# Cannot stop coughing...



## Ezekiel's Garde (May 10, 2009)

It started with a cold about a week ago. Then, I started getting asthma attacks regularly, if I didn't take my inhaler. Now, as background, I normally only have a tight chest with my asthma, and typically have to take my inhaler less than twice a month. I have been taking my inhaler at least every 4 hours around the clock for a few days. If I don't and I start coughing, it gets really ugly. If I'm not coughing, I'm wheezing. Before you jump on me, I'm going to go to the doctor tomorrow so I can see my regular doctor who will work with me and not just throw abx at me whether I need them or not.

So, I can't seem to stop coughing. I don't know if it's pneumonia or not because I don't seem to be running a fever. Just a little tired and I can't stop coughing for long.

If anybody has any great ideas, I'd appreciate them. I do have a cool-mist humidifier, a handful of essential essential oils (peppermint, tea tree, eucalyptus, rose, chamomile, lavender, rosemary, lemon), and Olba's (pastilles and syrup).

I'm taking vit C like a mad woman, getting as much sun as possible, bundling when I go to do chores, getting as much rest as possible, limiting sugar, taking garlic and oregano oil capsules, and also generic Mucinex.

Thanks!


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## Guest (Oct 18, 2009)

Eat a whole box of laxatives. You'll be too scared to cough. :viking:

I've been fighting a cold for the last 10 days. I'm starting to think it's NOT a cold and maybe a sinus infection. I'll be going to the doc on Tuesday since it's not getting better. It's bad enough that I've almost lost my voice. My kids love it because Mom can't yell. :goodjob:


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## marvella (Oct 12, 2003)

sounds like bronchitis. unless you have a medical reason not to, drink as much WATER as you can stand. it will thin the secretions and make it easeir to cough them up and help releive any "tickle" in your throat.

also see your doc.


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

This works for us - 
3/4 cup grapefruit juice
8 drops hot sauce (like tobasco)
1 shake salt
5 drops GSE (grapefruit seed extract) If you don't have that, something bitter.
Mix and *SIP* just a tiny amount, no more than an ounce. Continue sipping slowly as needed over a couple of hours.

I agree 100% with the drink water idea. Spot on. Limit milk products and anything with gums in it, like guar gum.


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## Ezekiel's Garde (May 10, 2009)

Thanks... Not much dairy products, since the goats are drying off.

I am also going to put a rub on my feet and chest. I can't decide between my Badger Balm, which has extracts of ginger, rosehip, & cayenne and EOs of rosemary, ginger, thyme, sage, cardamom, and lemongrass. Or Common Sense Warm Mint vapor rub - essential oils of eucalyptus, wintergreen, menthol, peppermint, clove bud, & nutmeg.

They're both good, but sage and thyme are good for a cough (both EOs and the herbs)...


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## Guest (Oct 19, 2009)

See if your pharmacist will order some Buckley's cough syrup. It tastes like mentholated turpentine but WOW will it ever stop a cough FAST!!


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

Do you have a vibrator that you can use to loosen up the chest congestion? If not, is there somebody that can do chest percussions and help you to do postural drainage?


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## Ezekiel's Garde (May 10, 2009)

Back from doctor. Not bronchitis or pneumonia, so no antibiotics - yippee!!! She gave me a short-term steroid inhaler to use for about a week, but I can come in for another one if that doesn't quite do the trick. It is evidently a common complication of the URI that has been going around lately. Another one is the 6 weeks it takes for the cough to go away.  At least I am more armed now, and can get some rest from all this coughing.


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## Caitedid (Jun 2, 2004)

Amy- Sorry you got this crud. I ended up on Prednisone this summer because the aerial spraying set off my asthma so bad. I use a lot of eucalyptus in the shower and drink hot, black tea, and that seems to help. Hope you feel better soon!


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## mandyh (Jun 10, 2006)

Something you might want to consider is allergies. I was sick all the time and had horrible coughing spells for days with no sleep. I found out the hard way that I am allergic to Ibuprofen and a few other medicines. They send me into a wheezing asthma attack. My husband is the one who started to notice that I would have an asthma attack about 30mins after I would take Ibuprofen. I am also dreadfully allergic to bananas, they send me into a full blown head cold. When I became aware of the food I was eating and medicines I was taking, it turned my life around.

I hope you get to feeling better.


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## barnyardgal (Sep 21, 2009)

I have heard rubbing Vicks on the bottom of your feet and put socks on and sleep in them and it should help with your cough..learned that from this site but i have not had a cough yet to try this to see if it works or not...


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## momagoat61 (Mar 30, 2008)

Hi Amy 
I just had to chime in on this one. I had a flu shot *the regular flu shot on Monday Oct 12th and on Friday Oct 16th I woke up to coughing and omg it was the worst cough I ever had in my life and nothing would come up with the cough. I went to the Dr on Wednesday Oct 21st thinking I might have bronchitis and was worried it would turn into pneumonia but the Dr at the walk in clinic said I just had server chest congestion and a chest cold. I could not breath without wheezing or coughing. When I did sleep I would wake myself up with the wheezing, I tryed sleeping setting up and that didn't work. I truely thought I was going to die. I never lost my appetite and never really felt to bad except for the coughing which made my chest hurt really bad, I thought I had broke my ribs from the deep coughing I could not help from doing. I live by myself and I was truely afraid. I tried to drink as much water as I could possibly drink and took mucinex dm and went though almost 4 bottles of robitussin cough med and several other name brand cough med's, and several packages of cough drops over the course of the almost five weeks. I had that crude for amost 5 weeks. I would carry with me a zip baggie with a couple table spoons of vicks vapor rub smeared on a paper towel and I would have to breathe into that baggie to get any relief from the coughing and wheezing spells, I think It saved my life acouple times. I even took the baggie to bed with me at night and when I had a coughing spell I would breathe into the baggie, I even took it to work. The most fever I had the whole time was 99.8 for a couple hrs on Monday Oct 19th. I'm finally back to almost normal with just a very little coughing ,but no wheezing anymore.


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## fantasticfarm (Nov 25, 2009)

Here's an old fashioned cough remedy for you: Onions.

Cut an onion in half and set it by the side of your bed during the night. Works great when you have an irritated throat and can't sleep.

Whenever my children get sick, I chop up a bunch of onions and throw them in the food dehydrator. The smell of the drying onions fills the whole house. 

Though everyone complains about the smell, they all seem to recover rather quickly. Onion fumigation!


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## backachersfarm (Jun 14, 2005)

Sometimes a chronic cough can be caused by acid reflux


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## stormwalker (Oct 27, 2004)

Are you getting enough magnesium?
That can be a contributing factor.


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## Ezekiel's Garde (May 10, 2009)

Thanks all.

This is not reflux. I can tell. Not sure about the Mg. Maybe? Would a deficiency cause congestion symptoms to be worse, especially coughing? It's back, just not so bad, and I've been fighting some stuffiness since we started the fire. This is with taking an allergy med daily (Zyrtec).


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## Getting There (Mar 11, 2007)

fantasticfarm - interesting about the onions. I just learned by sister has been giving her infant onion juice (squeezed in garlic press) via dropper & has had success calming his cough. I tried it when I got sick earlier this week but only did it twice & i'm not sure if it helped or not. Sounds much more pleasant to just have them sitting next to the bed. =) My son is still coughing, so I intend to try that, maybe the dehydrator, too.


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## Island of Blueb (Sep 20, 2005)

momagoat61 said:


> Hi Amy
> I just had to chime in on this one. I had a flu shot *the regular flu shot on Monday Oct 12th and on Friday Oct 16th I woke up to coughing and omg it was the worst cough I ever had in my life and nothing would come up with the cough. I went to the Dr on Wednesday Oct 21st thinking I might have bronchitis and was worried it would turn into pneumonia but the Dr at the walk in clinic said I just had server chest congestion and a chest cold. I could not breath without wheezing or coughing. When I did sleep I would wake myself up with the wheezing, I tryed sleeping setting up and that didn't work. I truely thought I was going to die. I never lost my appetite and never really felt to bad except for the coughing which made my chest hurt really bad, I thought I had broke my ribs from the deep coughing I could not help from doing. I live by myself and I was truely afraid. I tried to drink as much water as I could possibly drink and took mucinex dm and went though almost 4 bottles of robitussin cough med and several other name brand cough med's, and several packages of cough drops over the course of the almost five weeks. I had that crude for amost 5 weeks. I would carry with me a zip baggie with a couple table spoons of vicks vapor rub smeared on a paper towel and I would have to breathe into that baggie to get any relief from the coughing and wheezing spells, I think It saved my life acouple times. I even took the baggie to bed with me at night and when I had a coughing spell I would breathe into the baggie, I even took it to work. The most fever I had the whole time was 99.8 for a couple hrs on Monday Oct 19th. I'm finally back to almost normal with just a very little coughing ,but no wheezing anymore.


This sounds like me, last summer. It came on in June, I used raw garlic and cayenne, etc, Vicks and everything I could think of to try to treat myself. Not much relief.

I too thought I was going to die several times. My husband was out of town for the summer so I was alone. The coughing reflex was so strong that I'd keep coughing til I was almost out of oxygen. Plus, I think I pulled muscles in my ribcage 3 different times from coughing so hard. Scary. 

We don't have very good choices for medical treatment on this island but after a month I went to the clinic. The doctor said I had bronchitis and prescribed an antibiotic. 

After three weeks, there was very little improvement. I went back and he tried a different a/b. This one did seem to work, I was somewhat better. I was in the throes of this "bug" for 2 1/2 months before it eased up.

But I think I did something to myself. My chest/lungs did not feel right since June and I still have this reflexive dry cough in the mornings and throughout the day. And it comes on whenever I laugh, bummer...

I had such low energy I had a lot of trouble getting my holiday stuff done. I fixed a nice Christmas dinner for the three of us and a few friends and was totally wiped out. We opened our gifts on the 28th or 29th. (Husband tried to help me but his aches and pains are worse than mine.)

For arthritis and joint pain, I had sent away for Boswellia capsules after I had read a testimonial somewhere. By the time it came I had forgotten what it was supposed to be good for LOL. 

I did a search and: Joint Pain and BREATHING ISSUES! 

I wanted to try it for joint pain as it is an anti-inflammatory. But it made a huge difference the first day in my breathing. I did not even realize I had not been able to take a big deep breath until I was able to, like 3-4 hours after I had taken the FIRST CAPSULE!

Not coughing nearly as much in the mornings and I can laugh without going into a huge coughing fit. This will be my 3rd day of taking it.

So now I am thinking I have been so listless, lacking energy and dopey because I have been oxygen-starved.

BOSWELLIA. I ordered it from Puritans Pride vitamin company, not expensive. They recommend 3 times a day but I have only taken 2 a day so far. Safe for diabetics.

I googled because I had never heard of the plant and guess what? It is another name for frankincense. Interesting, it is the resin. 

Those three Wise Men, they really were wise!

Sorry about making this into a book, hope someone will get help as I did.


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