KyleG

I have allergies and and sinus problems. I had done allergy shots for almost 3 years when I was younger but they had no affect. I am currently deciding whether to redo the allergy shots or try the new allergy drops or some alternative treatments. There is one problem that I have had since I was little, probably since I had obtained the allergies. I have chronic post nasal drip that never stops. Although I am not conciously aware of it, I am constantly swallowing the drainage as it drips down my throat. The post nasal drip for some reason causes me to gag usually after I swallow. I would assume because its dropping right behind my tongue and activating my gag reflex. The bad thing about this is, it happens frequently thoughout the day.

It is a lot worse when I am exercising or running. After a while of running I start to get that feeling in my throat and that causes me to stop and is holding me back from doing what ever I am doing to my fullest capablilties. It is there all the time and it feels like I am going to throw up and I have to stop myself from doing it what ever I am doing at the moment. I have had this since I was young and I do not know why.

I am now taking Xantac and Prevacid for about a month to see if my GERD symptoms improve. My ENT diagnosed me with possible LPR but he wasn't sure. All he said was that I probably had an overactive gag reflex. But I was thinking he didn't fully understand what I told him.

This is an ongoing problem since childhood but I had not realised that what I was feeling was not normal and is keeping me from performing 100% in my physical activities. I take karate and I was going to test for my brown belt which is a huge step up rank and I had to give that up because I knew that going through the test wouldn't be easy with my problem.
I went to an ENT in philly and he said i had allergic rhinitis or w/e and said the gagging is probably from post nasal drip.
This problem had first lead me to believe that acid reflux is the culprit. What I had thought was the acid was going into my throat and was causing me to gag. But now I realise its definitely post nasal drip because I am constantly swallowing the never ending drainage and I think it irritates my stomach and also makes me gag. This is what makes my physical activities so difficult. When I run, I can only run so far until this problem occurs and it completely stops me. I am unable to run 1 mile without having to stop and "Control my gag". In karate it affects me so much since I am moving around a lot during cardio excercise. It is frustrating because I cannot perform at my fullest potential because I cannot work myself up to my endurance.

My post nasal drip is non stop every second of every day since I was very little. So I had always been used to this and never thought of the gagging until recently.

Can someone please help me out? Does anyone here have any experience on this kind of thing? Is there some kind of treatment for this to totally eliminate it?
Even though I have allergies its not normal to have post nasal drip that never stops, ever right? There has got to be something wrong then.