I need help with an unproductive cough

[MonkeyFunk]

ugh... this started thursday, and just gets more annoying. As soon as I lay down, I have coughing fits. Slight fever (101-102), not bad aches or anything. The worst is the cough. I just lay down and cough and cough and cough - with no results.

I need to make my cough more productive. What should I do?

[KitchenWitch]

1. See a doctor

You may have developed asthma.

[MonkeyFunk]

2. oh pshaw

It's a cold or a flu or a romulan death virus or something like that. Not asthma.

[KitchenWitch]

8. One of the things that happens when I am having asthma attacks...

is that they get way worse when I try to lay down. Seriously. Get tested for asthma and allergies, at the very least, just to rule them out.

A kid at one of our local high schools died last week due to complications of asthma. This is nothing to mess around with.

[MonkeyFunk]

10. I know

My mother's had severe asthma all her life, and I actually had it as a kid, but outgrew it.

this is just a cold or a flu. Asthma wouldn't give me a fever.

edit: btw, sorry you have it. I hate that fucking disease. My mother never even finished fourth grade because of it. They just never thought she'd live to adulthood, she was constantly so sick. She'll turn 75 in Sept.

[yellowdogintexas]

23. romulan death virus...I feel your pain

see my post below, regarding The Cold That Wouldn't End

:hi: :hi: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[TroglodyteScholar]

3. Other...

Drink lots of water and take Mucinex (or any other guaifenesin product). Hydration + expectorant = coughin up the phlegm

[NMDemDist2]

6. agreed n/t

[yellowdogintexas]

22. Mucinex rocks. Start with 2 tablets in the am and 2 in the evening. Then you

can to to 1 in the morning and 1 at night, most likely. If you do get this and take it, drink, drink, drink!!! The more water you take, the better it works.

if your phlegm is funny colors when it starts coming up, get to the doctor as you have an infection that antibiotics will actually help. You may have started with allergies, which caused drainage which irritated your lungs, but not enough to get the phlegm production up enough to get out what ever is irritating the lungs.

also, non productive cough is a sign of inflammation of some sort, which could be a reactive airway form of asthma. I suffer from this every single time I have a cold. The doctor can order an inhaler that will mist anti-inflammatory directly into your lungs. It is a good thing; you won't need it all and you can keep it around in case you have another episode of this later. If eating ice cream makes you cough, you have some sort of reactive airway syndrome going on. ( I have a good friend who is an allergy/asthma specialist and I just asked him one day why I always cough when I eat ice cream..that is the reason)

I am on the tail end of The Cold That Wouldn't End and I dragged out an old inhaler I had from a bad round of near pneumonia from way back when and it still works. That with the Mucinex really helped a LOT>

[flvegan]

4. Sub-lease your cough out to be a quality horn to Beetle owners.

You sit in the passenger seat and cough on demand when the owner of a VW Beetle needs to give a peep to another driver.

[petronius]

5. I'll second post one - there are people who know these things,

and we is not them.

That said, I've had good luck with cough medicines labeled as expectorants. Good luck, and see a doctor!

[MonkeyFunk]

7. oh, I know, I'm joshing around

I've got Robitussin DM, which seems to be at cross-purposes: an expectorant AND a cough-supressant :shrug:

Also theraflu. And drinking lots of water. Just pissed because I'm still coming off four months of horrendous sleep due to a back problem, and just when I was getting up to 5-hour stretches, this pain in the ass hits me and I'm back down to 2 hours, twice a day. grumble grumble....

[petronius]

9. Well, if the pain is in the ass, it may not be a cough...

That really sucks, I hate it when a bunch of ills come all in a row like that - you need a bit of happy-time to forget how much being sick sucks.

Hope it clears up quickly - it sounds like you've got the right arsenal for the task...

[MonkeyFunk]

11. well, surprisingly

coughing with a herniated disk can literally be a pain in the ass. Sciatica is a weird and wondrous thing.

There was a three week period where every time I farted, my left leg went numb for a minute or two. NOVA should do a special about me.

[petronius]

15. I'm sure you'll understand, and I hope you'll forgive me, but, with no ill-intent at all,

I laughed out loud at your fart story. :)

[Magrittes Pipe]

12. Witch doctor.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=xBMEZvZSWFQ

[MonkeyFunk]

13. heheh... thanks for that

we used to sing that song when we were kids. That and Purple People Eater.

[OhioChick]

14. Sounds like mild bronchitis...

I get it about twice a year. No phlegm, just coughing like hell when I lie down.

Hope you feel better soon.

[terrya]

16. I wish I could offer a suggestion other than the ones posted here.

I have a bottle of Buckley's Cough Syrup that I bought in Toronto a few months back. That stuff is amazing...tastes like shit, but it WORKS.

I'm so sorry to hear it, my friend. I hope you feel better very soon.

T

[tekisui]

17. The best thing for an unproductive cough is Common Mullein.

I don't know if it grows out there, it probably does. Anyway, smoke the leaves, and it dislodges the mucus. It is an old Native American/ Mountain remedy and it works.

I always keep some on hand for me or friends with lasting coughs.

[Chan790]

18. KW got it right: See a doctor (if it doesn't clear up in the next few days).

Low-grade fever means you've got an infection of some sort...combined with unproductive cough there is always a risk (not a huge one but nevertheless a risk) for development into pneumonia. It doesn't seem bad now, but you want to tackle that shit before it develops. Usually they recommend seeking medical attention for any congestion which doesn't clear up or recede within 7 days.

In the meanwhile:
-avoid dairy...lactose encourages production of mucus.

-eat spicy foods. They are natural expectorants and cause water-shedding which thins mucus. (This is why jalapeños make your nose run.)

-talk to your pharmacist; you'll want an OTC anti-histamine to stop production of more mucus and an OTC expectorant to loosen what is already in your chest which do not contra-indicate.

-Blow your nose...even if you don't feel stuffy.

-Drink lots of water. (Not only does hydration aid in immune response, it thins mucus.)

-Camphor or Vapo-rub.

-Hot showers...and a humidifier if you can stand it. (Steam will break apart and loosen mucus plugs and globs.)

[yellowdogintexas]

25. good stuff. Also in regard to the nasal component: get a NetiPot

sold at Walgreens and CVS as "Sinucleanse"

a truly wonderful product and can assist your antihistamine in shutting down the post nasal drip which only aggravates the whole syndrome.

ditto the hot/spicy food
and hot tea with lemon and honey, lots of hot liquid
my daughter is a big fan of these new things you put on the floor of the shower that add herbal vapor to your shower steam. I forget the name brand but they come in eucalyptus and lavendar I think. She also is a big fan of Airborne for boosting your immune system

[La Lioness Priyanka]

19. asthma. mine came back this year, after years. you could be having hay fever

and the allergies could also be making you asthmatic

[noel711]

20. Hey Monkey... you never really outgrow athsma..

once you had it, it's always a possibility...

But if you have fever, something's not right.
Unproductive cough means something.. if there's not any mucous coming up,
there's another reason for the cough.

Are you like totally exhausted?
I had similar symptoms this winter and was diagnosed with pneumonia.
Apparently there's a lot of this form of it going around.
(the bad allergies this spring aggravate those with bronchial/lung sensitivities)..
Get thee to a physician before it gets worse.

If you're lucky like I was, you get dosed with strong antibiotics,
and a wonderful cough syrup dosed with codeine that gives you the most
peaceful sleep with psychedelic dreams.
And a week off of work to boot!

[Maddy McCall]

26. I second this.

He IS exhausted because he's gotten little sleep with his back pain.

The fever + cough makes me afraid that he might have pneumonia.

I think he needs to go to the doc for some antibiotics and maybe, if he's a good boy, the doc will write him out a scrip for some Pancof. Woohoo! :D

[dropkickpa]

21. Fire it and hire a kid half it's age

[Whoa_Nelly]

24. Mucinex

Always works for me

[JVS]

27. Wait. Is it unproductive as in it doesn't produce phlegm, or is it making crud that won't come up.

If you're having trouble getting stuff up that's stuck in your chest you need an expectorant like Guaifenesin

If there is nothing to be caughed up Pholcodine is a good suppressant and will let you rest.