Coughing At Night and Allergy Medications

@picartist Hmm, I think those questions should be addressed to your primary or your pulmonologist. Self-diagnosis when you are already dealing with another condition is a chancy proposition. One thing you might try is to avoid sleeping on your back - I find I have more night coughing when I do that.

That said, I do have allergies for which I regularly take oral medication and a nasal spray, but those were specifically recommended by my doc after looking up my nose, down my throat and reviewing my chart. I was also advised to avoid sinus rinses except during a respiratory infection as they can disrupt the normal behavior of sinuses and mucus production.

Have you talked to your primary or pulmonologist about these episodes? Do they happen every night?

I find a single puff of albuterol helpful when I wake up coughing. ( I have asthma). Coughing at night might be related to Bronchiectasis, asthma, allergies or reflux I figure.

Yes, I talked about coughing and he suggested I could take 7% saline or wait for the new pill coming out in August, whatever that is. He had no issues with any of the stuff I was trying to prevent night coughing. I went quite some time with Chatbot today and have a few things I'm going to try, nothing drastic, just some Xlear and breathe right bandages and see if that helps. If not, maybe prescription for Atrovent when I see my doctor in a month or so.

I don't have any of the common symptoms of reflux other than the coughing which is considered not as common. I'm going to clear up my sinus and go from there. I know I have too much drainage going on at night, always have, so we'll see.

I woke up coughing two nights ago. Because I have been free of symptoms the past month, I went on high alert and worried I was going to fall to another virus. That day I did 2 sinus rinses (one saline, one Xlear) after weeks of doing none (I only do nasal lavage if I have symptoms) and four nebbing sessions with 7% saline, doubling my usual two.

This morning I am fine again. Can’t say it’s because I did all that extra nebbing and rinsing, but it didn’t hurt.

I agree with Sue that your doc is best to discuss meds with. I'll share some things that have helped me you can ask doc about.

For the past couple years, I've done nasal rinses once/twice per day. I'd been reluctant to use the reusable bottle before (used small NS bottles at pharmacy) due to risks of both contamination risks (retired nurse) and ear issues from an earlier Neti pot. I was having significant issues (as I wrote about in early reply) and ENT's strongly suggested I start larger volume rinses.
Two tips-I use NeilMed silicone bottles that can be boiled or cleaned in my Bololo bottle sterilizer. I use only distilled water and NeilMed saline packs. Some would boil it, then cool.
Say "kaaay" as you're flushing. That keeps it from bothering ears.

I don't know if you can take it, but Azelastine and a steroid spray helped me reduce secretions and cough before I went to Mayo. Ipratropium was added (script) when I changed to their mix and it helps.
I've done other things, but these were tried first and are what I'm doing now.

I've discussed my nasal drainage with doctors until I'm hoarse. Frankly, they are not much help. It went to four ENTs in both Maryland and N.C. and none of them suggested I could have lung issues and I specifically went to see them for mucus drainage. Oh sure, they numbed me up, went down the throat, in the sinus, snipped something one time to reduce drainage and yet none of them every suggested I should get someone to look at my lungs. I finally went to Chatbot and it suggested a pulmonologist. So, while I go to physicians when I need to I have learned in my 87 years if you only count on them, you are shortening your life span. I use Chatbot, Gemini and Perplexity often to help me navigate medical information. Right now I am trying XLear sprays twice a day and doing saline 3% one extra time (Dr approved) so we'll see how it goes. This is a great website, glad I found it.

I did not know the “say kaaayyyyy” trick! Thanks.

It really helps! Surprisingly, the only doc who's ever mentioned it was a frontal sinus specialist. He also listened to my complaints about hoarseness and looked at vocal cords. He saw that despite all the nasal sprays, I was still having a lot of drainage and added a steroid to my rinses. Helped so much! Loved him for both things! : )

I too(finally) was started by my pulmonologist on aztelin and flonase, along with protonix this summer(and more regular use of albuterol(along with all the normal nebs and ACT). I am starting to feel better for the first time in months.