How do I deal with a cough and post nasal drip that won't go

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Did anyone have a cough that won't go away? I've been having this consent cough and it's so anoying and embarrassing . The school nurse and the docter we called said theirs nothing I can do. I've been taking delson and sutafed but it still won't go away.

Anyone have any tips or OTC medicine reccomondations ?

Try This! VVVVV

Vicks

I've had this cough and drip since Thanksgiving. It got worse after I went to the ENT specialist in January about the tinnitus in my ears. I've been spraying saline solution up my nostrils, as well as taking Claritin and sucking on Fisherman's Friend tablets, and the onlything it is doing is spiking my blood sugars.

I have post-nasal drip and it creates a cough. I was given a nasal spray for the drip. I use it daily and the drip disappears for the day and the cough never came back (unless I skip the nasal spray). I don't know why your doctor didn't give you something. Maybe ask about it? It's a really torturous thing and so easily solved. Although I have to admit that I had it for ten years before a therapist told me to get a nasal spray.

The other thing is a neti pot, which works well, is cheap and not chemical. If you already know about neti pots, ok. If not, then maybe you should get the one in the pharmacy that comes with instructions and purified water. It really does work miracles. Though I'm lazy about it and use it when I'm sick, the recommendation is to use it often and never get sick in the first place. It clears up anything to do with sinus and/or breathing.

Okay, you want to be medium careful mixing medications.  And it is personal.  For example . .

sudafed makes me drowsy,

clariton didn't really help me, but

allegra does help me with allergies.

A doctor explained to me that antihistamines work by blocking receptor sites and thus there's a delayed effect on both ends.  Okay, so histamine is what causes inflammation in your body.  And apparently, according to what this doctor says, histamine kind of acts like a chemical messenger.  Your body's always generating new receptor sites, so it takes a couple of days for the antihistamine to block enough receptor sites so there's a noticeable improvement.  And conversely, when I stop taking it, I feel good for a couple of days and then my allergies might come back.  At least, this is an explanation which seems to make sense for how my body works.

I used to get recurrent sinus and chest infections from bad colds and flubugs, and months after the colds/flus, I still had a nasty wracking cough, and the docs more often than not dx'ed "atypical pneumonia" and put me on another round or two of bug killers which finally got rid of the coughs for me. that and a script for a nasal steroid to stop the postnasal drip.

Nasal steroids and antibiotics may be fine and dandy for the average Joe, but for a singer, they're murder, as they thicken the vocal folds.

Aspirin can "dry up" a nasal drip.

It's a go-to option for me as a way to try and reign the problem in. Works most of the time.

Kamillosan solution helps my coughs. From what I read in a review here http://www.amazon.com/Kamillosan-Liquid ... B0006NXCU6 it is also available in the US. I use the solution and inhale the steam under a towel.

I also use benzoin http://www.aromaweb.com/essential-oils/ ... solute.asp
Not easy to use because it is a very thick and remains resin-like even when you put drops in a bath they don't mix. So I have taken to sniffing it straight from the bottle and it works a treat at clearing my lungs when my chronic bronchitis plays up.

I use anti-histamines.

One that I buy normally from the drug store, and another that's prescribed called fexofenadine hydrochloride. Helped clear my allergies right up, and runny nose. Should hopefully work for you, but it might just be your body still getting rid of the virus out of your body, so give it 3 more days I'd say, and if you're still runny, get some anti-histamines.

hmmmm so THAT is why my voice deepened and thickened as I grew old. I went from frank Sinatra to lee marvin in 2 decades.

Did you know tomatoes are antihistamine? They do soothe my allergies. Also I keep a 'medicinal' 6-pack of V8 in the fridge.

One brand name for fexofenadine hydrochloride is Allegra and that's what I use.

I've inherited dodgy sinuses from my mum which are always getting infected (it swells up until it feels like there's a potato stuck up my nose, or that thing Arnie pulled out in the original Total Recall film), and I also get post nasal drip. I hate that nasty acidic mucus that's constantly running down the back of my thoat, making it really sore, and I just know it's going to turn into a horrible wheezy cough once it gets to the bubbling-in-my-lungs-every-time-I-breathe-out stage.

All that over the counter remedies are doing is treating the symptoms, and the problem is that the cause is either a virus or bacteria, one of which can't be treated outright, and the other of which needs anti-biotics. You're not going to get them without a prescription, and you're not going to get a prescription for a runny nose and a cough.

Here's how I tackle it:

1. Cut out all dairy from my diet. Milk, cheese, butter, yoghurt and ice cream. Dairy makes your body produce more and thicker mucus, on top of what it's producing to try and flush away what's going on in your sinuses. Problem is, a lot of things actually like living in mucus (the dairy can also cause spots. If I eat a lot in a short time, I just know I'm going to have a break out).

2. While you can't get anti-biotics, there are still things you can take that help fight infections (bacterial or viral), alongside what your body is trying to do. Green tea is something you can drink pretty much all the time to keep everything at a lower background level (to make it properly let the water cool for a couple of minutes before putting the bag in it). Echinacea is something you can start taking as soon as you feel anything cold or flu like coming on, and can help beat things faster, so something you would of had for several days can be over in just one. Same goes for Pau d'arco, which is the bark of a Brazilian rainforest tree, it's pretty good at helping you fight off infections (if you think about it, rainforests are hot and humid, bacteria and fungi grow like crazy in hot and humid conditions, so this tree has stuff in its bark to limit the growth of fungus and bacteria).

3. To handle the nasty sore throat, there's always the old reliable ginger, honey and lemon juice (honey being another anti-bacterial). I also drink tea with liquorice or cloves in, as they both soothe the sore throat (I even used to chew cloves when my wisdom teeth were coming through, because they're a natural painkiller).

4. Breathe steam. It helps losen up the mucus and flush out your sinuses (I remember Gomez Adams from the old black and white TV show, sitting holding his head over a bowl of steaming water, covered in a towel, when he had a bad cold). This is probably partly why chicken soup, or other soups are recommended for colds, healthy food and nostrils flushed with steam at the same time. Food containing black pepper, mustard, horseradish or chilli will also help flush out your sinuses and help your immune system (they all improve blood circulation). I always go overboard with the black pepper in soup, or I just make Szechuan hot and sour soup, which is basically a spicy tomato soup. If I've got my head over a bowl of steaming hot water, I'll add black pepper essential oil to it to help clear my sinuses, or just add it to a hot bath.



Basically the whole idea is to strengthen your immune system instead of weakening it (what the typical western diet does), so you can fight off an infection in a couple of days, instead of a week.

For me, it's even worse. When I use one of those steroids, like Flonase, I go from sounding like Jussi Bjoerling to sounding like John Belushi imitating Joe Cocker.