Suffering From Cough. Suggest Medication

Posted on Fri, 13 Dec 2013

Question: My wife has been coughing and having a hard time catching her breath for a couple of days now. She is not getting much sleep because of the coughing. At first I thought she might just have a common cold or cough but we are starting to think that she may have something more. We do not have health insurance so we are a little scared to go to the doctors office and get a lot of medical bills right now. Do you have any suggestions as to what she may have?

Answered by Dr. Anshul Varshney (32 minutes later)

Brief Answer: Allergic bronchitis/Bronchial asthma/cardiac dise Detailed Answer: Dear Sir, I would like to know more details. Tell me the duration, of her symptoms. Does she has Dry Cough Only? Or associated with expectoration? Does she has Fever or any night sweats? I need to also know, in case she is a smoker or any long term exposure to any pollutant. I need to know, if she has any chest pain associated with coughing or any swelling in her feet. Does she coughs only in night or also during the day? Also tell me if in middle of night she gets up while sleeping and rush towards window to gasp for air. Do you hear any wheezing sound? Now since i have asked a lot of questions, i know i have made you curious. I ll try to explain you the diseases which can be associated with such issues. She might be having: 1.Allergic Bronchitis 2.Bronchial Asthma 3.Cardiac disease. See, i am not saying she has them, but these are the usual possibilities, specially with the change in weather, and most people develop symptoms in these months only. Answer me with the questions i have asked, but still i would like you to get her investigated. Get Her Chest X-Ray, Hemogram with ESR, ECG at least. She can be started on Anti-Histaminic drugs and Bronchodilators on advise of your physician. At home she should do, steam inhalation. And also try to find out if she has allergy to any particular thing like Dust, cotton. Hope I have answered your query. If you have any further questions I will be happy to help Stay Healthy

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vaishalee Punj

Follow up: Dr. Anshul Varshney (32 minutes later)

Duration of her cough has been a week or maybe a week and a half. the hard time breathing has been 3 to 4 days. She does have a dry cough only. She does sometimes get hot at night while she is sleeping. No fever. She is not a smoker and we live in the country so we are away from most pollution. When she does cough she said that her chest does hurt. Not sure if that is because she has been coughing so much. She did take some cough medicine the last couple of days and that seems to help with the cough. She does cough thru out the day. She does not really rush to the window for air but she does have a hard time breathing. I don't hear any wheezing sound. when she takes her breaths.

Answered by Dr. Anshul Varshney (11 minutes later)

Brief Answer: seems to be allergic bronchitis Detailed Answer: Dear Friend. Since she has short duration of illness that is 7 days it is unlikely to be a bronchial asthma presenting at this age. It seems she has Allergic Bronchitis. She can be given an anti-histaminic drug like Cetrizine , and a bronchodilator , under medical supervision. See, it is always better to be sure, so i would still advise you to get her atleast a chest x ray and hemogram which will clear the doubts. Since she gets breathless in night, she may also land up some day in severe bronchospasm- a medical emergency. I am just concerned to avoid emergency, for a thing that can be easily diagnosed and treated. So, get her investigated and get her proper treatment, give her steam inhalation and vicks vaporub, before she sleeps. If you do not have any clarifications, you can close the discussion and rate the answer. Wish you good health

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vaishalee Punj