People that suffer from asthma have more sensitive airways to many different triggers, that cause inflammation and swelling of the walls and the result is sticky mucus clogging the air tubes.
Mucus secretions in the airways in asthma appear to be a major cause of airway obstruction, wheezing and shortness of breath.
Mucus hypersecretion is a hallmark of chronic airway disease, like asthma, but, also, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cystic fibrosis disease.

Asthma symptoms can be a result of existing cystic fibrosis.

Do you usually have abdominal pain or flatulence?
Do you find your stools with pale or clay color?

Not always , these questions were asked when I saw a CF Dr. in April . I had 2 elevated sweat chloride tests so further genetic testing of course is being conducted . I'm still waiting for those results . My complaint with my lung disease has always been mucus .. lots of it and really gunky . If there are meds out there to help alleviate the mucus problem "I WANT THIS ". Meds that I take for my asthma are : vent neb , pulmicort neb , advair , singulair ,atrovent , claretin , nose sprays , prednisone every mnth , along with antibiotics because I usually have infection or pnumonia .

Have you received your results from the genetic analysis already?

Both, asthma and cystic fibrosis, are characterized with production of thick mucus in airways, that has trouble moving out of the lungs, so bacteria can remain and cause infections.
Getting infections more frequently, infections that tend to get worse and more difficult to treat, as getting older, is characteristic of cystic fibrosis.

Exercise helps loosening the mucus in the lungs and strengthening the heart and lungs.
Chest physical therapy with clapping on the back and chest, or usage of an electric chest clapper or an inflatable vest that vibrates, can help loosen and clear the mucus from the lungs.

You can ask your physician for prescription of drugs called mucus-thinners, that help thin the mucus so it can be coughed up more easily.

i have been dealing with this also. i have asthma it usually doesn't bother me. In feb i had some eposides. i went to the doctor he said i have allergy asthma and gave me all kinds of med. ok now i have this mucus crap. i bothers me mostly at nite. plus i had the lap band done 4 years ago. i have lost 150 pounds with this i would do it again but it seems i have more health issues now that i have lost the weight than i did before i think it may be i am getting older to i will be 40 in a couple of year so. sometimes the mucus is so thick it won't pass my band. at night i go to bed and within an hour i am coughing have to get up and spit it up i use my inhalers and use a nebulizer also. usually if i cough it all up and take prescribed cough meds it stops. but i haven't had a good nites sleep since feb. i am tired all the time i am so sick of this i can't function anymore i am going the dr in a week and i am demanding he find out what is wrong with me. i have gone threw so much asthma meds i can't afford it anymore its so expensive. i just filled the cough meds today and its 40.00 and that's with insuance. i found this site by surfing any info you could give me would help me. i also have acid reflux to so i don't know if that plays into it to i take nexum for it and its pretty much in control i think. thanks for listening.

Mucus relief. Comes in 400 and 600mg doses and most stores like Walgreens sells their own brand. Although it is not a cure I find it does help dominish it quite a bit. Consult you doctor and see how he/she feel about it. It has Gufenesin in it which is a decongestant.

My Mom, now 85 years old, has been treated for asthma since she was 36 years old. Treatment spanned all the meds mentioned above. June of 06 Mom had a near fatal asthma attack. Since then I have become more involved.

Long story short we have found that Mom's asthma is actually symptoms or after effects of re-flux or at the least exacerbated by the re-flux. From the time she started taking Zegerid (a very expensive capsule that incorporates two very inexpensive drugs: omeprazole and sodium bicarbonate, not sure of spelling of both) first thing in the AM, at least one hour before any food, her asthma or COPD has been more easily controlled.

Step 2 for us was to understand the part that mucous plays in her condition. We have added one Musinex tablet (over the counter) to her morning meds and make sure she drinks a full, large glass of water with it.

Then we ask her to do some exercise, walking, deep breaths in thorough her nose out thorough her mouth. Within a short time her body's response will be a cough, small but it is just a message.

We then remind her that that is the signal we have been waiting for and that all that we did up till then was to get that response. Now all she has to do is work that little cough with everything she's got to get the loosened mucous out.

We may clap her back with cupped hands if needed to help her along.

We have found that anything with a "DM" (cough suppressant) works AGAINST our goal. We don't give Mom a second dose at night as it will be working to bring up mucous and we want her to rest as much as is possible.

Before our discoveries of 1. the part that acid re-flux played in Mom's asthma/COPD and 2. the mucous removal techniques, Mom was jumping on high doses of prednisone every 6 or 7 weeks (soon after her countdown off, she'd have to start up again), going to the ER 2 to 3 times per year and put on antibiotics about once very 3 or 4 months.

Mom is now 1 year and 2 months from her last ER visit for asthma/COPD, high dose prednisone (Mom has to take 5 mg per day because of her past excess, but that is virtually zero to her body) and antibiotics.

The amount of mucous Mom's body seems to produce varies with the season. Because of a heart problem that arrived only because of her June 06 near fatal asthma attack, Mom has to be careful of the amount of fluids she has each day. Like Goldie-locks she can't have too much because of the heart thing and can not have too little because fluids are vital to thinning the mucous to get it out. We were told by her cardiologist to keep her fluids at about a quart each day.

Mom finds all the pestering to "keep that cough going Mom, there it is, that's what you've been working towards all day" a real PIA. But then we remind her that her now fragile spine is being sparred more damage from the high doses of prednisone and that she has passed the one year mark just by being diligent about the whole mucous routine.

Mom also does 4 nebulizer treatments per day. Each one of those if done well (deep and slow breaths) will yeild some more coughed up mucous.

It's not easy to live with this but it is possible to manage this condition and minimize the amount of ER visits, antibiotics and prednisone taken if you find your own system to stay a step ahead of the mucous.

I hope this has helped.

Thick sticky mucous is a sign that the secretions are dry.Dryness can be due to being in a constant state of mild dehydration. Do not rely on thirst to tell you that you need water. Thirst is not an accurate indicator especially as you grow older.A really good way to check your hydration status is to urinate into a clear glass. The color of your urine should be more like the inside of a lemon than the outside. In CF, however, the dry secretions have to do with some body chemistry issues with sodium pumps in the mucous secreting glands.Water follows solutes and when sodium is not in the right balance, it affects the viscosity or thickness of your secretions.