In early January 2024 I caught a cold, developed a cough and as has been the case over the previous ten years, settled in to wait for the six weeks it would take to get rid of it. Six weeks later that cough was still going strong, dry, tickly and persistent. I tried cough medicines, Strepsils and other throat lozenges and gargling with anti-bacterial mouthwashes. Nothing helped. One of my sinuses was always blocked so I figured I must still have had a cold. No cold symptoms, just a blocked sinus and that darn cough. I coughed and snored all night too, so was sleeping on the sofa as my partner wasnât getting enough sleep to be able to go to work. In March 2024 I saw my GP, who sent me to the EN&T dept. who forwarded me to the Sleep Analysis people. They diagnosed me with sleep apnea after monitoring me for a night, and gave me a PAP-machine. The snoring stopped, the coughing didnât. I lost a lot of weight, around 17kgs, which I hoped would also help. It didnât. In November 2024, I caught the flu and the coughing got worse. By this time, I had high blood pressure and a high cholesterol count and my GP felt the coughing must be part of some unknown heart issue and referred me to a Cardiologist, who after a recent angiogram disagrees. Iâm not bringing anything up, thereâs no sputum at all. I am left gasping for breath after a severe attack, but the more normal coughing attacks donât affect my breathing, and taking sips of water does seem to stop the tickle in my throat temporarily. I cough more when I sit hunched and when I lie down. It doesnât hurt to cough, thereâs no pain in my ribs or throat. Itâs an unexplained cough that despite medicines and lozenges just will not go away.
Late-onset or adult-onset asthma develops for the first time in adulthood, presenting symptoms such as coughing, wheezing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath, often with triggers like respiratory infections, hormonal changes, allergies, or exposure to irritants and pollutantsâŚ.. I have this and a Salbutamol inhaler helps me so much.
Hello
Do you take Omeprazole?
Iâve been in the same situation for ages, I was diagnosed with late onset asthma 18 months ago.
I decided to stop Omeprazole 4 weeks ago and havenât coughed since.
Any other comments would be gratefully received!
Good luck
Checking for asthma is good idea. Another thing that could be driving these attacks is stress. Chronic stress can produce all kinds of physical symptoms due to high levels of cortisol stress hormone in the brain. Would try deep breathing and meditation. I tend to think itâs worth looking at everything. Worth testing is doing a full thyroid panel, hormone testing (estrogen, progesterone, testosterone & cortisol) and testing for nutrient deficiences. I would also look at side effects of all medications and diet. Coffee is aptly described âstress in a cupâ due to its ability to raise cortisol levels keeping the brain hyperalert which also robs sleep. Caffeine stays in the body for 8 - 10 hrs; longer if you are on hormone therapy. Sugar causes inflammation throughout the body so reducing sugar and processed foods high in sugar and foods that rapidly release sugar (baked goods, cereal, pasta, crackers, bread) helps to reduce inflammation. I would also test for insulin resistance (fasting insulin and the glucose test (ie. how fast insulin returns to normal after drinking pure glucose)). You can reverse Insulin resistance through diet (See Dr. Jason Fung âThe Diabetes Codeâ). Insulin resistance underlies every chronic disease so think of it as catching a problem early. Chronic infections of tonsils is another possibility.
I had the same nasty cough for months. My doctor finally sent me for a cat scan and it revealed an inflamed bronchial tube probably caused by a cold that didnât go away. I also have acid reflux and post nasal drip. Prescription for the acid reflux and nightly netty potty and i am 98% better. It does flare up once in a while, I keep Ricola cough drops on hand. Hope this helps and you find relief soon. I know what youâre going through. Also, forgot to add but I was sent to a respiroligist and he said I had asthma. I was tested for allergies and was not allergic to anything but he told me you can have it and not be allergic. Who knew? Not me!! He prescribed Zenhale (inhaler) but I havenât used it for about one year now and everything is fineâŚ
Thatâs not a bad idea. I did get hayfever in my early twenties, having never had it before. Not every year but maybe twice in ten years. In the past 30 years I think Iâve had hayfever 5-6 times, so maybesome form of asthma could be the problem. Thank you. Iâll mention it to my GP.
I donât have acid reflux but I do seem to have the nasal drip. Itâs usually the left side, but every now and again itâll be the right, a constantly running nose with no other cold symptoms.
Actually, you could have acid reflux. Mine has been a tickly cough, NO acid burn AT ALL, EVER. I just feel the tickly thing coming on & Iâm forced to cough - it can damage the oesophagus if itâs not âfixedâ, or at least brought under control.
Coughing for MONTHS, GP tried all the usual, allergy, hay fever, asthma, nope, non of those. I saw a private ENT & he confirmed no âpost nasal dripâ.
So GP put me on the NHS â2 week waitâ (used to be called âcancer pathwayâ), for Thoracic to investigate. chest CT found evidence of Early Interstitial Disease (basically, scarring on my lungs), ONLY category I fit for having that is ACID REFLUX, & the ONLY symptom I have for THAT is a non productive, irritating, tickly cough!
Does this sound at all familiar âit feels like a tickle, builds up a bit & you know youâre going to have to cough, immediately after the cough (itâs not a spasm of coughing spell, & isnât âproductive), I get an immediate bit of a rush of saliva in my mouth. Not distressing, âmaybeâ with a very, very, vague acid taste, but negligible, I donât have to spit it out it just goes down my throat, apparently technical name for it is âWater Brashâ & common with âSILENT ACID REFLUXâ! Is your cough a bit worse when you lie down, of maybe a when you eat?
Iâve had 3 chest CTs, a spirometric test to check my lung capacity (apparenty itâs of a person several years younger 
). A barium swallow & theyâve located âacid refluxâ & a hiatus hernia (which adds to the silent reflux problem). Last but not least an endoscopy, which confirmed the acid & hernia.
Recommendation was Esomeprazole (Iâd already been on Lansoprazole, & Ompeprazole but neither had much effect). Doing better on the Esomeprazole at cough control though.
The main message is, even if your cough isnât anything sinister, or too sinister at least, if itâs not brought under control other unknown parts of your body are at risk. This Interstitial thing theyâve found can get worse if my cough isnât controlled, you donât know whatâs happening to your oesophogus either.
Just an additional note, when youâre lying down have you noticed you cough a bit more if youâre lying on your right side, than you do if on your back or left side.
That actually sounds a lot like my symptoms, I havenât had any acid burn for years, but I do get that pre-cough tickle that forces me to cough, and I do cough more lying on my right side than I do on my back and left side. Thank you, Iâll be seeing my GP and asking for a referral back to the ENT Department.