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Pregnant, Getting Dry Cough Only At Night. Should I Consult With An ENT?

Posted on Mon, 17 Dec 2012

Question: Sir, My wife gets intense dry cough only at night.. During day she is very normal... I have also started noticing some crackling sound while she breathes just before she cough.. the cough is thre for past two months..
What could this be.... Yesterday night she did not sleep except for an hour or so, by 7 am she slept again.. During sleep there is no problem..
My wife also pregnent for 1.5 months.. Should we consult a ENT doctor or a Lungs doctor

Answered by Dr. Raju A.T (21 minutes later)

Hi,

Thanks for your query.

The symptoms you mentioned above are commonly seen in upper respiratory tract infections (URTI). Dry cough on lying down position is typically seen in URTI specially when Pharynx or larynx is involved. The other reason could be acid reflux from the oesophagus in early pregnancy because of HCG hormone where the lower oesophageal sphincter can is lax.

I hope your wife was not allergic and not diagnosed with asthma.

I suggest you to take her to ENT specialist who can address the problem effectively after examining her.

Meanwhile she can gargle with an Antiseptic solution like CHLORHEXIDINE twice daily after food.This will cure or at-least contain the infection if it is in the pharynx.

Do not give medications on your own, as some medications are contraindicated in early pregnancy.

Hope I answered your query.Please let me know if there are any other concerns.

Regards,

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Raju A.T (41 minutes later)

Thanks for your reply dear sir.

But the incident of unceasing cough has started much before my wife became pregnent. In fact the homeo doctor had tried to address hormonal cause of the cough but was for no good...

Also does the whisteling / crackling sound just before Cough mean anything!!!! She does not have that during the day or times when she is not coughing.

Also its strage to us that the moment she hits her head on the pillow, the cough starts immaterial of what time of night.

She has not been detected with any asthma or serious allegry till now..

We will visit an ENT as you suggested and see how things fair..

Thanks for your feedback..
XXXXXXX

Answered by Dr. Raju A.T (48 minutes later)

Hi,

Thanks for writing back.

URTI like Pharyngitis and laryngitis do present as chronic conditions presenting with dry cough.Most of times they occur due to infections which persist for months in some or occur recurrently.Also in early pregnancy there can be congestion in the mucosa which could have been the reason for the preexisted URTI to persist.

The crackling or the gurgling sound which you listen could be due to secretions from the inflamed mucosa in the respiratory tract.Lying down specially in patients with laryngitis causes the inflamed glottis to sag down due to gravity causing irritation and thus initiating cough.

I do not think it to be due to any hormonal cause.

Do visit an ENT specialist he can after examination rule out the above conditions.

Wish you good health.

Regards,

Note: Consult an experienced Otolaryngologist / ENT Specialist online for further follow up on ear, nose, and throat issues - Book a Call now.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar