C++ switch in loop goes to default before running again

My first program in C++ is a command line survival game. I have a switch statement in a while loop, but it always goes through once and runs the default choice before getting the users input. Here's the relevant code:

int menu() {
    while (true) {
        char choice = getChoice();
        switch(choice) {
            case 'p':
            {
                system("clear");
                Arena arena(player, difficulty);
                arena.play();
            }
                break;
            case 'u': 
            {
                system("clear");
                player.save();
                player.init();
            }
                break;
            case 'd': 
            {
                system("clear");
                changeDifficulty();
            }
                break;
            case 'q':
            {
                system("clear");
                return 0;  // return menu(); in main()
            }
            default:
            {
                system("clear");
                cout << nInvalid option! Press a key to choose: p, u, s, or q\n\n";
                break;
            }
        }
    }
}

getChoice Function

char getChoice() {

    cout << "      Main Menu\n";
    cout << "---------------------\n";
    cout << "p - play game" << endl;
    cout << "u - change user" << endl;
    cout << "d - change difficulty" << endl;
    cout << "q - quit\n" << endl;

    char choice = getchar();
    return choice;
}

Everything works fine after it goes through once and runs the code from the default option. Here's what I get every time the program re-enters this loop:

Invalid option! Press a key to choose: p, u, s, or q                                                                                                                                               

      Main Menu                                                                                                                                                                                    
---------------------                                                                                                                                                                              
p - play game                                                                                                                                                                                      
u - change user                                                                                                                                                                                    
d - change difficulty                                                                                                                                                                              
q - quit   

Thanks for any help in advance!