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Suggest Treatment For Dry Coughs And Throat Irritation
Question: Hello Doctor,
From last some days ,I am having dry coughs. Coughs are quite loud,irritation in throats, getting worse at night,cant sleep. During the year end I have traveled a lot, during that time I also had fever, I have done a course of Azithrol and also lots of paracetamol.
Cough is not going, now fever is not there but fever feeling is there,kindly help.
From last some days ,I am having dry coughs. Coughs are quite loud,irritation in throats, getting worse at night,cant sleep. During the year end I have traveled a lot, during that time I also had fever, I have done a course of Azithrol and also lots of paracetamol.
Cough is not going, now fever is not there but fever feeling is there,kindly help.
Brief Answer:
Please give more details
Detailed Answer:
Hello XXXX,
Thank you for asking at HCM. I went through your history and would like to know more details about your symptoms. Such details would help me to understand your health problem better. Please provide following details:
a. For how many days, have you had cough? If not exactly, you can mention in approximate days, weeks, or months.
b. You have already mentioned dry cough, so I assume that you don't have any expectoration.
c. Do you have any nose symptoms - running nose, discharge from nose (white or yellow, thick or thin), nose congestion, sneezing, etc?
d. Do you need to take breath from mouth? Do you snore at night?
e. During day, do you have to clear your throat repeatedly during day?
f. Do you have headaches or heaviness in head or heaviness over face?
g. Have you ever head breathing difficulty, shortness of breath, wheezing, whistling sound from chest/throat?
h. Do you have any digestion related complaints like indigestion, acidity, gastritis, constipation, etc?
i. Barring the current episode, have you ever had repeated/prolonged cough or other respiratory symptoms in past? Please give details.
j. Do you have any other allergies? Does any of your family members have any allergies or asthma?
k. Have you used any medications apart from Azithral or paracetamol? Please give details.
l. Are you exposed to air pollution or passive smoke frequently?
m. Is stress an important factor in your life?
Please provide above details on follow-up. Please also feel free to ask any other questions you may have on follow-up.
Wish you a quick recovery and best of health ahead.
Thank you & regards,
Dr Parin N Parmar
Allergist-Immunologist
Please give more details
Detailed Answer:
Hello XXXX,
Thank you for asking at HCM. I went through your history and would like to know more details about your symptoms. Such details would help me to understand your health problem better. Please provide following details:
a. For how many days, have you had cough? If not exactly, you can mention in approximate days, weeks, or months.
b. You have already mentioned dry cough, so I assume that you don't have any expectoration.
c. Do you have any nose symptoms - running nose, discharge from nose (white or yellow, thick or thin), nose congestion, sneezing, etc?
d. Do you need to take breath from mouth? Do you snore at night?
e. During day, do you have to clear your throat repeatedly during day?
f. Do you have headaches or heaviness in head or heaviness over face?
g. Have you ever head breathing difficulty, shortness of breath, wheezing, whistling sound from chest/throat?
h. Do you have any digestion related complaints like indigestion, acidity, gastritis, constipation, etc?
i. Barring the current episode, have you ever had repeated/prolonged cough or other respiratory symptoms in past? Please give details.
j. Do you have any other allergies? Does any of your family members have any allergies or asthma?
k. Have you used any medications apart from Azithral or paracetamol? Please give details.
l. Are you exposed to air pollution or passive smoke frequently?
m. Is stress an important factor in your life?
Please provide above details on follow-up. Please also feel free to ask any other questions you may have on follow-up.
Wish you a quick recovery and best of health ahead.
Thank you & regards,
Dr Parin N Parmar
Allergist-Immunologist
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Nagamani Ng
Here are the answers to your questions-
a. For how many days, have you had cough? If not exactly, you can mention in approximate days, weeks, or months.-From last week of December 2016
b. You have already mentioned dry cough, so I assume that you don't have any expectoration. - Very little mucous is coming out that too sometimes
c. Do you have any nose symptoms - running nose, discharge from nose (white or yellow, thick or thin), nose congestion, sneezing, etc?- Nose are all free, can breadth through nose properly
d. Do you need to take breath from mouth? Do you snore at night? No
e. During day, do you have to clear your throat repeatedly during day? During some day, I am not even feeling something is there, but like today from morning I am coughing continuously, can feel irritation all the time in throat
f. Do you have headaches or heaviness in head or heaviness over face?No
g. Have you ever head breathing difficulty, shortness of breath, wheezing, whistling sound from chest/throat? No, even I get cough very less, may be after 2 years I am getting this kind of cough
h. Do you have any digestion related complaints like indigestion, acidity, gastritis, constipation, etc? Sometimes but nothing chronic
i. Barring the current episode, have you ever had repeated/prolonged cough or other respiratory symptoms in past? Please give details.No
j. Do you have any other allergies? Does any of your family members have any allergies or asthma? I have migraine, so whenever I have head ache, I usually take Combiflame or any paracetamol, so paracetamol is only medicine I take quite often
k. Have you used any medications apart from Azithral or paracetamol? Please give details. Combiflame
l. Are you exposed to air pollution or passive smoke frequently? Now a days I cant tolerate any kind of smoke, even small agarbatti smell brings me to severe coughing
m. Is stress an important factor in your life? Stress is there, lot of work pressure
Hope It will help you to answer
a. For how many days, have you had cough? If not exactly, you can mention in approximate days, weeks, or months.-From last week of December 2016
b. You have already mentioned dry cough, so I assume that you don't have any expectoration. - Very little mucous is coming out that too sometimes
c. Do you have any nose symptoms - running nose, discharge from nose (white or yellow, thick or thin), nose congestion, sneezing, etc?- Nose are all free, can breadth through nose properly
d. Do you need to take breath from mouth? Do you snore at night? No
e. During day, do you have to clear your throat repeatedly during day? During some day, I am not even feeling something is there, but like today from morning I am coughing continuously, can feel irritation all the time in throat
f. Do you have headaches or heaviness in head or heaviness over face?No
g. Have you ever head breathing difficulty, shortness of breath, wheezing, whistling sound from chest/throat? No, even I get cough very less, may be after 2 years I am getting this kind of cough
h. Do you have any digestion related complaints like indigestion, acidity, gastritis, constipation, etc? Sometimes but nothing chronic
i. Barring the current episode, have you ever had repeated/prolonged cough or other respiratory symptoms in past? Please give details.No
j. Do you have any other allergies? Does any of your family members have any allergies or asthma? I have migraine, so whenever I have head ache, I usually take Combiflame or any paracetamol, so paracetamol is only medicine I take quite often
k. Have you used any medications apart from Azithral or paracetamol? Please give details. Combiflame
l. Are you exposed to air pollution or passive smoke frequently? Now a days I cant tolerate any kind of smoke, even small agarbatti smell brings me to severe coughing
m. Is stress an important factor in your life? Stress is there, lot of work pressure
Hope It will help you to answer
Brief Answer:
Antihistamine, montelukast, rest, hydration, and avoidance of irritants
Detailed Answer:
Hello XXXX,
Thank you for providing the details. Based on them, were I treating you, I would make following suggestions to my such patients.
1. As initially you had fever, I would first think of post-viral cough. That is, a viral upper respiratory infection, that subsides but only cough stays longer. So I would suggest my such patient to take a combination of montelukast and fexofenadine for 14 days.
2. As hydration is very important, I would suggest you to take adequate amounts of warm fluids during the day. Please avoid cold drinks/beverages and please avoid heavy meals at night.
3. For dry cough, warm saline gargles are very important. Were I treating you, I would suggest you to perform warm saline gargles two-three times a day, including once before going to bed.
4. If cough is significant during night or causes sleep disturbance, I would prescribe my such patient to consume a cough suppressant syrup like dextromethorphan for 3-5 days.
5. Please avoid respiratory irritants like smokes, air pollution, dust, strong smells, perfumes, sprays, cold air, etc. Also, if possible, adopt some stress-reduction strategies and have some time for rest and relaxation. This is because, long-term stress badly affects immunity and delays recovery from an illness.
6. If above measures do not help, I would suggest my such patient to visit a physician who will examine your throat and chest and also may suggest you some basic investigations like complete blood counts, and x-rays of chest and paranasal sinus, if found necessary after physical examination.
Hope above suggestions will be helpful to you. Should you have any further query, please feel free to contact and communicate.
Wish you a quick recovery and best of health ahead.
Thank you & best regards,
Dr Parin N Parmar
Allergist-Immunologist
Antihistamine, montelukast, rest, hydration, and avoidance of irritants
Detailed Answer:
Hello XXXX,
Thank you for providing the details. Based on them, were I treating you, I would make following suggestions to my such patients.
1. As initially you had fever, I would first think of post-viral cough. That is, a viral upper respiratory infection, that subsides but only cough stays longer. So I would suggest my such patient to take a combination of montelukast and fexofenadine for 14 days.
2. As hydration is very important, I would suggest you to take adequate amounts of warm fluids during the day. Please avoid cold drinks/beverages and please avoid heavy meals at night.
3. For dry cough, warm saline gargles are very important. Were I treating you, I would suggest you to perform warm saline gargles two-three times a day, including once before going to bed.
4. If cough is significant during night or causes sleep disturbance, I would prescribe my such patient to consume a cough suppressant syrup like dextromethorphan for 3-5 days.
5. Please avoid respiratory irritants like smokes, air pollution, dust, strong smells, perfumes, sprays, cold air, etc. Also, if possible, adopt some stress-reduction strategies and have some time for rest and relaxation. This is because, long-term stress badly affects immunity and delays recovery from an illness.
6. If above measures do not help, I would suggest my such patient to visit a physician who will examine your throat and chest and also may suggest you some basic investigations like complete blood counts, and x-rays of chest and paranasal sinus, if found necessary after physical examination.
Hope above suggestions will be helpful to you. Should you have any further query, please feel free to contact and communicate.
Wish you a quick recovery and best of health ahead.
Thank you & best regards,
Dr Parin N Parmar
Allergist-Immunologist
Note: For further information on diet changes to reduce allergy symptoms or to boost your immunity, Ask here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Vaishalee Punj
Answered by
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