the office though, agree with you there.

Might he have GORD or something similar? I have it and the reflux triggers increased saliva production that runs down the back of my throat and sometimes it's make the quietest "hmm-HMM" I can, or choke on the saliva which is a lot louder . And unfortunately, yeah, it happens multiple times a day. Fortunately, most of the day it's just me and dd here and she only has to put up with it while we're doing her homeschool work.

I understand that this is annoying but it sounds like tics to me. The sniff and cough thing is very common. My son, uncle and my dad have Tourette's syndrome and this sounds like them. If it IS tics there is not much he can do about it, despite what an earlier poster said (oh to be a miracle worker - perhaps if you shared your wisdom with the medical professionals then you could cure everyone with Tourette's?). There is medication, but some people with Tourette's, especially if it's mild, choose not to be medicated because the side effects can be more unpleasant than the tics. Threads like this really depress me. What hope does my son have of finding anywhere that can tolerate his idiosyncrasies if people are so full of judgement? Yes your guy may simply be being an arse, but he might not be. He might not be able to help it.

Rapunzel that's different I think. Yes it might be annoying but it's not disgusting is it - nobody is retching because of someone shouting. Offensive is very subjected. I'm much more offended by hearing the loud and constant movement of phlegm around someone's throat and mouth than I would be by them shouting anything.

ProginoskesThe difference is, with him it's loud, open-mouthed and several times a minute. Literally.

Be VERY careful recording your colleagues and what is happening at work without other people's knowledge or permission. You are potentially breaking the law and could end up with a grievance against you or worse if discovered. Leaving aside the fact that recording people without their permission to play back to your partner so you can criticise them is just horrible.

God of course you can't bring it up. Who on earth do you think you are? It could be a nervous thing, you'll
Embarrass the person so much. It's like bullying

Not nice at all to film him just so you can make fun of him. I hate the thought of people filming my son's tics just to make fun of him.

I mean recording, not filming.

Agree buncinbronco, and if they are tics, they will only get worse if he's embarrassed.

You have my utmost sympathy, I simply would not be able to tolerate this. Can you really not move desks if you talk to HR?

May be post-nasal drip, caused by excessive mucus being produced, hence the reflex clearing his throat.
I've seen my GP - no cure.
Several other possible physical causes that can't be cured, or tics.
Please don't bully him. He probably can't help it.

I think you need to talk to HR and ask to move. It will then be their problem to sort.

Really no point trying not to hear it if it's as you describe - I am also pretty certain it is no coincidence that that desk near him was free, so others must have also complained.

Have a word and ask HR to move you or otherwise come up with a solution.

'I simply would not be able to tolerate this'
This comment among many similar. What if your child developed this kind of tic? Think then you might have to. And there are disabilities that involve continual dribbling too. You might also realise that your suffering is tiny compared to theirs.

I would not cope with this. My mum does this (not all day everyday) and when I ask her to stop she gets all shirty- to me it's like burping or farting- it's rude and disgusting. I would say to him directly- he probably is oblivious (mum is).

(in a nice, calm, and caring way of course)

Does he have a nasal drip maybe? I had one for ages and it was soooo annoying!