Persistent cough making it difficult to sleep

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have you thought about using a vicks vaporizer?

Yes. I got it. I'm not how much it's helping, though.

When I stepped out into the cold rain for lunch, I started coughing a whole lot and had a huge coughing attack where it felt like I was almost about to throw up. I'm better now, though.

if you wear a mask [those ones for people with colds and such] that will warm your inhaled air a bit.

Thanks. I might check it out after work.

Ugh, I'm having some more chest pain. And I'm wheezing--I think. It doesn't sound quite like a whistle, but there seems to be a different quality to my breath, like the air is blowing through a reed with a poorly defined sound, or something. I'm having some difficulty getting the mucus up.

Also, I feel heavy in the chest, which I think represents tightness.

sounds like bronchitis/asthma, comorbid with atypical pneumonia which is often the case for something which has lasted this long. ultimately one has to change one's diet to one markedly less acidic in order to lessen the occurrences of these things, that has been what has worked for me so far.

Thanks. I have a follow-up appointment on Monday, and I'm recording all these symptoms as they happen.

I've been coughing a whole lot, and I've felt very slightly sweaty with a tight chest. I've also felt somewhat dizzy, maybe from all the coughing.

Today is my last work day before going to the doctor on Monday, so I hope I can just get through this.

needless to say, if you need to see a doc don't delay it any longer than necessary. take care of yourself.

Thanks. I think I can hold out until Monday.

I read if one is diagnosed with asthma, then they may be prescribed Prednisone. Now for sinus inflammation back in 2010, I was prescribed Prednisone by an allergist--maybe I should go back to the allergist?--but I could not tolerate its side effects. It increased my confidence and reduced my need for sleep, while giving me a sense of everything (thoughts, feelings, etc.) rushing inexorably towards the future, a sense of "and it just keeps going and going" like the energizer bunny. I hated that sense of being like the energizer bunny. In retrospect, I think the Prednisone caused me to experience hypomania. I discontinued it after 2 days (which the pharmacist told me was safe) and the hypomania went away in like a day or 2. I think I'll need to definitely let my doctor know about that if she proposes to prescribe Prednisone.

can you try and dial back the dose of prednisone until you hit an optimal median dose?

Well, I'm not on it right now. I was just thinking, if I were put on it.

speaking of the prednisone [which did not have that effect on me, unfortunately], I could definitely use a bit of the energizer bunny effect you speak of.

I've had a lot of respiratory problems and coughs, etc so I can give a few suggestions.

You said your chest feels tight sometimes and it feels better when you wake up. I'm wondering if this could be from tension from unconsciously tightening them muscles. That can also make it feel hard to take a deep breath. Sometimes people say their chest feels tight when they have a lot of dry mucus in there and it's clogging them up and they can hear and feel the wheeze when they take a deep breath.

You may have a postnasal drip which causes the cough. If you get it worse in the cold that could be because you are closing your mouth and breathing fully through your nose and it makes the drip more noticeable. I used to breathe through my mouth constantly because of a stopped up nose, but when I finally was able to breathe through it most of the time at about age 10 I had to learn to close my mouth and breathe through my nose most of the time. I still find myself breathing through both, as do most people, so if it's worse breathing through your nose that could be part of the postnasal drip. The fact that it was postural also made me think of that.

Sometimes what sounds like wheezing can be just upper airway congestion which is common and not dangerous but can scare you if you think it's wheezing, which can cause you to tighten up more, unconsciously. The best way to dx wheezing is to listen to the chest, upper airway congestion can sound like wheezing but it isn't.

A cough can also become a habit sort of. Like a tick. That's usually a dry cough. It's not something you do consciously, but because it relieves an itch sort of.

Is the cough dry or productive? Is your nose stopped up at all, or if it's clear then what happens when you try to blow it, does mucus come out at all?

One trick that I learned when I had asthma to clear my lungs was to take a deep breath in through the nose and blow it out hard through the mouth but not cough, then breath in again through your nose, blow out through your mouth hard but only halfway and when you have blown it half way out, cough deeply. Breathe in through your nose before you cough, and that will get it up easier.

If you do have chest congestion, postural drainage can help as can percussion. Lay on your stomach on the bed with your upper half hanging off and propping yourself on your hands or arms so that you are at an angle with your head down toward the floor. Have someone slightly cup their hands and hit you rhythmically on your back over the area where your lungs are. Do this for about three minutes straight. No longer though. If you have a lot of congestion that can help loosen it up and you can cough and spit it up while you are upside down.

The guafineson (sp?) or plain robitussin is good to loosen you up. The prescription strength of it that I took was 800 mg, so I just increased the dose of the liquid to take that much. Only do that with the plain though, if it's got the suppressant in it, you don't want to do that.

Benadryl is a good antihistamine and will make you sleepy but if you don't want to be dried up quite so much and need to get to sleep then doxylamine is your best bet. That's the ingredient in Unisom and in Nyquil. It's an antihistamine too. It's mainly sold by itself as a sleep aid though. Some people get sleepier from one or the other, neither or both. I take Benadryl (diphenhydramine) for sleep and doxylamine for my nose when I need it during the day because it doesn't make me as sleepy, and after a day or two of taking it, I don't get sleepy any more.

Tesselon perles work by numbing the lining of your lungs and all, and they work great on a dry cough that's also from a postnasal drip. You also might try some of that throat spray that numbs you to see if that would work to stop the cough from a postnasal drip.

I wonder how you can determine that?



My doctor has used a stethoscope and she says she doesn't like what she hears when she listens to my chest.



My cough is often dry, especially in the middle of coughing fits, but it's like I can feel the mucus trying to come up. Sometimes the cough is productive. My nose may have been stopped up in the beginning, but I think it's been clear for a while. If I blow my nose, some watery, thin mucus comes out. Also, I can do something I think is a bit unusual, and that is move the tip of my tongue behind my uvula and up through the back of the nasal cavity, which I've been able to do since I was like 9 or 10. When I do this, I can often assess the amount of drainage, and right now I can feel some drainage, but not a whole lot, and it doesn't seem particularly thick.



It seemed to work some, thinks.



I'm not sure if I can find someone to do this, though.



I was on Tessalon perles, but my doctor has now given me something stronger: Tussionex. I'm not sure if that would interact with the Robitussin. The Tussionex seems to help with sleep. My doctor has also given me an Albuterol inhaler. The current diagnosis seems to be acute bronchitis.

In the past few days, as auntblabby was talking about, I've noticed some acid indigestion and it seems to have gotten more pronounced tonight, so I've taken some Pepto-bismol. I hear acid indigestion can also cause or exacerbate cough. I've also been passing gas.

I will talk to my doctor about some of the things you've illuminated here. Thanks!

Ugh, when I cough I sometimes see a lightning-like flash in my right eye. One time, I saw a reddish orange arc go across the right side of my field of vision. Sometimes, the right side of my vision will flash when I abruptly turn my head.

^^^
that sounds concerning, please bring this up when you see your doctor, sooner rather than later.