hello dear, After going through your history, I believe you have some genuine concern and I will try to help you out of this situation. Our vocal cords are very delicate structures and any violent activity for them for E.g. Cough, make them stressed. Coughing for some minutes makes them oedematous and that leads to change in voice and difficulty in speaking. Up to this it is perfectly normal and the situation improves with rest without any medication. Oedematous vocal cords are prone for infection. But in your situation, you are also having painful breathing which point out to some infection and you need some antibiotics if the situation does not improve in 1 day. In the mean time you can have simple Paracetamol tablet along with steam inhalation both thrice daily. In my clinic I prefer Tablet Levofloxacin along with Tablet Defzalacort to address this type of situation. I hope I could solve your query. Please do not hesitate to clarify more doubts for the same situation. Thank you for the way you are in my life. Dr Ipsit Panda