coughing and choking are common symptoms. they can be caused by many conditions including irritants in the air, reactive airway disease, acid reflux, and psychological conditions. the resultant medical conditions have many different names including vocal cord dysfunction, paroxysmal vocal fold motion, irritable larynx. patients are often treated by laryngologists. treatments can include avoidance of irritants, proton pump inhibitors, speech therapy and psychological therapy. patients with similar symptoms may have been described before in the surgical literature.