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I have had a Chronic Cough for years. I do have Asthma, Acid reflux and Allergies but the cough at night drives me insane. I have tried using the inhaler, cough drops, drinking water, propping myself up so I'm not laying flat on the bed, cough medicine (yuck) but nothing works.
Anybody find a natural fix for this kind of problem? Or at least to ease it a bit? Keeps me awake at night sometimes.
The cough may be caused by acid reflux. I assume that you've had an endoscopy?
Try keeping a food diary, and note when you cough. You may find certain foods are triggers for the reflux.
Do not eat for at least three hours before going to sleep. Even water can cause reflux.
Talk to your gastro doc about meds that can help the reflux, and the cough.
You say you have allergies. And asthma is often or usually caused by allergies. Look for the trigger. It could be the laundry detergent you use on your clothes and it is on you all the time, it could be a soap, a hair product, air fresheners or sprays, that sort of thing. You could also have a hidden food allergy that makes you cough.
For instance, they found that I am allergic to dairy products and if I cheat and eat a tiny bit of ice cream or cheese, I'll be coughing for a few days. I'd get to the root of the problem and check more deeply into the allergies.
The allergen or irritant needs to be avoided. Maybe you have already been tested for allergies and you know what they are. In that case, stay clear of known allergens or get allergy shots.
Yes, this is what I was going to suggest. There are tests for all kinds of allergens. @OP, have you had allergy testing done? Dairy affects a lot of people with Asthma and they don't even realize it. It could also be some other kind of food or drink. Get at the source instead of concentrating on the symptoms.
Do you take any medications? My BP med caused me to have a chronic cough from dry throat. I didn't have that side effect for years, and then it started. I didn't equate the two until my cough was less when I reduced the med, and then disappeared when I stopped taking it.
What type of cough is it? As mentioned mine was dry throat, and menthol cough drops helped the best, as well as a spray moisturizer for the throat. But if it were a deep chest cough I would try something different.
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Do you take any medications? My BP med caused me to have a chronic cough from dry throat. I didn't have that side effect for years, and then it started. I didn't equate the two until my cough was less when I reduced the med, and then disappeared when I stopped taking it.
What type of cough is it? As mentioned mine was dry throat, and menthol cough drops helped the best, as well as a spray moisturizer for the throat. But if it were a deep chest cough I would try something different.
Not a dry cough. It's like this tickle in the back of my throat that I have to "scratch" LOL It's really annoying and sometimes I gag just coughing and people ask me if I'm alright and I say "Nope, dying again, third time this week" LOLOLOL
I have had a Chronic Cough for years. I do have Asthma, Acid reflux and Allergies but the cough at night drives me insane. I have tried using the inhaler, cough drops, drinking water, propping myself up so I'm not laying flat on the bed, cough medicine (yuck) but nothing works.
Anybody find a natural fix for this kind of problem? Or at least to ease it a bit? Keeps me awake at night sometimes.
I have a chronic "dry" cough, but it has gotten way better since I dropped some of the foods I ate. The cough is from silent reflux, and of course I had the acid reflux as well. No more of the burning sensation (heart-burn) but still can't get rid of the constant phlegm issue, but it's way better as well. I don't know if irrigating with seasalt may help you, or just gargling. Also, I've used about 3 sips of baking soda in water (just a tsp to maybe 6 ounces) to relieve the phlegm that I believe causes the dry cough.
True, it's a dry hack, but I NEVER can cough up the phlegm, so when I cough it just feels dry and itchy/tickle in my upper throat. I also have some environmental allergies, so that could be part-of the whole deal. Oh, the only foods I've really eliminated are tomatos, chocolate, and onions. Weird I know, but I've also stopped eating anything after 5 or 6pm at the latest. I have noticed I can eat these things in moderation now with no, bad effects. Too much dairy can make it worse again, and no wine at all anymore. Only had 2 of a 3 oz glass of Chardonnay and it would set off worse symptoms,
Ok, here's a link on Silent Reflux in case it might help you. There's a ton of info on it and it's also called :
My son coughed constantly in the fall and winter. It got so bad he threw up every night (kids can't keep what is in their stomach down when they cough that hard).
He got on allergy shots starting at age 5 - made a HUGE difference. Give that a try.
Also - there is a prescription nose spray called Astepro. It is like a topical antihistamine you spray into your nose.
I have never been able to breath thru my nose for my entire life until I got this stuff.
Not a dry cough. It's like this tickle in the back of my throat that I have to "scratch" LOL It's really annoying and sometimes I gag just coughing and people ask me if I'm alright and I say "Nope, dying again, third time this week" LOLOLOL
I've had that coughing til I have to head for somewhere to puke. It's choking imo, not just coughing and I feel like I'll cough up a lung. When I went to the doctor about it, I must have gotten a smart one because he's the first that ever diagnosed that sort of cough as bronchitus. He gave me these little "cough pills" that I think looked like vitamin e but I can't remember now. I had the last bout of that about 3 years ago.
I did grow up with that though, every time I got that tickle it was so bad I had to get up and practically run out of my class, and later on, run to the bathroom from my desk I think because I work really hard now discovering for myself, what the best ways are to build my immune system.
I've had that coughing til I have to head for somewhere to puke. It's choking imo, not just coughing and I feel like I'll cough up a lung. When I went to the doctor about it, I must have gotten a smart one because he's the first that ever diagnosed that sort of cough as bronchitus. He gave me these little "cough pills" that I think looked like vitamin e but I can't remember now. I had the last bout of that about 3 years ago.
I did grow up with that though, every time I got that tickle it was so bad I had to get up and practically run out of my class, and later on, run to the bathroom from my desk I think because I work really hard now discovering for myself, what the best ways are to build my immune system.
Those little "cough pills" you're talking about may be "Tessalon Perles", which are clear yellowish capsules that look a bit like Vitamin E capsules. Tessalon Perles are a prescription drug, so not available over the counter. The people I know that have used them have sworn by their effectiveness in controlling coughs that linger after a respiratory illness, but I'm not sure that they'd be great for long term use. It seems Tessallon Perles (which sounded to me like Teflon Pearls when I first heard about them) are great for calming down and breaking the cycle of cough-irritation-cough-irritation that follows respiratory illnesses and other causes for dry irritating coughs once their cause has been determined, but I don't think they 'd be great for chronic use. It'd be much better to go after the cause of such coughs, when they're due to things like allergies, side effects of medication, reflux and so on.
Not a dry cough. It's like this tickle in the back of my throat that I have to "scratch" LOL It's really annoying and sometimes I gag just coughing and people ask me if I'm alright and I say "Nope, dying again, third time this week" LOLOLOL
I think what Mikala means by a dry cough is that you're not bringing up any mucus or gunk from your bronchi or lungs when you cough, that's also called a "productive cough", or a "wet cough".. In these cases, the cough is nature's way of getting rid of infected or excess secretions from the lungs, say when a person has pneumonia or bronchitis (or COPD), and it's not a good idea to suppress such coughs because you don't want that stuff sitting and collecting in your lungs.
If your cough is due to irritation or a local reaction to something in the back of your throat, it's probably a "dry"cough in that you're not coughing up gunk from your lungs when you cough. There's no real purpose for such a cough, it's a reaction to irritation, and as you're no doubt aware, the more you cough, the more irritated it becomes so it becomes a vicious cycle. The trick gets to be trying to figure out what is causing it, and breaking the cycle of the irritation-cough and so on (like you're trying to do).
I guess the remedies are about as numerous as there are people who have these problems, so adding my two cents worth I'd say my go-to remedy for those irritant type coughs are menthol cough drops such as Halls or whatever store brand of these is available. They're easy to keep on hand, and I find them soothing on my throat and sinuses with coughs/sinus cruds and sore throats I get during the allergy season here (which can be all year round here in sunny FL.
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I think because I work really hard now discovering for myself, what the best ways are to build my immune system.
