cough variant asthma - any tips?

[yaf_user681_6914]

Hello, I am new to this website and forum, but so glad I found it!

I was diagnosed with cough variant asthma some 11 years ago (39 now) and was never quite convinced that any of the dr's I was seeing were at all sure what to do with someone who wasn't wheezing.

I now have a veritable pharmacy in my bedroom - ventolin, cetirizine, lanzoprazole and singulair but am coughing constantly - very fed up with the lack of sleep and coughing so hard I am sick sometimes. The thing that used to work well for me was a steroid nasal spray which stopped post nasal drip, but I had awful nose bleeds and susequently discovered a small hole in the middle part of ny nose where the flesh has been eroded (yes, v yuk). The consultant claimed this was not related, but quite how it can have happened on it's own and by pure co-incidence I can't see.

I was chatting to a pharmacist in the States last week, and was telling him about it - he was telling me about a couple of things they use there which I am going to ask my GP about. One is an anti tussive suspension cough medicine called Tussinc which calms the cough reflex (short term use only apparently), and a new inhaled steroid called Flovent. I struggle with any inhalers as they make me cough my head off (!!) but he said it's more common in the States to use a nebuliser to take them when that's the case - never been given that option by my GP although I did buy a nebuliser on-line when I was pregnant as we live quite far from a hospital.

He also said it was worth trying nasalcrom (UK equivalent is rhinocrom) which works as an anti allergy nasal spray but doesn't have the nasty side effects I got last time.

Anyway - might be worth a try so watch this space.....................

i feel better just for having let off steam!

Anyone else out there with CVA and tips as to what works?

Kind regards

Lisa

[Hidden]

My asthma makes me cough a lot. It's under pretty good control these days (seretide & ventolin + antihistamines.) however when I was bad my dr said old fashioned steam might help and it really does seem to, just put boiling water in a bowl, sit over it with a towel over your head!

[Hidden]

simply to support what gamba says, similarly ...

also find it handy to sit comfortably, as possibly, hard i know! with a bowl of water on top of the heater

helps moisten the air

x

[Hidden]

Hello, Lisa -

If post nasal drip is an issue, it may be worth your trying a sinus rinse (Neilmed makes one and Sinucleanse Squeeze is another I use) which allow you to apply positive pressure and clean out your sinus cavities pretty effectively. I'm not convinced the steroid nasal spray I've been prescribed by my GP & ENT consultant (Nasonex) does me much good and have found my daily saline rinse much more beneficial.

You can buy cough suppressant capsules over the counter from pharmacies in the US - I had some a couple of years ago as a short-term stop-gap until I got home to see my GP, but I do remember there being a warning on the label about not bing used for asthma coughs. I'm not sure whether this would also be the case for the compound the US pharmacist mentioned to you.

Flovent is the North American (USA & Canadian) name for Flixotide, a steroid inhaler that's been available here for quite a while now. It may be worth your while seeing whether you GP is happy to try you on it: I also have cough as my most notable symptom - as does a good friend - and it is the one steroid that works for us both.