About 2 years ago I started coughing in the summer. Last year it was so bad I finally went for a breathing test and found out I have some asthma. But the coughing was horrendous and so bad I finally went to an ENT. My throat was quite irritated, so he gave me some kind of antibiotic twice and they worked. I started taking Zyrtec daily and with the meds, it stopped. It was fall by then, and it stopped. Allergies was the diagnosis.
I’ve been fine all winter. Then a month ago, the coughing has started again. I have inhalers that I never had to use during the winter, but have started. It helps about 50%.
It’s so annoying, thankfully it complete stops at night. But during the day I’m coughing and always swallowing phlegm.
Does this happen to anyone and what have you taken that helps?
You have cough variant asthma?
I think I have spring allergies. I have a post nasal drip that is actually worse in the evening. And makes me cough. I’ve been taking DayQuil about 7 each night and that does the trick for me.
I have it from allergies too - especially when I haven’t used my Nasonex.
Mine is also worse in the evening.
@Sybylla , I don’t think so. That’s a dry cough, no other symptoms, I have a lot of phlegm. Sorry, TMI. Regular allergy symptoms besides the cough, too. But the cough is nonstop through the day.
I have allergies and cough variant asthma. It was worse when I lived in Idaho and New Mexico - sagebrush 
. I started taking Singulair and it worked miracles. I still have seasonal allergies in both fall and spring, but not as severe.
Well IMO you should have your asthma revisited and consider CVA, but if you have a lot of post nasal drip, at least try the neti pot, switch up your allergy meds and try an alternative otc maybe. IMO though, you need more than an internet consult.
@LeastComplicated , after you mentioned Singulair, that reminded me I have a prescription of the generic my GP prescribed. I only took it a couple weeks but didn’t feel it was doing anything and went off of it when the ENT gave me the antibiotics. Then Like I said, the fall came and it went away.
I just read that this med takes several weeks to work. So, I took a pill tonight and am going to give it a month before I contact my doc again. Thanks! Fingers crossed.
Hope it works for you @conmama. I was actually coughing so hard that capillaries in the whites of my eyes burst during my worst allergy attacks! It was awful. I haven’t had any more of those horrible attacks since I started taking it.
This sounds like allergies to me. There are a variety of things that can help.
One thing that you can do is to keep your bedroom very clean. A HEPA air filter can help. Clean sheets can help. Taking a shower right before going to bed will help quite a bit – it will wash the pollen out of your hair and prevent you from tracking the pollen into your bed. Just having 8 hours without exposure to the allergens can make a difference.
There are a variety of nasal sprays that can help. There are several types of nasal steroids available. You should only take one of these. There is also a nasal antihistamine, Azelastine, that you can get with a prescription. You can use both a nasal steroid and Azelastine at the same time. There is another nasal spray that also helps called Nasalcrom. The three (a steroid, Azelastine, and Nasalcrom) combat different parts of the overall allergic reaction.
All of these nasal sprays are more effective after you have been taking them, as indicated on the label, for a while.
Also an antihistamine such as either Zyrtec or loratadine (not both) can help also. Some people will build up a resistance to one of these after taking it for a while. If this happens it can be helpful to switch from one to the other every few months.
I have had perennial allergic rhinitis (year-round) for years, but my coughing with the allergies has come on in the last couple of years. Coughing is awful, and painful, and tiring. After Covid became known, but before lockdown, I was trying to squelch it if within earshot of anyone. Hard to do!
If it’s a mucous-y phlegm, I find guaifenesin helps quite a bit. The generic is super cheap at drugstores. If the cough is post-nasal drip, Flonase/corticosteroid type sprays are helpful, but take several weeks.
Can you pin the cough down to specific pollens or triggers? Sometimes it takes a merry-go-round of trying different allergy meds, but most of them are generic and not expensive. For me, Zyrtec, Chlortrimeton, Allegra, and Benadryl are most effective, in addition to the Flonase.
My ENT diagnosed my year round cough as reflux. I was certain it was allergies but nope. My vocal chords and adenoidal areas were really irritated. I am on a prescription strength generic version of Pepcid.
This information won’t help the OP but it may provide food for thought for someone else.
My sister recently had a similar cough that would not go away. Dr. Had her take 1 Zyrtec in the morning and one at night, along with 1 Mucinex-D in the morning. Within a week her cough was completely gone. She is now taking 1 Zyrtec at night and the cough has not returned. My husband (who has allergies) has been in a similar boat and just started the Zyrtec/Musinex D combo this week. He noticed less coughing within 2 days.
I should have mentioned everything I am already currently doing. Right now I take:
Flonase every day, once a day
Zyrtec once a day
Inhaler twice a day (this seems to calm the cough)
The other meds stop the sneezing and itching. The flonase stops the swelling in my nostril membranes. The thing is I’ve always had seasonal allergies my whole life. They even sort of diminished a lot in adulthood, where I only had to take them sporadically.
Then like I said, the coughing started 2 years ago and I found out about the asthma. It doesn’t bother my breathing at all, doc said I may have had it all my life.
I’m interested in the Zyrtec twice a day and Mucinex-D. But I don’t want to take so many things at once, so I’ll keep on my regiment but include. the Singulair for a month. If it’s not helping, I’ll go back to the ENT and start over.
Thank you all for your suggestions.
The cocktail that works best for me is flonase and zyrtec for maintenance and adding singulair during peak allergy season. It seems that all 3 together are necessary!
@gardenstategal , do you have post nasal drip, too?
My husband takes loratadine daily and for years used an inhaler. He was able to stop the inhaler at some point.
I agree about using high quality filters in the house and changing them often. We also don’t open window in high pollen times.
@conmama, yes! In fact, I believe that is the root cause of the cough.
Wow, I am not alone! I have had a cough for a couple of years. I have been seeing an allergist the whole time and later an ENT doctor. CT scans and x-rays have ruled out a lot, but none of the 6-8 medications we tried have worked. I recently got a referral to a pulmonologist, but have been told it is likely the referral will have to be renewed. Because of covid 19, I am probably not going to get an appointment within 90 days.
What a terrible time to have a cough too, although it is VERY effective at keeping people away from me in the grocery store these days.
@Groundwork2022 , would you mind sharing your medications you’ve tried just out of curiosity? I never thought if a pulmonologist!
I was actually able to stifle coughs at the grocery store last time, and hopefully can manage next week. I just swallow constantly. It did make me self-conscious though.