Constant clearing of throat in my 7 year old ? What could it be?

[mindermummy]

For about 6 months now,my son constantly coughs, like he is clearing his throat, does not sound chesty at all and is well in himself other than this. Sometimes it can go on for ages!! I finally went to doc who said his chest is clear, but said it could be asthma !?! I'm not entirely sure about this, although don't know much about it. He was given a blue pump and was told to do this twice a day and monitor levels on another pump and go back in 3 weeks. It's now been 4 days and I see no improvement at all. Any comments and suggestions??thank u

@mindermummy I went to doctors today again, different one..She told me it might be silent reflux
All the symptoms fit

www.health.com/gerd/allergies-reflux

@paz1234 some food he loves some not. But after speaking to GP today I believe it could be silent reflux...all the symptoms are there. We'll see how he'll do over next few weeks .

There's a list online on what makes reflux worse .. I'm guessing it's sortve the same thing .. my niece got prescribed some gaviscon . Hope you find an answer soon

@paz1234 quite worrying..bless him, he's ok once he gets up but half hour later starts with cough, throat clearing and hm sounds... it stops eventually but starts back on..will try cut down on dairy and acidy food.
Is how old is your niece now?

I think milk helps with acid reflux but depending which type of reflux he has ..
I think meat don't help with it either . My niece is 10 now but she still constantly clears her throat she said it feels like there's something stuck there . It isnt constant though she's still a fussy eater

My daughter used to do this, especially coming up to something stressful or exciting. Like a new school year, holidays, Christmas, going to someone's house for a sleepover etc. It peaked around age 7 to 9 then it's gradually gone away. She's 13 now and never does it. They don't know they are doing it so don't mention it.
Funnily enough my other child never ever noticed her doing it or ever referred to it, even though they'd be sitting beside each other and it'd be every other second she'd be doing it.

#sadie9 what exactly was she doing?

@sadie9 what exactly was she doing?

She was clearing her throat. And she would do it when she was relaxed, like watching TV. Like several times in one minute. She wouldn't have a cold or anything like that. It would recede and go away after maybe a week or so.

@Gunznroses pm pls

My DS gets tics. It started at about 7 and he is 9 now and still going.
They come and go in patterns e.g. he'll get a new one (rolling his eyes). Its starts out only every now and then, builds up to happening several times in a conversation and then fades back to hardly noticeable and then he will get a new tic and follow the same pattern. The clearing the throat one was one of his firsts.

They appear more when he is relaxed, watching TV, reading a book etc. When he is playing with friends or being active its not noticeable. They also appear if he is getting in trouble or anxious/nervous about something.

The main thing we have been told is to not draw attention to it. If they are aware they do it, it gets worse. He is otherwise a very happy healthy child and doesn't seem bothered by them.

Both my DH and brother had the same thing when they were younger and both grew out of it although both have anxiety. (DB only mild but DH's was quite severe)

@JasperJohns DS has had the blinking and the funny noise one too! Like a short hum.

Transient tic disorder is the offical name I believe

Hi @mumset. My daughter is 7 years old. Since last year she seems to have develop a form of tics. She had the clearing of the throat, eye twitching ,sneezing and coughing. Recently I have been giving her magnesium powder in her tea which seems to help. Also I have given her multi vitamins jelly flavour. For the most part she seems ok because I don't mention it to her that she has anything. Is there anything that can be used to reduce the clearing of the throat?

My son (turned 4 yrs old yesterday) started doing constant throat clearing last week just after starting Antibiotic for a strep-type throat infection. It literally started over night. One day nothing, next day ...regular throat clearing. I have post-nasal drip and a "bad" habitual habit of clearing my throat very frequently, so my wife natural believed our son was just emulating me. Additionally, my son told his preschool teachers (I had request to have the teachers monitor his behavior during the past few days) "daddy does it. ...I want to be like daddy". Which is probably the result of me asking him previously about it and asking him "does daddy clear his throat a lot ?". So maybe I planted that seed in his mind, maybe not. I'll never know for sure.
Anyway, here are some valuable links I have come across in my research for a root cause. Hopefully these help some of you to come to some conclusions about what direction to go in regards to addressing this in your child.
The first link resonated strongly with me as I believe this is almost spot on for my son's situation. Its called PANDAS (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders)

1. www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/pandas/index.shtml

2. www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/obsessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd/index.shtml (scroll way down the page to the sub heading called "Environment" and read that).

3. tourette.org/media/TAACBITenglish101316final.pdf (this isn't really Tourettes-related pdf. The pdf is called "Comprehensive Behavioral Intervention for Tics" (CBIT) Not to be confused with Touette-Tics. Although there are similarities between CBIT Tic and Touette Tics, they are NOT one and the same from my research.

4. I also found recommended sites for locating doctors in case existing family doctor/pediatrician does not know of, understand or otherwise is unwilling to pursue performing a diagnosis of PANDAS.
   a.) pandasnetwork.org/
   b.) iocdf.org/find-help/

Hope some of this helps someone else's situation with their child!

I have read every single thread and find it all very helpful. We took in a 9 year old foster girl Friday evening. She was sniffing constantly though it was completely dry - no congestion at all. By Saturday morning it had changed to the loud and constant throat clearing. I was considering taking her to an ENT. Then my son found all of you angels here. My first mistake had been trying to get her to stop; like it was a habit. I concluded from people here, I only added to the problem. I will now seek therapy (which her caseworker says she needs) or go the neurology route. It broke my heart when she kept asking if we were going to "kick her out". She also says "I'm sorry" about it and promises to stop. She can't stop. And we are not going to kick her out; we hug her, love her and reassure her. As of this minute we are starting over, and will not mention the "noise" even though she does it 30 times per minute. All future advice and suggestions are most welcomed.

Has anyone found solutions? My daughter started doing this and it is killing me. She clears her throat about 5000 times a day. I may be exaggerating but that’s what it feels like. It is making me anxious and paranoid. I need answers. Ent put her on a reflux med but there was no difference.

Same boat. I’m on edge constantly :(

Hi guys my daughter is suffering from this also but only seems to do it in term time. All over the summer holidays and christmas holidays it was fine but the minute shes back at school it starts up again. I have been very worried I have been to the docs twice both times a different way to take the blue inhaler that makes absolutely no difference. If anyone has and tips I'd be very grateful. Thanks x

Hi all
I have same concerns for my son , He is 8 years old .He tends to clear his throat most of the time. I have taken him to the gp. He was prescribed nasal spray. But the spray made no difference as he has been using it now for over two weeks.

@mindermummy I probably won't be much help here, but I'm 53 years old & have been clearing my throat all my life. Mom took me to a Dr. & he didn't find any reason for it & said I'd probably grow out of it. Well, I never grew out of it. It is annoying because I clear / ahem / grunt or hard cough often, because my throat ALWAYS feels like I'm drowning in mucus. When I was a teen, I got so sick of being embarrassed by clearing all the time, so thought if I started spitting the junk in a tissue, that I could 'cough it all out' so it won't keep 'recirculating' in my system. (I was using 'teenager logic' LOL) So, I did that for about 3 months & it did not a single thing. I have ALWAYS had insomnia & just thought it was something I was cursed with, however, a few weeks ago I bought the 'RING' doorbell. Being unable to sleep, I opened the box to check it out, got it all set up, but sat the unit on my nightstand. The next day, I had like 40 'RING' notifications on my phone, so I watched them. Apparently I clear my throat constantly in my sleep & then would toss & turn, get up, get a drink, or go to the bathroom, or stare at the ceiling awhile. So, I wonder if the throat clearing is the cause of my insomnia, or could it be mere coincidence? Either way, I've asked my own Dr. (no specialist) & she says its probably acid reflux AND 'habit' that causes me to do this. BUT, I have consciously NOT cleared my throat, & in seconds I can FEEL it is heavy with mucus & when I try to talk, I HAVE to clear my throat or my voice sounds messed up. Another Dr. said I ingest too many dairy products, so I gave up ALL dairy for about 6 months & only drank water & light foods & still nothing changed. I HOPE to see an ENT (Ear, Nose, Throat) Dr. but my insurance won't cover specialists :( I only have 1 more thing to add here, which may have ZERO to do with any of these problems, but growing up (reasons unknown) my body CONSTANTLY smelled like iron. I could bathe & within seconds, I stunk of iron. I don't mean I only smelled it on me, I mean anyone around me could smell it. It didn't stop until I began menstruation at age 14. I didn't have it again until I was pregnant & the Dr's give me vitamins which included a daily iron tablet. Within 1 minute of taking that iron tablet, everyone could smell iron in the room. So, I never took & still don't take any iron supplements, but if I even touch a rusted nail, or even hold pennies in my hand, it is very difficult to get that smell off of me. Sorry I've rambled on. I'm too detailed when trying to explain things. So, if anyone has any updates that might even help me figure out what can be done about this issue, please, share. Thanks :)

Have you tried taking out the wheat for at least 2 weeks. They say grains are bad for us. I have gerd and constant throat clearing and my 7 yr old has started doing it too. What helps me is I dont drink milk but almond milk is fine. I drink the sweetened one. I do believe my mercury fillings have something to do with all this as I have alot of digestive problems too.

Dust allergies? Gluten allergy?

So I went to a biological dentist and he told me I have candida which makes sense because I dont have the constant throat clearing and swallowing issues in the morning just when I eat something sweet. Also my child doesn't have constant throat clearing until she eats hard things or sweet things. They have candida diets and pills but I know I need to get these mercury fillings put first. Hope this helps.

Thanks hon. I've never heard of candida (other than an old Tony Orlando and Dawn singing trio from probably LONG before YOU were ever born, LOL) They were popular in the 70's. I will look into this though, as I recently found out that I actually clear my throat during my sleep as well, but I don't need to have ingested anything to make it more of an issue, BUT, when I DO have something sugary, or dairy, then it is CONSIDERABLY more pronounced. I hope all is well in your part of the world :D