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Suggest Treatment For Persistent Cough While Suffering From Post Nasal Drip
Question: I am 59 years old, average height and average weight. However, for approximately 5 years, I have had a persistent cough. I have been prescribed cough medicine, but to no avail. I also suffer from post nasal drip.
Brief Answer:
Information
Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome,
I am sorry about this persistent cough. Here are my thoughts:
1. If you have not had a chest X-ray or other imaging studies done during these 5 years, make sure that you get this done, to rule out any actual pulmonary pathology that might be going on.
2. If you know you have post nasal drip, and since that is a frequent cause of persistent coughing, that should be treated as best as possible. I see that you listed steroids as current medications. When you are not taking steroids for the ulcerative colitis, be sure to take a nasal steroid spray on a daily basis. If you are taking oral steroids though, there isn't much point to also using the nasal steroid at the same time as oral steroids provides a much higher dosage to the whole body. If you have allergies, consider taking an antihistamine such as Zyrtec (cetirizine), Allegra, or Claritin. If you think you have allergies, please write back and I can give recommendations for decreasing allergen load that you are exposed to.
3. As you have ulcerative colitis, you may also have acid reflux. This can cause a chronic cough too if the acid comes up into the throat. And oral steroids can increase this risk too. You might want to try over the counter Zantac (ranitidine) which is an acid reducer (with low risk of side effects, especially compared with PPIs such as Nexium or Prilosec). Consider taking 150 mg twice a day or 300 mg once a day (usually at bedtime) for 5-7 days and see if it makes a difference in your cough.
I hope this information helps.
Information
Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome,
I am sorry about this persistent cough. Here are my thoughts:
1. If you have not had a chest X-ray or other imaging studies done during these 5 years, make sure that you get this done, to rule out any actual pulmonary pathology that might be going on.
2. If you know you have post nasal drip, and since that is a frequent cause of persistent coughing, that should be treated as best as possible. I see that you listed steroids as current medications. When you are not taking steroids for the ulcerative colitis, be sure to take a nasal steroid spray on a daily basis. If you are taking oral steroids though, there isn't much point to also using the nasal steroid at the same time as oral steroids provides a much higher dosage to the whole body. If you have allergies, consider taking an antihistamine such as Zyrtec (cetirizine), Allegra, or Claritin. If you think you have allergies, please write back and I can give recommendations for decreasing allergen load that you are exposed to.
3. As you have ulcerative colitis, you may also have acid reflux. This can cause a chronic cough too if the acid comes up into the throat. And oral steroids can increase this risk too. You might want to try over the counter Zantac (ranitidine) which is an acid reducer (with low risk of side effects, especially compared with PPIs such as Nexium or Prilosec). Consider taking 150 mg twice a day or 300 mg once a day (usually at bedtime) for 5-7 days and see if it makes a difference in your cough.
I hope this information helps.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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