Question: Hi,
I have a rather complex and what is turning into a much too long history. For the past 4 years one of my symptoms is daily throat clearing, and commonly it brings up mucus. Sometimes it just looks like its from the daily post-nasal drip I get as well but sometimes it is thicker, sticky, with a more solid/opaque color. Recently I have been having problems when trying to clear my throat with this stuff completely blocking my off my airway...I can't get air in or out at all (sometimes it partially cuts off my airway). This past Friday I had to pull over on the highway because it again completely cut off my airway. Somehow (I don't know how) I have been able to get it to "clear" though when this happens, it never comes all the way up and it doesn't just suddenly "clear". At some point it lets up to maybe a 95% blockage and I am really struggling to get air and gradually it will move a bit on it's own and/or I will be able to move it/clear it to where I can breathe. When this is happening and when I am more able, I don't know whether or not to try to clear it in fear that it will completely plug up my airway again. It's a very scary situation and it also happened about 2 1/2 years ago...a couple times I almost called 911 because it was long enough (about 30 to 45 seconds without any air at all) that I wasn't sure if I would pass out or not. Recently so far the 100% blockage part of it has lasted from about 10 sec to 25 sec...the rest of it lasts for about another 30 seconds. Ended up with a little bit of a headache for a day or two right after one of the recent episodes. Came across a term last night on the web, "mucus plug". Didn't know if this is what it is or not or what exactly is causing it. This is the main reason why I am posting right now so any insight on this and anything else below would be really appreciated.

The rest of my history is as follows...I'll try to be as brief as possible but it probably won't be very brief.
Had a upper UTI/Kidney infection almost 10 years ago. Was on one antibiotic after another (4 or 5) over the course of a month or so because they weren't working. Found a cyst on right kidney during an ultrasound. The ultrasound made my pain worse but they brushed it off (a few days later when I told them) saying cysts on kidneys are common and they don't cause pain...well sorry but at the time I didn't know there was a cyst there but I felt the cause and effect directly from the ultrasound. I still have the cyst and recently found a small stone in left kidney (non-obstructing) but don't know if it's still there. Anyway In the middle of that ordeal, I started getting additional gut pain which never went away. After 5 1/2 years of living on Advil found out the additional gut pain was chronic constipation. I have since tested positive (skin testing) for 19 food allergies, including gluten and wheat...none so far are anaphalactic but I do get GI symptoms...immediate distention (not just a bloating feeling) which by the end of a day of small meals can become semi-pregnancy level, gut likes to come to a complete halt when I eat but not 100% of the time. Also have many food intolerances. Basically I can't eat anything without a reaction to some degree. I also without fail as part of my reaction, get fluid retention (body-wide) which can easily go up 10 lbs in 36 hours, 25 to 30 lbs in 7 to 10 days (when I just throw my hands up in frustration and decide to eat whatever I want). Fatigue is another big one. Have to get up in the middle of the night to pee (about 3 times) but the number of times increases when the fluid retention gets higher, though urine output goes down so I don't go much when I get up.

The distention, fluid retention, post nasal drip, throat clearing, are all on an every day of the week basis, all year long, every year. I never get a break from this (for the past 4 years).
Four years ago I was diagnosed with IBS-C. A little over 1 1/2years ago I was diagnosed with SIBO (with constipation), treated for it but it didn't touch my symptoms. Right after that I was diagnosed with a parasitic infection (again with constipation but I'm on Magnesium citrate which makes my stool soft and allows me to have BMs (they couldn't identify the parasite). Was treated by my Naturopath for that one with Black Walnut (which I'm allergic to) and some other stuff with it...but again it didn't touch my symptoms and during treatment it is also when I started getting the body-wide skin itching. Thought it was me reacting to the Walnut but it never stopped after treatment stopped. So I now have body-wide itchy skin (no rash), and soon after was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism (on Armour Thyroid for that), have also been diagnosed about 8 months ago with Dermographism (friction and the cold seem to be my triggers so far), though I think I have had it for at least 12 years, though episodes were few back then. Upper endoscopy...Celiac tests were negative, H Pylori was negative, no evidence of acid reflux though I have had upper and left stomach discomfort on and off in the past and had been diagnosed with acid reflux 17 years ago, endoscopy showed only minor inflamation in the stomach...at the time of the test I really only had a little distention. Did have a couple of CAT scans a couple years ago which showed wall thickening in duodenum and jujunem but never identified why. Had a couple of blood tests in the past that showed that IgA was high but don't know why.
Antihistamines completely take away the body-wide itching and help the dermographism a bit but I can't function (fatigue is worse, brain fog, exercise intolerance, palpitations...I am a very competitive athlete (played at national level, college sports, etc), have been my whole life and still am however in the last 4 years all this has reduced my ability to perform and even participate, and is impacting me at work...so quality of life is not good anymore), so I've stopped the antihistamines. On chlorathalidone diuretic which helps a very small amount but I'll take it (another diuretic I tried Hydro...something didn't touch the fluid retention). Dr allowing me to try oral Cromolyn Sodium (at the moment on 300 mg doses, dr started me at 100 mg doses to play it safe since my system seems to be so sensitive to everything) to see if it helps with any of my symptoms. Not sure if it is helping or not yet but I think it might be doing a very small amount for the fluid retention (maybe) and maybe helping with bowel movements but again not sure at this point. Just starting to take Quercetin. Drinking Bone broth which also may be helping a small amount with bowel movements. I'm able to eat a little more (but not nearly what I need) and more consistently with the very small amount of improvement I've seen but not nearly enough to improve quality of life much at all. G-free diet helps a bit but doesn't do much overall.
Finally, I did actually get a hint of food intolerances or food allergy back when I was 18 but didn't know it was linked to food (in that case dairy) till I was 30 and that was all I was aware of. Started seeing fluid retention when I was 19 but it was very minor, progressed throughout my 20's but still not too bad (and another hint of food intolerance and food allergy (that case was mushrooms) but the words "food intolerance" and "food allergy" were not in my vocabulary, and continued to progress through my 30's and still not really linking anything to food...until 4 years ago when the symptoms progressed so the cause and effect became obvious. I am now 47.
I'm really hungry and sick of having to deprive myself trying to avoid everything I am sensitive and allergic to and losing muscle mass etc in the process and leaving me with no energy, and with no real relief so I am not open to doing any more diets. I'm continuing with the g-free and avoiding or minimizing the biggest offenders but I need to eat more than just rabbit food...and even some of that I can't or am not supposed to eat. I'm sure I'm forgetting something but any help/insight would be appreciated.
Thanks,
A.L.