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My 99 year old dad has been dealing with Gerd for years along with kidney cancer which recently metastasized to his lung. Every night, usually several hours after he eats dinner he feels like phlegm is caught at the base of his throats and he starts to cough,trying to clear it. He takes a proton pump med along with other acid reducers. The tumor in his lung is fairly small and he has had this throats clearing for years so we don't think it is caused by the tumor. Has anyone else out there experienced something like this and found relief. Once he starts coughing it goes on for hours. Thanks.

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Cwillie,
My dad can be pretty stubborn at times. That is the frustrating part. Yes his cancer has metastasized , but thankfully his symptoms are minimal to this point. He eats mostly what he wants with a few obvious exceptions. We try to keep from eating foods that will exacerbate the Gerd or Thicken the saliva. His Doctor has been after him for two years to change his eating habits. I want I'm to be comfortable.
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Thanks. I will get some for him tomorrow. He tried eating his big meal early yesterday . He followed up on something I had read during the day which was to have tea with honey before bed. He did get a full nights rest which was a relief to us both. He ate early today so we will see if we can get two good days rest. Keeping my fingers crossed.
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Jim, Tums has a various tables that one can chew, one is called "Smoothie" and it has a variety of berry flavors.   I usually can get by with one table.   If my throat is really fired up, then I chew two tables.

Grocery stores and drug stores also have their own brand of "Smooth" tables which work just as good.   These products can be found in the Antacid aisle.   One doctor told me to chew a Tums before eating.
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It seems obvious that this doesn't really bother him, at least not enough that he is willing to change his lifelong habits. If he starts to grumble just remind him that you both know what the solution is and you don't want to hear about it. The man is 99 with metastasized cancer, it is a gift that he still enjoys his food and can eat.
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Thank you for replying to my question. I agree diet is important. I have worked with my dad to eliminate foods that can trigger his coughing and he gets angry at me saying what do you want me to do starve ? I typically bear the brunt of his anger. What is a tums smoothy? My dad is the type that needs an instant fix for anything that ails him and does not understand why there is no miracle cure for his cough. He gets angry with his doctor,even though I have told him the doctor is following the treatment plan I have seen on many of these pages. My dad also being 99 years old does not want to change his eating habits,even though It has come from various doctors and myself at various times. My parents eat their big meal for dinner, starting with crackers,cheese,mushrooms,breads,followed by their main course. The other day as I said before they went out to lunch with friends and that was their big meal. My dad told my wife he slept that night without coughing. When I brought it up yesterday he tells me that isn't the answer. I want him to feel better,but can't seem to get him to deviate from his normal routine for more than a day. If it doesn't work immediately he stops and goes back to his routine.
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I cough from GERD, too.   I found using Tums Smoothies work for me.   I use to take the proton pump meds but stop them years ago as it didn't seem to work.   When I took a recent drug DNA, sure enough the DNA said that proton pump meds and over the counter popular heartburn meds wouldn't work for me.

Diet is important and I have been slacking on that.   Been digging heavy into the chocolate and it will fire up the GERD.   Also, if I bend down to pick something heavy up, that will jump start the GERD.
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Thank you for your response. He sits in an erect position while eating and for about two hours after eating. I keep trying to get him to eat a smaller meal for dinner. Right now dinner is his biggest meal of the day. My mom and he went to lunch with some friends a few days ago. Because it was a bigger lunch than normal they didn't have a big meal at dinner and he said not so much coughing. I convinced him to eat his larger meal at lunchtime today so time will tell if that helps. My dad does use ranitidine as well.
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Sorry, I don't have any tried and true answers, perhaps smaller meals? Some type of throat lozenge? Is he sitting up after he eats or reclining with his head raised?
My mom coughs from GERD as well but usually ranitidine is all she needs for relief. I've also noticed that it seems to bother ME more than it does her.
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