Worried about coughing

Lately, when my husband retires for the night he starts coughing. Sometimes he will cough in the middle of the night. It sounds like a lot of congestion in his throat. I have him sleeping on a wedge and 2 pillows and that position seems to help. He doesn't have a cold. Is this something connected to his Parkinson's What else can I do? This has me very concerned.

[easterncedar]

My sweetheart had the same problem, or something like it. At night he would produce the most awful gluey phlegm, and he would practically suffocate trying to cough it up. We tried lots of things, including antihistamines and decongestants, cough syrups and such and finally got a suction machine, which provided some relief, but left him still choking at intervals. What solved the problem for us was 1% atropine eyedrops. One drop under his tongue morning and night, and the night choking has stopped. It's been miraculous. Doesn't work for everyone, but it was a lifesaver for us!

[cabbagecottage]

Can you manage to get him to tilt to one side it will help any saliva build up to flow ou and not back in his throat

I am having the same problem with John . .

His mouth and throat freezes such a lot he gets frightened it affects his breathing pattern

[Hidden in reply to cabbagecottage]

Thank you for the suggestion. Art has a natural inclination to lean to one side when sitting in a chair. Maybe that is why he doesn't have the problem during the day. Will see if I can get him to do that when he is in bed.

[Hidden]

I have the same issue with my wife. in her case the reason is that she has difficulties in clearing sticky saliva in the throat. And she got another problem as a result: thrush. You need to check his tongue and if there is a brownish layer on it and when you put your finger on it and it is 'crusty', then it is guaranteed plaque and most likely mixed with thrush. Even if there is no thrush, remember that plaque is for 90% bacteria and must be removed. So oral hygiene plays also a role in all of this. You need to make sure that after each meal you need to brush his teeth and tongue. You may also want to get a sterling silver tongue scraper. and i would definitely give him a course of anti thrush medication, the best is NYSIAN which you can only get on prescription.

So that is for starters. We also got from the NHS suction equipment, similar to what they uise in ambulances. It is a life saver. So when my wife goes to bed, after i have brushed her teeth and tongue, i remove excesll saliva with this suction equipment. And then i give her two drops of atropnine eye drops orally, which does two things: it reduces the production of saliva (we are producing 2 to 3 kg per day) to avoid build up during the night and the coughing fits and secondly it reduces sweating.

I have to get up sometimes during the night to repeat the suction treatment. And when she has problems during the day i also suction her mouth and throat.