Cough, cough, cough, will I ever stop?

[Ann]

Please help ...............!! I've had a very heavy head cold for nearly a fortnight now with a few days respite last week, but it all came back on Christmas Eve. I now have in addition to sinusitis, a very dry choking cough which I just cannot stop ......... been coughing all day and most of last night, I'm getting desperate as its giving me a splitting headache. I've tried all remedies which usually work for me - two spoonfuls of neat honey, Covonia cough mixture for dry irritating coughs and sucking Ricola (swiss herbal lozenges sold by Holland & Barrett which are usually brilliant) but nothing is working and my throat is so irritated I'm nearly choking. Its not on my chest at all, just tickling my throat all the time. Has anyone else got an ideas to stop me coughing please?

[Amber-Rose]

Hi Ann86, I am on day 16 - and only now is it starting to ease, so hang on in there!! x

[Ann]

O good grief Amber - do you mean this cough? Will it last for 16 days? I hope not!! I've only had this for 2 days, the rest - the sneezing, blocked nose, feeling muzzy and light headed for nearly two weeks now!

[boxtops]

I've said on another thread - try Beechams all in One - brilliant stuff - but there is a lot of this cough virus about at the moment, you are not alone!

[Ann]

Thanks boxtops - I tried the Beechams All in one but it was very bitter, so I'm taking Lemsip All in one with lots of added sugar (I forgot to mention that in my list of remedies I've tried!) I know lots of people have this germ, but I just wish I could stop coughing for more than 2 minutes! I don't usually succomb - could it be from the flu jab - they do say not, but it makes me wonder ...........

[old-wos-is-name]

Hi,
go down to the pound shop and buy a bottle of " Bells cough mixture" usually between one pound and and one pound fifty pence. absolutely magic, better than veno's and all the other ones. i had a cough for weeks after a cold, and Bells was the only one that worked, got a good nights sleep as well..

[woolleysheep]

had the same myself after the flu jab - makes you wonder

[tiggerblue10]

I'm usually the one thats ill over Christmas every year but touch wood I've escaped this time. Mr Tiggs has just started getting a cold and Little Tiggs has croup. He sounds really weird when he coughs.

[Ann]

Thanks old w-i-n will do that first thing tomorrow! Poundland is usually brilliant for everything and the most supported shop in our town!

Re: flu jab - it never usually affects me at all, but this is the worst cold I've ever had, OH also got a cold within days of having the flu jab ........... could be a different strain this year they have used, they say "its not a live vaccine" when you mention it!

[tamborine]

Friends with flu jabs have all had flu & annoyingly, come out in public to pass it on among us who haven't been jabbed. Its a hit/miss jab imo.

Keep sipping cough mixture everytime you cough, specially at night so's you can sleep.

[boxtops]

I must admit that our non-pharma favourites are Buttercup syrup, and Sanderson's throat linctus from Boots - it tastes like battery acid, but it's brilliant stuff, we always have a bottle in the cabinet. You have to get it from the pharmacy counter, it's not on the shelves.

[Eve]

I had a bad one a few years back and someone from work gave me these herbal cough drops, put a few in a glass of warm water and drink and they were brilliant. Will try and find the name for you.

I've had an annoying one after a cold I got before Christmas which has lingered and got some wierd guy stalking me round a Chinese supermarket going on about boiling up Jackfruit beans to help my cough, not sure if there is anything in that!

You could get some ice lolliesand suck on them to get moisture going down your throat and for the nice cooling effect.

[boxtops]

Have you tried the old favourite of a ball of butter rolled in brown sugar - just let it dissolve in your mouth - my old mother's standby!

[murraymints]

Lem sip made up in a solution of manuka honey...if that doesn't work ..half a bottle of the best Cognac...wont cure you ..nut you wont care either...hope you feel better soon..

[Ann]

Thanks everyone - tips much appreciated, will try some tomorrow if no better! I am sucking a Ricola lozenge at the moment and I can honestly say they are the best thing I've tried ...... it says on the packet "Ricola Herbs from the Swiss Mountains" containing 13 herbs, plaintain, marshmallow, peppermint, thyme, sage, lady's mantle, yarrow, burnet, mallow, elder, cowslip, speedwell, horehound (what?!) Gosh what a concoction - obviously natures cure! Holland & Barrett £1.39 packet.

[annadomino]

Beechams hot lemon, or anything containing codeine. Codeine is a cough suppressant.

[annadomino]

Also Bromhexin, but Im not sure you can get it in UK, look at online pharmacies.

[grasscarp]

My cough lasted best part of 2 months! It was not dry though. Got so fed up managed (with usual nowadays looong wait) to see the doctor who sent me for a chest xray and gave me antibiotics. Today is first day since early November, that I have only coughed once or twice. Boots simple linctus is cheap and you can swig it when you need it.

[Ann]

Can you take Boots Simple Linctus anytime grasscarp? No time limits? If so, thanks, thats what I need, as some cough mixtures can only be taken every 4 hours or so.

[askyourgran]

Oh dear Mrask is only on day 5, and it is terrible (for me too) he is suffering with a capital S. I'll have to see the pharmacist because he takes other medication including aspirin and warfarin so I can't just buy over the counter stuff. I have a damp nose and a bit of a cough hopefully it won't get worst.

Ann have you tried steaming Vick in a bowl of hot water and a towel over your head. It sometimes helps your breathing and stops the dripping mucus going down to your throat which is making you cough.

[grasscarp]

its basically glycerine and honey, so no chance of overdosing!