An Excess of Phlegm

I can always tell when I haven’t had enough liquids the day before. I can tell because the morning after it takes an exceedingly long time to clear my throat.

Last night we attended my partner’s stepbrother’s wedding reception and since the beer on tap was, well, Rainier, I opted instead for the extensive wine selection. The groom’s mother, my partner’s stepmom, was apparently in charge of the wine, which accounts for the well over a thousand dollars worth of bottles lined up in order of when they should be opened. Fortunately for me when I came back for my second glass she opened up a bottle of the good stuff hidden behind everything else. What can I say, she likes me. The only other things I had to drink that day was four cups of coffee and a Coke, so possible dehydration might have caused me to have to sip that last glass of wine a little slower than normal. Plus the fact that they hadn’t started food meant I was drinking on a fairly empty stomach.

Anyway, so this morning I woke up with a dry itchy throat and a cough that won’t stop. I know, you’re probably thinking this isn’t any different than any other morning in my life, but the issue is that I can actually feel the phlegm clinging there, vibrating with every cough. This normally goes away after a few cups of coffee, the caffeine helping to open my trachea up and allowing me to breathe easier, but I have a feeling it’ll take a few cups of water after my coffee to alleviate these symptoms, especially since I don’t normally feel the phlegm. Hmmm… maybe when it isn’t there my body has phantom phlegm? Of course, there is also another theory rooted in more scientific fact. I could just have a cold.