since friday ive had this horrible cough. The problem is, it comes in fits. And for some reason always when im trying to sleep. GRRRR. im not getting much sleep as you can tell. its weird there’s no other ill-effects at all. I dont get it but it sucks.
IANAD.
I have had a similar cough in the past, though. It normally came on at the tail-end of any upper respiratory infection (cold) that I had. My doctor has called it reactive airway disease, or a cough variant of asthma. It happens most often at night (as asthma frequently does.) If it comes on when you lay down, it may be that gastroesophogeal reflux (GERD) is involved. If it is GERD related, it probably comes about because small amounts of stomach acid are coming back up into your esophogus. The airways in your lungs end up getting irritated and inflamed, and they force a cough to try to get some air out.
As you noted, having it happen at night truly sucks because you can’t get any sleep. I found that sleeping semi-upright in a recliner chair helped me to get some sleep. But seeing a doctor and getting it diagnosed, and getting a prescription for an albuterol inhaler was what really did the trick.
Good luck with this. Hope you’re feeling better soon.
DayQuil is your friend. Of course, by this time you probably should see a doctor since it’s been going on for several days.
I feel for ya. About every two years, I get a cold which turns into a dandy case of bronchitis, and I sound like Act III of Camille till I go to my doctor to get something heavy-duty (“laudanum, please?”) to take care of it.
I win. I was completely knocked out two months ago with a nasty cough. It went away after about a week of hell.
And now, I’m sick again. Really sick. Stuffy nose, sinuses are about to make my skull crack open (ow), sore throat, cough, chills…I’m even running a low fever (101.7 last time I checked) which never happens. I’ve manged to get strep-fucking-throat and not have my temperature break 101.
And did I mention that they’re doing fucking construction? On the fucking roof? Right above my fucking room?
Oh, and just for extra joy, I’m PMSing, too, and have really bad cramps.
My recommendation? NyQuil. Take a dose and suddenly you’re waking up four hours later.