<p>As someone who treats patients with cough, I do not think that starting with a good primary care doctor is the way to go. GP’s are not necessarily able to recognize the source of a cough. I suggest starting with a laryngologist who is very familiar paradoxical vocal fold motion and chronic cough (both vocal-fold related issues that often relate also to upper respiratory infections, etc.) That physician will consider allergies, sinus, reflux, and the possibility that the cough has now become chronic but to vocal fold irritation (for which there is very effective therapeutic treatment that can calm down and then eliminate the cough). He or she will also assess vocal fold tissue health at the same time. I would not recommend trying to self-diagnose via trying to treat different possible causes. It is likely that the cough is by now multifactoral - meaning it may have a few different underlying causes - and a laryngologist is familiar with all of them and can tell you where to focus your treatment - whether the cough is vocal fold triggered or lung triggered. </p>
<p>I am going to post a request in the national voice therapist email listserve for a Chicago-area referral for you and will share the info here!</p>