I have asthma and have had allergies in my life, but I've mostly been able to manage both with the occasional OTC anti-histamine and very occasional albuterol. I've had several bouts of anaphylaxis and have only identified one trigger for that. I carry an epipen.
My question is about
a particular type of cough that I get and I'm wondering if any of you have remedies for how to treat it, or suggestions about
what it might be. Whenever I've tried to explain this to doctors, they're always at a loss, so I'm sort of left on my own.
The cough is not something that I can just ignore and it does not respond to cough drops or cough syrups. It starts as a particular type of tickle deep inside of my throat, usually to one side or the other. Once the tickle starts, I have maybe 20 seconds before it intensifies and I have to give in to the cough. Once I give into the cough, coughing spawns additional coughing and the coughing gets more intense. Sometimes it's hard to get a breath in because the coughs are sort of rolling--the end of one cough leads right into the start of the next one. I'll often cough to the point of gagging. It's typically an unproductive cough although sometimes after more intense bouts, I will produce a bit of thin, clear mucus. The typical coughing bout lasts for 2-5 minutes.
There is no real trigger for it. I nearly always get this cough at the end of a cold, when I'm in a post-nasal drip stage but I get it occasionally for no obvious reason. Last week, I had a massive asthma attack--the most severe one ever--and since then, I've had this cough a couple of dozen times a day.
I've tried these things and they do NOT help: all manner of cough drops, OTC cough syrups, albuterol, primatene, and my nebulizer.
I've tried these things and sometimes they DO help but not always: some sort of cold, cold carbonated drink--I have to take a big gulp of it and sort of force it down really hard. Another thing that sometimes helps is warm tea. Sometimes a tablespoon of honey helps. That's it. I haven't found anything else to shut this cough down or even back it down slightly & consistently.
It doesn't quite feel like a bronchospasm--I think those are lower down in my chest and I sometimes get them after I've gotten very sweaty at the gym and then get too chilled too quickly. This gagging cough feels like something right in my throat.
I am looking for some advice about
things to try to alleviate the cough and info maybe about
what it actually is. My brother and sister both get the same cough, by the way, and none of us have ever been able to figure out how to shut it down let alone what it actually is. Do you have any ideas?
