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Have Dry Cough, Excessive Saliva Production With Throat Infection. Chest X-ray Clear. Any Treatment?
Question: ive had a fairly dry cough now for about 8 months in the aftermath of an infection in the throat. ive tested several kinds of inhalers like the ones for people with asthma, none of them work. ive done a chest xray, it was fine. ive also done tests with a PEF exhaler over 3 weeks and the results did not indicate anything. ive got a bad taste in my mouth, excessive saliva production (this usually lasts for a week then suddenly just disappears for a few weeks). my cough always eases up when i eat and get my throat moist with food. doesnt work as well with fluids for some reason. im so tired of this.
Hello,
Thanks for choosing health care magic for posting your query.
I can understand what you are going through. If a cough lasts for 8 months and that too with a normal x-ray then there are the following possibilities:
1) It being allergic (Cough Variant asthma)
2) It being cause of eosinophilia
3) Post Nasal drip
4) Gasto oesophageal reflux
5) Stress related.
Coming to the first option, you have mentioned that you have tried asthma related medicattions. I suppose that you have used salbutamol. Try a beclomethasone or any other steroid inhaler. It may do wonders. Also use it for atleast a month before discarding it.
The second option is that the cough can be cause of eosinophilia secondary to sub clinical filarial infection. In that case DEC (di-ethyl-carbamazine) can be helpful.
Many times the URI infection goes off and what remains is a post nasal drip. you feel an irritation sensation in throat and you feel that clearing up your throat will help in the irritation. Using anti histaminics like cetrizene will help in clearing up the post nasal drip.
Even a benign condition like gastro-oesophageal-reflux disease can lead to a prolonged cough. You need to take some ant acids and domperidone to help in relieving this problem.
Finally coming to the stress related causes. Do you think you are stressed. In that case even anxiety can present with such a problem. relaxation exercises along with some anti-anxiety drug like clonazepam may relieve the problem. Does the cough increase or appear only in stressful conditions?
Its difficult to pin -point the exact cause of the cough but you should XXXXXXX a chest physician who can start working on these problems and try to relieve you of your problem.
Hope I am able to solve your query.
I will be happy to help you if you need any further clarifications.
In case you are satisfied by the answer, you can close the query and rate the answer and write a review if possible.
In future if you want a direct and detailed discussion about your problem, you can contact me on the following link:
WWW.WWWW.WW Wish you good health!
Thanks for choosing health care magic for posting your query.
I can understand what you are going through. If a cough lasts for 8 months and that too with a normal x-ray then there are the following possibilities:
1) It being allergic (Cough Variant asthma)
2) It being cause of eosinophilia
3) Post Nasal drip
4) Gasto oesophageal reflux
5) Stress related.
Coming to the first option, you have mentioned that you have tried asthma related medicattions. I suppose that you have used salbutamol. Try a beclomethasone or any other steroid inhaler. It may do wonders. Also use it for atleast a month before discarding it.
The second option is that the cough can be cause of eosinophilia secondary to sub clinical filarial infection. In that case DEC (di-ethyl-carbamazine) can be helpful.
Many times the URI infection goes off and what remains is a post nasal drip. you feel an irritation sensation in throat and you feel that clearing up your throat will help in the irritation. Using anti histaminics like cetrizene will help in clearing up the post nasal drip.
Even a benign condition like gastro-oesophageal-reflux disease can lead to a prolonged cough. You need to take some ant acids and domperidone to help in relieving this problem.
Finally coming to the stress related causes. Do you think you are stressed. In that case even anxiety can present with such a problem. relaxation exercises along with some anti-anxiety drug like clonazepam may relieve the problem. Does the cough increase or appear only in stressful conditions?
Its difficult to pin -point the exact cause of the cough but you should XXXXXXX a chest physician who can start working on these problems and try to relieve you of your problem.
Hope I am able to solve your query.
I will be happy to help you if you need any further clarifications.
In case you are satisfied by the answer, you can close the query and rate the answer and write a review if possible.
In future if you want a direct and detailed discussion about your problem, you can contact me on the following link:
WWW.WWWW.WW Wish you good health!
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
worth mentioning is that in conjunction with the cough i moved into a new apartment. ive had some people here to look at moist since there was some mold in the kitchen. the mold was removed and the moist levels were normal in the apartment and its clean and feels healthy, so to speak. i live in sweden if that matters.
for my throat infection i was given kåvepenin (contains fenoximetylpenicillinkalium)
the inhalers i have used are:
pulmicort turbuhaler - contains budesonid
symbicort turbuhaler - contains budesonid/formoterolfumaratdihydrat
oxis turbuhaler - formoterolfumaratdihydrat
1. regarding the inhalers i have to have them prescribed by a doctor, we cant just buy them anywhere. so it feels a bit weird to go to the doctor and tell them what to prescribe me based on an internet doctor assessment. no offense.
2. eosinophilia is some kind of blood desease? what could have caused that in this case?
3. cetrizene i can actually buy without a prescription right away so i will try that, i have used that before for my pollen allergy.
4. ive tried taking prescription free pills for acid reflux that hasnt helped. they contain natriumalginat and natriumhydrocarbonate and kalciumcarbonate and aspartam.
5. the cough is always there and behaves like it pleases with no apparent source. im about to start a company but im not stressed about it and i feel fine mentally speaking.
so what cause of action would you recommend me to take and in what order?
for my throat infection i was given kåvepenin (contains fenoximetylpenicillinkalium)
the inhalers i have used are:
pulmicort turbuhaler - contains budesonid
symbicort turbuhaler - contains budesonid/formoterolfumaratdihydrat
oxis turbuhaler - formoterolfumaratdihydrat
1. regarding the inhalers i have to have them prescribed by a doctor, we cant just buy them anywhere. so it feels a bit weird to go to the doctor and tell them what to prescribe me based on an internet doctor assessment. no offense.
2. eosinophilia is some kind of blood desease? what could have caused that in this case?
3. cetrizene i can actually buy without a prescription right away so i will try that, i have used that before for my pollen allergy.
4. ive tried taking prescription free pills for acid reflux that hasnt helped. they contain natriumalginat and natriumhydrocarbonate and kalciumcarbonate and aspartam.
5. the cough is always there and behaves like it pleases with no apparent source. im about to start a company but im not stressed about it and i feel fine mentally speaking.
so what cause of action would you recommend me to take and in what order?
Hello,
Thanks for such a prompt follow-up clarification.
You seem to have used quite a lot steroid inhalaers. If it was any variant of asthma then it should have responded.
Pulmonary eosinophilia is an increased eosinophils in the blood occuring some times with out any reason and some times cause of sub-clinical filariasis. An absolute eosinophil count can help you in diagnosing it. DEC us a good drug if it is raised.
The ant-acids drugs that you have used are very mild ones. You should try for a combination of drugs like a combination of rabeprazole and domperidone are available. i understand that you will be requiring a prescription from a physician for getting those drugs.
Cetrizine if available OTC will be a good drug to start with. If the cough doesnt stop then getting treated for GERD will help. Anti acids have to be taken atleast for 10 days for the cough to get relieved.
Lastly relaxation exercises like yoga and meditation will help in such chronic cough cases.
Hope I am able to solve your query.
I will be happy to help you if you need any further clarifications.
In case you are satisfied by the answer, you can close the query and rate the answer and write a review if possible.
In future if you want a direct and detailed discussion about your problem, you can contact me on the following link:
WWW.WWWW.WW Wish you good health!
Thanks for such a prompt follow-up clarification.
You seem to have used quite a lot steroid inhalaers. If it was any variant of asthma then it should have responded.
Pulmonary eosinophilia is an increased eosinophils in the blood occuring some times with out any reason and some times cause of sub-clinical filariasis. An absolute eosinophil count can help you in diagnosing it. DEC us a good drug if it is raised.
The ant-acids drugs that you have used are very mild ones. You should try for a combination of drugs like a combination of rabeprazole and domperidone are available. i understand that you will be requiring a prescription from a physician for getting those drugs.
Cetrizine if available OTC will be a good drug to start with. If the cough doesnt stop then getting treated for GERD will help. Anti acids have to be taken atleast for 10 days for the cough to get relieved.
Lastly relaxation exercises like yoga and meditation will help in such chronic cough cases.
Hope I am able to solve your query.
I will be happy to help you if you need any further clarifications.
In case you are satisfied by the answer, you can close the query and rate the answer and write a review if possible.
In future if you want a direct and detailed discussion about your problem, you can contact me on the following link:
WWW.WWWW.WW Wish you good health!
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
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