excessive mucous in elderly patient

63 answers - active on Feb 17th 2022
My 86 year old grandmother developes copius amounts of thick mucous in her throat that literally chokes and gags her. What can be the cause?
Dhruv Gupta, MD answered this in Excessive Mucous Production : Causes, Diagnosis And Treatment - READ MORE
Hi, my father is 92, and has a mucus cough which is constantly being treated with antibiotics. I wondered if the nasal spray would be of more benificial, as currently he is also prescribed having his fluid intakes with a thickening powder (nautrilous) and which is supposed to make him swallow and antibiotics. He has just had a spell in hospital with chest & uti infections which caused him to lose his mobility And now in in rehab which after a week has another chest infection which is no reflection the the care he has been given. I myself suffer from rhinitis all year round and have to use a nasal spray, my daughter also suffers from the same problems so I maybe thinking out of the box here but wondered if my father may also benifit from using a nasal spray.?
My mother is 81 and just had a violent reaction to a pasta dish she ate, as a left-over from her dinner the night before with friends. She gagged last night - feeling as though something was stuck in her throat. It is the pasta.
My mother is 87 yes old she is suffering from cold and coughing since last 15 days ....no medicines check her coughing. Please suggest some homely medicines. Regards. Satya Rath.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience about your mother. I'm so sorry for what you are going through. It sounds exactly like my dad. Now I can get a better understanding at what he is going through. And I know how to help him. It is so scary to see how much weight he has lost and it has happened so quickly. He got sick 2 months ago and hasn't gotten over it. The mucus has only gotten worse. And he chokes all the time and doesn't want to finish his food. Now I know what to do thank you. God bless you and your mothet.
I do not like it because she gets loopy the first day, but my sister was given a scopolamine patch that lasts almost 3 days to dry up her secretions so I change it every three days. I just took her in and they looked down to her stomach, were supposed to go into her stomach, but her esophagus and the opening to stomach is filled with Candida. She is now on Nystatin, only 2 days now, hope it helps.
Thank you for sharing. This piece of information is very helpful.
I am having the same problem with my 89 year old Dad. I also think its his meds. Can you share with me what the 3 meds are? I have searched the internet to see if there are interactions from the meds he'a on. He is on meds fror his heart and had type 2 diabetes.
Answer by Guest - Apr 13th 2017
Hi Ursula, How is your mom? How are YOU? My grandmother is experiencing this now, and it has gotten drastically worse over the past month or two. We have a "machine" that you referred to, it helps to suck the mucous out, but we have no answers as to HOW TO STOP THE MUCOUS!!! It is literally pouring out of her. She can't breathe and continues to choke. The doctors have given her (what my mom refers to as) "dry-up stuff," which doesn't seem to be doing anything to help. She is 99. HELP. She has been to the doctor and to the ER.
My 93 yr old mom has this thibk sticky mucous issue. Exactly what these others are talking about. I think it's related to post nasal drip. The doctor prescribed a spray medication for that and it has helped but now that she's older and weaker she cannot seem to breathe it in properly. I ask about getting her throat section and they said that it's not safe but reading this blog it sounds like I should pursue this more. Her lungs are completely clear, this is on the back of her throat but it's interfering With her eating and causing her to choke. As she gets older she cannot seem to clear it. When she partly, are used to help pull it out of her throat ... other people will understand that. No she has this rumbling sound but she cannot seem to cough it up because I think she's becoming just too old and weak. I am going to try askimg the dr fur the ipratropium brimide and Cipro and the pills recommended in the blog below, but I have a feeling the doctor will resist and see there is nothing they can do. That's what they told me before I found the spray and it really did believe her but now I think she needs something . I would like to get a machine and suck it up but the doctor is just so resistant to this does anyone know if this is dangerous? again this is all in the back of her throat and not in her lungs but I'm afraid she's going to choke very badly and not recover , so I have to try something . It is so sad when people get old, a lot of medical people just start dismissing it acting like you're supposed to accept the inevitable, but I do not want my mother choking to death. There must be something they can do
I'm replying to everyone. My dad is 92 and has bad phelm. I ascertained myself after so many doctors visits that it is post nasal. The pharmacist prescribed over the counter meds, and it stopped it completely. It does come back periodically. Do steam which thins the mucous, and ensure person drinks lots of water to clear the lungs
.........and if you can, use a saline spray into the nostrils twice a day to keep the sinus clean and the salt also helps to thin phlem and keep the nasal/ear passages infection free.
This is all of you increase water intake, Daily exercise by you own hand without moving patients,and use any cetrazine anti allergy medicine daily  ***this post is edited by moderator *** *** private phone numbers not allowed*** Please read our Terms of Use
My 85 year old father has had MG for twenty plus years. He recently developed a thick phlegm/mucus which he would struggle to cough and would wind up vomiting he was coughing so hard. He had previously been told that Mestinon (Pyridostignmine) could contribute to excess secretions (drooling in his case) so he had stopped taking it prior to the phlegm challenge. We knew the difficulty in coughing it up was MG, what we couldn't figure out was what was causing that much phlegm in the first place. Three things have helped tremendously. 1. Stay away from dairy 2. Sleep with a humidifier next to this bed and 3. Take and Allegra D 24 hour when he gets up before he has breakfast. Night and day difference.
I am caring for my 91yr old father with dementia and he has been constantly spitting & trying to get thick mucus out from his throat. Been monitoring on daily basis, & I strongly believe hydration is one of the main factors for this situation. Seems obvious, we all know we need to be well hydrated. Believe me Most people (Not elderly) obviously know this, but still forget to keep well hydrated. Now imagine the elderly specially forgetful (Alzheimer's, dementia,...). Like my 91yr old father, unless he is completely dehydrated he won't actually drink any water through out the day. If anything he'll get water to gargle & spit OUT mucus. So for this reason I try to give him small amounts of water to drink through out the time I spend caring for him (making sure he drinks). We all have mucus, it's our bodily defense mechanism to keep our throats from drying by staying moist. If we are dehydrated, mucus can only get thicker. I don't think there's anything wrong with swallowing thick mucus, unless you have cold symptoms with yellow phlegm. I noticed my father tries to spit out mostly at middle of night or in morning when he wakes up. (Apparently when we sleep then wake up in the morning, we loose up to around 1lb of water weight from breathing & through our skin, depending how much we sweat differs by person...). -You should try weighing yourself before sleep & as soon as you wake (you actually loose some weight, & it's water weight, & making sure you didn't drink eat anything....) Just this simple habit of hydration would solve this common issue. Now the problem is practicing this habit. Medication is not the answer, only causes unneeded side effects.... knowing is only half the battle...need to follow through...
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