What remedies help with post Covid cough?

Posted by gvstenst01 @gvstenst01, Dec 30, 2021

I'm three to four weeks past COVID and still have cough (during the day) I sleep ok without coughing. Lungs seem to be clear, the cough is more bronchial producing expectorant. Cough remedies (except honey) don't seem to work.

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@covidsufferer

Wow, what an ordeal you have been through! Yes, cold and damp make my coughing and shortness of breath worse. I really miss my sense of smell...along with everything else I used to take for granted. It helps to know I am not alone. Good point about the lung CT.

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Thanks so much for your support!
I really appreciate it. I only know one other person who got sick and did so around the same time as I did who’s still having problems. It’s comforting to know we have opportunities to communicate here and often get constructive advice and information.
Definitely tell your Dr you want a chest CT. How long have you been coughing? Is it not getting better or is it getting worse? Nothing ever showed up on my X-rays, ever. That’s why I think they didn’t catch the pneumonia. I had a negative CT right at the beginning so they did their job, but since I was getting worse again, I was told my CT was fine, because initially it was. I think I had pneumonia months before the 2nd CT. I still cough once in awhile if I try to exert myself when I’m short of breath. Thank god for nebulizers! It’s the Virus From the Depths of Hell for so many of us 🤬😢
Please get that CT if you’re not getting better and still coughing a lot and insist if they say no. I tell my Drs what I want them to sometimes but I have a medical background and usually know what to order so I have a bit of an advantage. If you keep coughing and/or and getting short of breath, also ask for a pulmonary function test as well, even if you didn’t get a CT. That is a specialized breathing test, no pain. They can see if you have a breathing problem with your lungs. Your CT can be normal but you can still have abnormal lung function. Covid can do strange and serious things to you, as you know. 😢
Hopefully you have good insurance where you don’t have to fight with them to pay or get a prior authorization. If you’re sick, it may not be an issue. Medical insurance is so ridiculously expensive and I feel so very lucky that I always had good insurance at my jobs. I’m retired now (partially from being sick) and I still pay for a secondary insurance which covers what the first one pays.
I used to work with my now PCP for over 18 yrs and he told me he felt like he let me down when I fist got sick because I wasn’t getting better and he couldn’t figure out why. No one knew much about Covid back then, there were no tests so now he does what I say!🤣
Please get better soon and just go day by day. Don’t push yourself too much because it could make you feel worse afterwards for a bit.
🙏🏻🌻🌞

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@marye2

I found than an inhaler worked to help alleviate coughing. My Dr prescribed it. I am getting better, generally every few weeks I see improvement.

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Hi Marye2
Glad to hear you’re getting better and that the inhaler helps. I hope this continues and soon you’ll be entirely your old self again. Don’t you wish you could wake up some morning, very soon, and it would be like it never happened? Just a serious fantasy I have, a lot! 😂
It’s been extremely hard being patient with this being the third year for me. Day by day is the only thing that works for a lot of us. I’m even giving myself permission for a pity party once in awhile which is so not me. I’m ready for an adventure with my usually optimistic self! Hang in there, we have to be warriors, even if it’s only one day a week 🌷

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@dvierheller

i have found three things that work (1) time. im sorry to say you have quite awhile to go in recovery. (2) for really bad-cant- stop- coughing there is pill cause Tessalon Perl. this is a prescription but it stops that cough in a heartbeat. (3) Pepcid AC - 40 mg or Nexium - 40 mg.

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Hi Dvieheller
That’s great advice. It’s a good med. Pepsid also has Rx for higher doses if someone isn’t helped with the OC. It comes in 20 and 40 and maybe 80? Generic is Famotidine and may cost a lot less via Rx for some people because it’s generic. Another option for Rxs is the app Good Rx. It’s free and if you don’t have insurance or if your co pay is high, they search local pharmacies and the cost is often ridiculously lower. That goes for all drugs.

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@covidsufferer

Yes, my pulmonalogist mentioned ICU syndrome but I guess I`m still processing. After getting home I find myself afraid to go to sleep unless I have people awake around me. Makes for long nights.

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Oh
Forgot to say, have you tried or are you able to take prescription cough medicine? I know some Drs think you’re a drug addict if you ask for any narcotics but not all do and you’re very sick. I have one called Hycodan and it really works like a charm, especially if you’ve gone over the edge and can’t stop coughing. You only need 1 teaspoon and my cough is gone for many hours. Some have Codeine in it instead but that makes me nauseous but you may be ok. My Dr knows I’m not an abuser and I only take it when I’m really bad, 1/2 bottle lasts for about 6 months now and I only take it when it’s brutal. Funny, sometimes I’ve taken it if I get a coughing jag and I have to go out because everyone will surely think I have covid!

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Thank you for responses on the coughing issue.
I was in the hospital with Covid Pneumonia for 3 weeks, came home with oxygen, and coughed constantly, especially with a little over exertion and talking. I’ve been out of the hospital for 2 1/2 months.
I just came own with a bacterial infection recently, I think a sinus infection, and back in oxygen and a higher decreasing dose of prednisone and antibiotics, I’ve been using mucinex and everything loosened up an seems better, but I still cough a little, but much less when I talk, if I use my inhaler, its much better. And the cough is very loose now. I’m now working on getting back off of my oxygen.

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@colleenyoung

Welcome @covidsufferer. After spending 2 months in ICU, there's a lot of recovery required. You seem to be patient with yourself. Is this something you've had to learn? Do you have a good support system of family and health care professionals?

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Yes, several friends are nurses and my family and friends are very supportive. is

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@jazzygirl5

Oh
Forgot to say, have you tried or are you able to take prescription cough medicine? I know some Drs think you’re a drug addict if you ask for any narcotics but not all do and you’re very sick. I have one called Hycodan and it really works like a charm, especially if you’ve gone over the edge and can’t stop coughing. You only need 1 teaspoon and my cough is gone for many hours. Some have Codeine in it instead but that makes me nauseous but you may be ok. My Dr knows I’m not an abuser and I only take it when I’m really bad, 1/2 bottle lasts for about 6 months now and I only take it when it’s brutal. Funny, sometimes I’ve taken it if I get a coughing jag and I have to go out because everyone will surely think I have covid!

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I have been using musinex, seems to be working.

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@mkportzen

I have been using musinex, seems to be working.

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Thanks for mentioning that. It’s a good med to loosen the phlegm. I just needed literally to be able stop coughing as mine was a dry one and 24/7
Feel Better

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Mine was too, and I did think to use it until I ended up with a sinus infection p, and I noticed it started to loosen the cough and phlegm. I hope it works for you.

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@jazzygirl5

Oh
Forgot to say, have you tried or are you able to take prescription cough medicine? I know some Drs think you’re a drug addict if you ask for any narcotics but not all do and you’re very sick. I have one called Hycodan and it really works like a charm, especially if you’ve gone over the edge and can’t stop coughing. You only need 1 teaspoon and my cough is gone for many hours. Some have Codeine in it instead but that makes me nauseous but you may be ok. My Dr knows I’m not an abuser and I only take it when I’m really bad, 1/2 bottle lasts for about 6 months now and I only take it when it’s brutal. Funny, sometimes I’ve taken it if I get a coughing jag and I have to go out because everyone will surely think I have covid!

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When I was in the hospital I was given different cough meds to little or no effect. I developed cardiomegaly with episodes of CHF which didnt help either but I control it with lasix at home. When dealing with this horrible cough, never hesitate to take what gives you relief and rest. Im so glad that Im not the only one who feels self conscious when coughing around others.

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