coughing and bronchitis related to allergies? - Allergies Message Board

socal · 07-08-2003, 04:26 PM

I live in Southern California and for years have had recurring bouts of sinusitis and bronchitis which seem to be triggered from allergies to dust/dustmites/pollution and lord knows what else (allergy tests didn't identify anything...). I have managed to control and practically eliminate the sinus component of the problem through daily sinus irrigation with a simple saline solution. However, I still go right into the bronchial component of the reaction. This goes on for a full two weeks and almost never fails to turn into bronchitis. The worst part is the dry, reactive, non-productive cough that goes on all day and all night. Codeine cough medicine doesn't touch it. The antihistamines don't seem to help the cough (well, benadryl helps the first couple of times I take it then my tolerance to it kicks in.)

Has anyone else experienced this type of recurring bronchitis accompanied by this god-awful coughing? Have you figured out how to calm the cough at night?(shy of taking valium, that is) Steam treatments feel good for a few minutes, but don't help in the long term. I seem to drink a swimming pool of water everyday to stay hydrated, but cannot get to the bottom of the cough. Any ideas? It is incredibly frustrating to go through this every 2-3 months some years and I can't fathom continuing to deal with this as I become a senior citizen!!!

creinha · 07-14-2003, 11:30 AM

Are you taking any other medications? Do you think your non-productive cough is Asthma?

I have recurrent sinusitis which the doctor thinks is allergy related so I'm to visit an allergist tomorrow. I have a productive cough due to post nasal drip. When my Asthma flares up, I have a non-productive cough.

Do you find that there are certain times that you cough more? Maybe caused "irritants" like smoke, scented items, etc.?

HAAR · 07-16-2003, 12:14 PM

My two kids came down with severe daily coughs for ten months and it was the chlorine our water company had started putting into our water supply. Check with your water company to see if they chlorinate their water. Maybe you are also sensitive to chlorine.
Even if pool water does'nt bother you it could still bother you if its drank. Thats the way it is for my kids.

After seeing their pediaticians numerous times they started coming to a conclusion that they were developing asthma! WRONG.

They have been cough free for 9 years except...when they accidentally get a new source of chlorine (school, friends home etc)or temporarily sick with virus cold etc.

For some strange reason they are hyper sensitive to "Chlorinated" tap water. They drink it they start coughing. The coughing was so bad it would take hours for them to fall asleep.

After stopping the ingestion of the tap water and replacing it with chlorine free bottle water their coughs were gone in about 48 hours.

BL2 · 09-17-2003, 09:33 AM

I've also read that you can inhale more chlorine during a warm shower than drinking several glasses of water. So if it is a chlorine problem then a chlorine filter in the shower might be a good thing to look into. I don't have any info on this kind of a product but just read this recently.

BL2 · 11-22-2003, 06:49 PM

I have very similar symptoms that started about 4 months ago and won't go away. I've been through 3 series of antibiotics and it hasn't helped. If you've figured it out please let me know.

Thanks