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Suggest Treatment For Severe Cough And Hoarseness Of Voice
Question: I HAVE A SEVERE COUGH AND I AM LOSING MY VOICE WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP
Brief Answer:
Information about your cough.
Detailed Answer:
Hello Ms. XXXXXXX
If the cough is severe and you have a fever, you should go in to see the doctor or go to an urgent care clinic. You may need a chest X-ray to make sure you don't have pneumonia. Also if your cough is productive of discolored sputum (not just when you get up after sleeping) you should also go in.
If you have a severe cough and your asthma is acting up, making breathing more difficult, you need to talk with your doctor too, to get any asthma exacerbation under control.
Now if your cough doesn't seem related to an upper respiratory infection, I noticed that you are on Lotrel, which is an ACE inhibitor medication. ACE inhibitors sometimes cause a cough (without any infection), so if that is the case, then be sure to talk with your doctor about the choice of medication. But the type of cough an ACE inhibitor causes usually isn't productive and there is no fever or fatigue.
If you think you have an infection, salt water rinses as you are doing are good. I see you are taking a cough medicine but don't know what type. It may not be strong enough, and you may benefit from something else, such as (by prescription) a cough suppressant with codeine.
As you have high blood pressure, I would not advise a decongestant.
But you can try a mucus thinner (guaifenesin). Dose is 100 mg/hour, so you may find a preparation with 400 mg for 4 hours or 800 mg (sustained release) for 8 hours (such as Mucinex). These are sold over-the-counter without needing a prescription. For this medicine to work, you need to drink a lot of water. I usually recommend 1-2 full glasses of water per 400 mg.
Your cough medicine may already have some guaifenesin in it, so if you get guaifenesin at the drug store, check your cough medicine to make sure there is no overlap in meds as you don't want to double up; you may need to adjust by figuring out a schedule.
I hope this information helps and you are feeling better soon. Please let me know if I can provide further information or clarification.
Information about your cough.
Detailed Answer:
Hello Ms. XXXXXXX
If the cough is severe and you have a fever, you should go in to see the doctor or go to an urgent care clinic. You may need a chest X-ray to make sure you don't have pneumonia. Also if your cough is productive of discolored sputum (not just when you get up after sleeping) you should also go in.
If you have a severe cough and your asthma is acting up, making breathing more difficult, you need to talk with your doctor too, to get any asthma exacerbation under control.
Now if your cough doesn't seem related to an upper respiratory infection, I noticed that you are on Lotrel, which is an ACE inhibitor medication. ACE inhibitors sometimes cause a cough (without any infection), so if that is the case, then be sure to talk with your doctor about the choice of medication. But the type of cough an ACE inhibitor causes usually isn't productive and there is no fever or fatigue.
If you think you have an infection, salt water rinses as you are doing are good. I see you are taking a cough medicine but don't know what type. It may not be strong enough, and you may benefit from something else, such as (by prescription) a cough suppressant with codeine.
As you have high blood pressure, I would not advise a decongestant.
But you can try a mucus thinner (guaifenesin). Dose is 100 mg/hour, so you may find a preparation with 400 mg for 4 hours or 800 mg (sustained release) for 8 hours (such as Mucinex). These are sold over-the-counter without needing a prescription. For this medicine to work, you need to drink a lot of water. I usually recommend 1-2 full glasses of water per 400 mg.
Your cough medicine may already have some guaifenesin in it, so if you get guaifenesin at the drug store, check your cough medicine to make sure there is no overlap in meds as you don't want to double up; you may need to adjust by figuring out a schedule.
I hope this information helps and you are feeling better soon. Please let me know if I can provide further information or clarification.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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