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Suggest Treatment For Dry Cough, Low Grade Fever And Sore Throat
Question: I have had dry, unproductve cough for three weeks. Saw PA (horrible and patronizing; said I didn't have real cough because lungs are clear, but gave me cipro anyway, which gave me hives after 4 doses in 3 days). Low grade fever, throat starting to feel soar and scratchy. She listened to my heart and said its not that. Both hot steam and cool vaporizers were ineffective. Sometimes Advil helps, but have started taking Nexium, so don't dare to take Advil now. Reflux was one of the many possibilities PA considered. She also gave me cough supresant and expectorant and left it up to me what I wanted to take.
Brief Answer:
Consider antihistamine / decongestant combination
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
The presence of clear lungs has nothing to do with cough, it just means that the person does not have pneumonia which would cause changes in the sound of the lungs.
There are other causes for abnormal sounds in the lungs as well. There are quite a few causes of cough that do not cause any changes in lung sounds so she cannot use that to say that you have no cough!
The presence of fever and sore throat imply that there may be an infection present, likely viral. This can cause post nasal drip of mucus which is one of the most common reasons for a persistent cough.
1 out of 5 persons are not aware of the drip itself.
You can consider the use of an antihistamine/decongestant combination of medication eg Zyrtec-D, allegra-d, Claritine-D, Benadryl-D.
The 'D' decongestant decreases the drip, used even if there is no nasal congestion.
In some people, it can unfortunately take up to 2 weeks for the oral med to take effect, in others it is faster.
If after 2 weeks, if the symptoms persist then you may need to add Singulair.
I hope this helps.
Regards,
Dr. Michelle Gibson James
General & Family Physician
Consider antihistamine / decongestant combination
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
The presence of clear lungs has nothing to do with cough, it just means that the person does not have pneumonia which would cause changes in the sound of the lungs.
There are other causes for abnormal sounds in the lungs as well. There are quite a few causes of cough that do not cause any changes in lung sounds so she cannot use that to say that you have no cough!
The presence of fever and sore throat imply that there may be an infection present, likely viral. This can cause post nasal drip of mucus which is one of the most common reasons for a persistent cough.
1 out of 5 persons are not aware of the drip itself.
You can consider the use of an antihistamine/decongestant combination of medication eg Zyrtec-D, allegra-d, Claritine-D, Benadryl-D.
The 'D' decongestant decreases the drip, used even if there is no nasal congestion.
In some people, it can unfortunately take up to 2 weeks for the oral med to take effect, in others it is faster.
If after 2 weeks, if the symptoms persist then you may need to add Singulair.
I hope this helps.
Regards,
Dr. Michelle Gibson James
General & Family Physician
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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