asthma cough

[Gymbearo]

I’d love it if anyone has any tips for calming an asthma cough without resorting to steroid tablets. It’s only just over a month since my last lot and I’d really like to try and avoid them if possible. It’s driving me and everyone else mad!

[Gwalltarian]

Do you have any antibiotics in your rescue pack? You could try using them or ask the doctor for some if you think your cough is infection linked, see if antibiotics will sort it.

[Gareth57]

hi, have you considered changing to a different inhaler.

[Allcoloursavailable]

I've had the same issue, I've recently been prescribed fexofenadine hydrochloride tablets, they're an antihistamine tablet and they've made a huge difference.

[Flower00]

Hi, from April through to end of May I suffer with hay-fever and a cough is a symptom of that, try a antihistamine see if that helps. If you have a very fluid cough ask doctor to try montelukast. Worked great for me. Good luck

[GintyFerguson]

I agree with Gwallterian . I had what I thought was a dry cough but doc could hear crackles in base of lungs . Doxycycline sorted me. Amoxicillan stopped working for me years ago but it should be bug dependent what you are prescribed.

[SuziElley]

Buttercup syrup. We don’t always need antibiotics or steroids but the cough can be so so annoying!

[DannyQ]

Well I'm going to suggest what I use to calm my throat down and it works for me, I have two or three teaspoons of greek yoghurt, it doesn't mean it will work for you this why I'm m only suggesting it

[Mandevilla]

I use camomile tea for a dry cough and ginger tea if I have a lot of phlegm. And honey for both. Obviously not going to deal with a really bad cough, but it does seem to help. Use with care though - just because these things are 'natural', it doesn't mean they can't be triggers.

[Poshcards]

hi, I too had an awful annoying asthma cough, so my asthma nurse added another inhaler called Spiolotol Respimat, I take two puffs after breakfast, its worked wonders, also On Fostair 200/6, Montelikast and Beconaise sniffed up nose

[Lysistrata Administrator Community Ambassador]

Some good advice from others - I'd say if it's actually an asthma cough then you need to treat it as asthma just as much as you would a wheeze or other symptom. So worth thinking does it still feel like asthma or could it be something else - eg infection. If it is asthma and it's not going away then steroids may still be required (sorry - I know the feeling!)

I used to cough a lot with asthma and then it turned into coughing a lot all the time. Didn't help with the asthma treatment because it was distracting and because the cough wasn't asthma I was being told none of it was (not true, but the specific cough wasn't all asthma). It turned out I had an asthma cough but it had irritated everything and then my airways had got into a cycle of coughing even without bronchospasm.

I got some exercises from a physio to help. I still cough with asthma sometimes, usually alongside other symptoms, and of course other kinds of coughs which I can tell are not asthma. But I don't have a chronic cough now and I used the techniques last time I had a cold with asthma and a lingering cough.

I don't really want to recommend any exercises on here as I feel like it could tip over into medical advice and I don't know if what I was taught is appropriate for others (it's not appropriate to suppress a cough with an infection but I actually did need to suppress). Probably no harm in trying stuff like honey or yoghurt if you're not allergic.

Perhaps worth a call to the helpline tomorrow? 0300 2225800 or WhatsApp on 07999 377 775 Monday-Friday 0915-5pm

[Gymbearo in reply to Lysistrata]

Thank you everyone for your ideas and tips. I know it sounds silly but I didn’t even think about it not being asthma. It came out of nowhere after a very stressful week at work, so I just presumed that triggered it. I started my rescue pack 3 days ago and although I’m breathing much easier I do feel kind of rattly, so am thinking perhaps chest infection even though I didn’t have a cold or anything first. I used to have clarithromycin in my rescue pack but not any more and I’m on holiday until the weekend, so I’m hoping the prednisolone will see me through until next week