That nagging cough, best remedies

Parent Cafe
1

<p>I did it, I traveled over the Thanksgiving holiday and 48 hours after my last flight, came down with a cold. I am through the worst of it, but now is the stage where the cough begins. Over the last 25 years I have too many times had a minor cough like this trigger some sort of weird cough tickle which literally lasts for months and is both unattractive to all and annoying to me and anyone near me.</p>

<p>Anything medical that has a side effect of drowsiness is likely to make me sleep for hours. I have company this weekend & next plus all my kids will be home soon. I want to have fun and not let this tickle take hold of me.</p>

<p>Does any one have any remedies to prevent the urge to cough? Medical, old wives tale, wacky, whatever, I’ll try it.</p>

2

<p>First…make an appointment with a doctor. Clear your calendar. Move appointments. Just when you have everything covered…you feel find. You should be fine. </p>

<p>My best friend from high school housekeeper from Germany made this cough syrup: equal parts of honey, lemon and double the brandy.</p>

<p>But seriously, I had a tickle from a cold that just didn’t go away. It got worse. I decided to go to the hospital: bilateral pneumonia. Spent a lovely week in the hospital. Which brings us to: call the doctor.</p>

3

<p>I have had this happen. One time the cough was so bad that in desperation I used S’s asthma nebulizer. What do you know - it worked! I went to the doctor and mentioned this, she was fine with it.
So is it possible that you have undiagnosed asthma? Ask your doctor.</p>

4

<p>I have this right now - have had it for about six weeks. I generally notice it when I’m running though. The symptoms go away linearly and very slowly. I find that a lot of rest helps - I don’t know of a quick cure.</p>

5

<p>I experience the same thing. My doctor finally prescribed Singulair. I take one a day for a few days and it takes care of the cough. Interesting that someone mentioned undiagnosed asthma, because Singulair is used to treat asthma.</p>

6

<p>There are the causes of most chronic cough–gastric reflux, allergies (with post nasal drip) and asthma. There is a type of cough that is cough variant asthma where it shows up as a cough (sometimes in place of or in addition to audible wheezing).</p>

<p>I’d check with your doc to see which of these may apply to you.</p>

<p>As a short term relief, you can try getting Tessalon Perles–your pharmacist may be able to direct you to the best place to purchase them.</p>

<p>Good luck & let us know what your doc has to say about the lingering history of coughs.</p>

7

<p>I used to have a lingering cough after a cold. I was finally diagnosed with cold induced asthma (only symptom is coughing, no wheezing).</p>

<p>I start taking the asthma meds at the first sign of a cold. If I catch it in time, coughing is usually just a minor issue.</p>

<p>Consuming hot liquids (no iced drinks), staying warm and cough drops also help help prevent the urge to cough.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

8

<p>Once you have gotten the all clear from the docs, if it’s still nagging try Vicks Vapo rub on the soles of the feet. Yep really. Then please report back here and let us know if it works - I’ve gotten a few “holy cow I can’t believe it” reports back and am still collecting data =).</p>

9

<p>I had the undiagnosed asthma too, and use both my inhlaers at the first sign of a cold. And I also have come to realize that there is a connection with acid reflux and my cough. If I keep my acid reflux under control my throat is much less tempermental. Now if I could just get people who wear perfume away from me I would be quite fine.</p>

<p>Oh, if you use cough drops do not use anything with menthol in it. The menthol is actually drying and exacerbates my cough. I use either vitamin c drops or just a hard candy to keep my throat lubricated. My dentist loves that, lol.</p>

10

<p>I was going to say, but someone already has, make sure it is not pneumonia.</p>

11

<p>Ok, weird, after Googling this stuff, the symptoms of CVA sound pretty close to mine, so while waiting to see a Doc I will still try some of the treatments, many of which are antihistimine and decongestant.</p>

<p>I also figured why not try the Vicks on my feet…I woke up with very little cough, not 100% gone, but very much reduced. It may, of course, have nothing to do with that an everything to do with the other 2 meds :D</p>

<p>Thanks, all, for responding, I am going to look into the CVA</p>

12

<p>CVA is very common and often an overlooked diagnosis. Hope you ARE soon diagnosed and treated properly. Glad you are feeling much better!</p>

13

<p>You folks had me wondering for a minute why you thought a cough signified a stroke.
The term CVA stands for cerebrovascular accident, in other words, stroke.</p>

14

<p>Yea, until you realized it means in this context–cough variant asthma, which is more common that folks recognize (including docs).</p>

15

<p>momva, I thought the same thing at first, CVA = stroke, perhaps C-V-A for the other one</p>

16

<p>I also had a cough that wouldn’t go away. It stayed for a year until someone at work said that they always knew I was coming because they could hear me coughing. So I finally got myself to the doctor who diagnosed me with asthma. I hope you see your doctor soon. If it is asthma, you should be concerned about taking anything that makes you sleep so deeply that it affects your breathing while you sleep.</p>

17

<p>Somemom - thanks for trying the vicks! Wonder if it would work without the decongestant and antihistimine, lol. Might be worth a try and if you try it, please do report back =). Did you have your doc’s apptmnt?</p>

18

<p>I tend to get this too. Now, I seem to be able to head it off by taking cough suppressant at the first signs of a cough.</p>