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What Causes Persistent Cough, Nasal Congestion And Breathing Problem?

Posted on Tue, 11 Oct 2016

Question: Yes, please. I'm a 60 year old female. For about a month I've had a persistent cough that also seems to cause congestion in my breathing. It happens most when I'm lying down, so keeps me from sleeping even though I use a CPAP machine. I moved to Florida about a year ago and was told by my doctor that I should expect allergies. She prescribed an inhaler, but it seems to cause a coughing spasm rather than prevent it.
After coughing for several minutes a fair amount of clear mucus comes up. I don't have any other symptoms so I hesitate to go to the doctor again.
Any ideas?

Answered by Dr. Kathy Robinson (54 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
could be asthma or reflux

Detailed Answer:
Hello and thanks for your question.
It could certainly be allergies and if that is the case then a non-sedating antihistamine like loratadine may be helpful.
More serious problems could be asthma or reflux. It is not common to be diagnosed with asthma at 60 but it is possible. The way to determine this is for your doctor to order pulmonary function testing. Asthma may present with just a cough. However, if it were asthma the albuterol inhaler should help, not make it worse unless you are just having an unusual reaction to the albuterol.
Since you said it happens mostly when lying down reflux may be a cause. Sometimes people can have acid reflux that irritates the throat and causes a cough. You could try taking an over the counter priilosec at bedtime and see if this gets rid of the problem.
If the loratadine or prilosec do not help then I really think you need to see your doctor again for some testing and an exam.
regards,
Dr. Robinson

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar