I would suggest you eat two teaspoons of xylitol each day - xylitol is a natural sugary crystal from birch trees. Xylitol is sweet and delicious.

The easiest way to eat xylitol is as 100 percent xylitol chewing gum and breath mints. Nibble one or two of these xylitol candies after everything you eat or drink, for about a month - and see if this makes your throat feel better. Be sure to AVOID any products containing sorbitol - a sugarless, artificial sweetener that grows ( ugh!) sticky throat bacteria.

 Xylitol eliminates sticky, harmful bacteria that grow in the mouth, on your tongue, in your ears, up your nose and down your throat! Xylitol also gets rid of sticky plaque on your teeth - so you should feel a lot better soon. Enjoy - xylitol is a miracle sugar!

I used to cough about 700 times a day and had the same closed throat feelings as you describe.

 You likely have was is called LPR - laryngesophegeal Reflux Disease. It is when stomach acid comes up into the throat and irritates your throat and mouth area.

 For reflux into the throat, you need to take a proton-pump inhibitor twice a day instead of once per day as most doctors will tell you.  It takes about 1 year to 1.5 years of twice a day PPI medication for you to be almost completely sympton free.

 The best drug for this is Nexium. The second best in my opinion is Prevacid. The third best of this group, in my opinion is Aciphex and the fourth is Protonix. You can try once a day PPI's if you like, but in my experience, because you are experiencing the coughing symptons and the closing of the throat, you will likely need twice a day dosing of the adult strength.