Any advice on night time coughing

[PeteRose]

Hi,

For the last few months I have had a tough time sleeping at night. It seems like as soon as I go to lay down I start coughing. Sometimes it takes me a several hours just to calm down enough to stop coughing. I have tried to drink warm liquid (usually water), cough medice, having a humidifier in my room, etc. Does anyone else have the same problem? What do you do to stop. I end up going into our guest room almost everynight because I don't want to keep my bf awake at night. I am so overly exhausted I don't know what to do.

Any help would be wonderful.

 

[anonymous]

First, I would go see your doc, cause one of the questions they always ask me is whether my coughing is keeping me up at night (sign of infection perhaps?)
As far as remedies, I've tried sleeping on an incline with more pillows and also have drank tea with lots of honey before going to bed. TOBI used to make me cough like that all the time (until I stopped using it because of this side effect), and usually I just had to use cough drops and the things I mentioned above. I don't know if I would use cough syrup as that usually surpresses a cough and even though that's what you'd like to happen, it isn't good for our lungs. At least with cough drops, etc. you are just masking the tickles in your throat, whereas syrups usually coat your airways. I would deffinately ask your doc though. If this is something new, he/she should run some tests/cultures to make sure nothing is brewing.
Good Luck!!!
SR

 

[anonymous]

Try doing a little extra airway clearance before you head to bed. Have your bf pound on your back and see what you can cough up. I don't think any of us enjoy great sleep all the time. Do you use advair or serevent inhalers b4 bed? They may help reduce inflamation. The same thing happens to me, usually when I am more congested. Prop your self up w/ a few pillows.
Debbie
23 w/ CF

 

[anonymous]

Luckily, I don't have this happen too often, but when it does, I try to get up & do a breathing treatment of albuterol or Xopenex, (or whatever you use to open up your lungs) & sometimes that helps.
This sounds real silly, but sometimes, just eating a slice of good ole' Wonder bread (plain) helps. This may not work for everyone but it has for me a couple of times.
Have you changed what you're eating before bed or anything like that that would make you cough? Sometimes dairy right before I lay down can choke me up.
Good luck and I hope you sleep well tonight<img src="i/expressions/moon.gif" border="0">

 

[anonymous]

Ok, this is going to sound strange but what i do is.....put some lemon juice in a glass about an inch or two and shake some salt in it, swirl it around in the glass to mix then swallow, sometimes i foloow with a sip of plain water. This seems to cut the cough, i guess it cuts the phlegm, it might take about 20 minutes but then i get to sleep. I've been doing this for my step dtr because she has been coughing at night and it helps her to. We call it the "lemon juice trick".

Caren 32 w/cf

 

[anonymous]

Lay on your stomach. If you start coughing, sit up and cough for an hour or until you calm down. You could cough all night laying down, but if you sit up, usually you'll just cough for an hour and get it over with. Then go back to bed.

 

[Emily65Roses]

I've had some trouble sleeping flat my entire life. When I was littler my dad cut some wood blocks and put them under the posts on the head of the bedwhich put my bed on an incline so I'd be more likely to sleep almost sitting (much like the hospital beds are, but a lot cheaper, hah). That worked somewhat, but my mom always found me in the morning curled up into a ball at the foot of the bed, like I just slid down and balled up. For years I've had these different pillows. They're really good for propping yourself up with. They're hard to describe, but they're klind of squarish and boxy, and they have little arms coming out of each side. I put a regular pillow (for softness and comfort) in front of one of those and kind of sleep sitting up to a degree. <img src="i/expressions/rose.gif" border="0">

 

[LindseyRose]

I also sleep propped up. I just put 2 pillows up against the headboard and another little rounded pillow in front of that for back support. I actually sleep like this all the time, not just when I cough. I've slept like that for so many years that it is the most comfortable position for me now. When I was little my dad would stick pillows and blankets in between my mattress and bedspring up by my head so that I was elevated; similar to what Emily was saying.