DRY COUGH, NO CONGESTION AND VIOLENT COUGHING - Thyroid UK

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DRY COUGH, NO CONGESTION AND VIOLENT COUGHING

debber profile image
debber
ā€¢35 Replies

Hello Everyone,

I have been having this cough for three months now. I had a chest x-ray and everything came back fine. The doctor said bronchitis and so she prescribed two different antibiotics which have not worked. Over the counter medicine is not working. I wonder if this is not bronchitis, but whooping cough instead. I can't seem to get rid of it. I am going to get a vaporizer tomorrow. Does anyone have any other suggestions? I am so annoyed with this cough. It's just a dry cough and whenever you talk it makes you cough.

Thank you so much.

Debber

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debber
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zwdvavw8 profile image
zwdvavw8

I had a cough like yours lasted nearly 2 yrs tried everything whooping cough tests the lot, was sent to hospital specialist it turned out to be silent reflux was given Omaperazole and Gaviscon took time to go and made some lifestyle changes as in diet, just have the odd choking cough now and again when I don't behave with my food

radd profile image
radd

debber

I had a horrid cough for about a year that wouldn't go no matter what.

I had chest X-rays, etc but it eventually went after I was diagnosed hyperthyroid and started taking replacement meds..

Are your thyroid hormones optimal yet ? ?

determined56 profile image
determined56

I there if you find the answer, let me know. My mum has been like that for months recently had a cold that refuses to leave......it is so frustrating for her as you say every time she talks it's worse .

Nothing has helped and now got antibiotics again and a chest x Ray ....

Special hugs for you

ā€¢ in reply todetermined56

antibiotics kill good and bad bugs. We need good bugs for a strong immune system. After antibiotics it's important to take a course of probiotics to re establish the good bugs which fight illness. Start with live plain natural yogurt or make your own kefir or buy live quality probiotics. šŸ˜Š

DorisJack profile image
DorisJack

Asthma?

misswoosie profile image
misswoosieā€¢ in reply toDorisJack

That's what I wondered. Assume the GP could hear crackles or something when she listened ,otherwise wouldn't have prescribed Abx with a normal chest Xray. Were you feeling "unwell" when you first had the cough ie temperature,achy limbs etc? Do you notice a wheeze at all , or just a cough? Is it a productive cough? Maybe a steroid inhaler might help. Other thing I can think of would be ACE inhibitors for high BP where cough is a common side effect.

Marz profile image
Marz

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/212...

How are your B12 levels ? When I searched for this link - there were others.

scorpiojo profile image
scorpiojoā€¢ in reply toMarz

Have a cough and read this Marz thanks... But it doesn't give a way to stop it.. I'd say mine gives me half or maybe a teaspoon of plem.. Don't know if that's what you call dry...

Marz profile image
Marzā€¢ in reply toscorpiojo

scorpiojo - I once had a horrid cough way back - which would not go away. At the Pharmacy back in the UK - they gave me a bottle of Pure Glycerine that they use as a base for cough medicines. Sorted me in no time. Also gave it to a friend who came for a meal and could not stop coughing. She had the best nights sleep she had had for months.

They certainly sell it here in Crete in a plain plastic bottle from the back of the shop - so I am sure they will do in the UK. Worth a try - and its cheap !

Of course I had not been diagnosed back in those days - so it could have been a combination of Hashim's - Low B12 and so on :-)

scorpiojo profile image
scorpiojoā€¢ in reply toMarz

will give it a go xšŸ˜Š Thanks

jojo1960 profile image
jojo1960

Hi Debber, I had a really bad cough some years back, and when I started coughing I struggled to stop and get my breath, it turned out to be a condition called "Tracheitis" where the windpipe gets trapped while coughing, hope you haven't got this condition it can be very scary. But if your cough continues be persistent and go back to the doctors.

MaryMary profile image
MaryMary

I have a form of asthma which just shows is called chronic cough, a dry, persistent cough made worse on exertion or gong in and out of hot to cold temperatures. It is brought on after a cold or in the winter. It didn't show up on normal asthma tests! Is this you? Good luck in finding the answer. It's so exhausting coughing for long periods.

Mary

Hamble profile image
Hambleā€¢ in reply toMaryMary

That sounds familiar, MaryMary. I had the same and it got a better when I gave up dairy. Not gone altogether but much improved.

MaryMary profile image
MaryMaryā€¢ in reply toHamble

Thanks Hamble, maybe I'll try giving up dairy...

just a thought - I read Dr Izabella Wentz book called 'the Root Cause of Hypothyroidism' (or something similar) many moons ago and remember her saying that she had a persistent dry cough which she eventually discovered was caused by dairy products.

SueHG profile image
SueHG

Are you hypothyroid? If so it could well be the mucin in your lungs. I have had this problem for a few years and it's only just started to improve since I've been on T3

rlcpd profile image
rlcpdā€¢ in reply toSueHG

If it were 'mucin' ( the proteins in mucous) she would be coughing up mucous and she did say it was a 'dry' cough.

SueHG profile image
SueHGā€¢ in reply torlcpd

Not necessarily.

rlcpd profile image
rlcpdā€¢ in reply toSueHG

We are supposed to have 'mucin' in our lungs. All smooth tissue is lined with 'mucous-making cells'. When something is awry, they overproduce and that mucous must be coughed up or treated with something to get it back to normal amounts. A cough with hypothryoidism is considered a rare symptom.

SueHG profile image
SueHGā€¢ in reply torlcpd

Well I must have a very rare condition then. I am only commenting from my font of all knowledge!

rlcpd profile image
rlcpdā€¢ in reply toSueHG

I do hope that your improvement continues and you feel good !!

JOLLYDOLLY profile image
JOLLYDOLLY

The coughing is quite common unfortunately. I have always suffered with it, several bouts of bronchitis. I get a very dry cough and quite wheezy, but had all the tests done. Everybody kept saying you must have asthma, but I don't. Also went for some breathing tests to check (Unfortunately had other respiratory problems, unrelated). I find that I almost choke but no congestion, my sister is the same. We both have under active thyroids. I also find that my cough gets worse with damp weather and in the morning. I do not smoke, but it sounds like I do. Stressful situations make it worse too.

Mazer profile image
Mazer

Well I'm in the UK and my friend and his daughter had really bad coughing for months, they asked if it could be whooping cough and the doctor just said it wouldn't be that, some other people they know had had it but doctor still said it wouldn't be it. Another month later they were tested for it and they both had it.

ā€¢ in reply toMazer

Yes, I am sure I had whooping cough some years ago. I looked in a very old medical book, and the symptoms and development were exactly described. Lasted about three months, awful, fits of uncontrollable coughing and then the long drawnout gasping intake of breath into the lungs which is the whoop.

Many gps think it no longer exists, but it does .. and modern drs would no longer identify that whoop sound, so familiar to the family dr before WW2. The vaccinations don't take for everyone.

JohnO13 profile image
JohnO13

I was diagnosed with COPD some years ago. I have been using Symbicort steroid inhaler for four years. This relaxes the muscles in my airways which helps breathing .

Gigi71 profile image
Gigi71

Hi I have had a funny cough since Christmas, every night when I lay down. It's like a dry cough, always makes me want to blow my nose. Sometimes it seems to be congestion, although I don't bring anything up it does seem to be in my chest. Very annoying. I saw my doctor earlier in the year and said nothing there. I had a chest X-ray in July before taking methotrexate, my rheumalogist call last week to say there was a small abnormality, but hadn't got any bigger than last year.!!!! I had an X-ray when I went to A&E with chest pains in August 2015. Was told all okay. Went to my GP a couple of days later and he dx costochonditus, it cleared up in 4/5 weeks. Waiting for a CT scan to determine what it is. Have had Hashimotes for 39 years and RA for 31 years, also other Health conditions.

Rapunzel profile image
Rapunzel

My Ma had a dreadful dry cough when her hypertension meds were changed. She was back and forth to our GP and then one day she mentioned the change, the GP looked in her book of tricks (BNF) and the anti hypertensive noted a side effect of a dry cough. She changed the meds and Ma was fine after that. Do you take any other meds ? Check their side effects.

Hope you get to the bottom of this soon - it must be dreadful and wearying xx

Gigi71 profile image
Gigi71ā€¢ in reply toRapunzel

Not sure if you meant this reply for me. I take BP meds and one of them could be the culprit. Do take a lot of drugs but nothing was changed around xmas. Recently had 3 changes of meds but not BP ones. Will wait on CT scan whenever I get it, not sure on the wait for this. X

Barrister profile image
Barristerā€¢ in reply toGigi71

There are some anti hypertensive drugs which cause the most irritating dry cough, one of them being Lisinopril. The doctors know that these medications cause this type of cough yet take no notice when you present with it. I insisted on changing medication and within a week that cough had gone. Clemmie

Gigi71 profile image
Gigi71ā€¢ in reply toBarrister

Hi Clemmie. I take amlodipine 10 mg and candesartan 8mg I was dx high bp around 11 years ago, it seemed to take forever to get it down to an acceptable level. I was given a water tablet about 5 years ago and I thought I had cystitis, coming off that, the problem went. My Rhematoligist did say candesartan could be the culprit back in April. I also take Naproxen which can be a problem with this med. it's a balance really, I have regular blood tests anyway. Should take statins but have read a lot about it and manage it by diet. I will wait to see what the CT shows about this abnormality in my chest before tackling the bp meds. It seems we can't win sometimes. Thanks Clemmie for your advice. X

hopcott profile image
hopcott

Hi Debber i too have a cough on and off quite often when i lie down at night had mine for around two years also had a chest xray came back fine i cough so much at times it makes me be sick but i am on lansprozole for acid reflux and that certainly has helped a lot i take one capsule every day

Theresa72 profile image
Theresa72

Ive been having that same type of problem it happens when I breathe in it seems to be coming from my throat and not my lungs but I do have a putting rubbing sensation in my throat when I swallow I went to the ENT for it and thyroid specialist neither one of them can figure out what the problem is it's turned into a cough now I think it's from that I don't know but it seems to what happened when I breathe and it's been happening for a month now I'm not sick or anything

Elh1965 profile image
Elh1965

I've been coughing for 6/7 years. I have recently been to the chest clinic who tested my bloods for allergies, TB, FBC, chest X-ray, ct scan, spirometery breathing test and bronchoscopy. All normal. He thinks it could be acid reflux but I've been taking omeperazole for 6 weeks with no improvement. I am back to being overactive again after a year normal. My whole body aches at the moment too. I think maybe I'm stuck with this cough forever! He doesn't think it's related to my thyroid because he said it would only be if I was under active.

MidnightBlue profile image
MidnightBlue

A persistent dry cough was one of the main symptoms i had before I was diagnosed. While the doctors don't seem to connect it, I am sure it was due to the thyroid nodules I had. One was right on my windpipe and I think it irritated it.

black-cat profile image
black-cat

I have just found this site. At last my doctor is taking it seriously. The but is no longer sensitive to amoxylin, but doxycycline doesn't seem to work either. I get tired of coughing attacks,I sound as though I am dying!! Am due to go for ct scan...I have been having attacks of chest infections for year....but more prolonged now.

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