Yeah, I recommend a visit to the doctor! Dry coughs can indicate all kinds of problems and some of them can be severe. Have it checked out.

I agree with Solstice.

In the meantime try rubbing Vick's Vaporub on the bottom of your feet before you go to bed. I haven't tried it, but many people say it works.

The dry cough thing is going around..it seems to be "nothing" other than annoying..some have had it here for more than 3 weeks...doctors aren't helping..But maybe yours will at ease your discomfort with something you've not thought of.

Water. Drink plenty of water.

Have chronic dry cough (for over 10 years)...been to many doctors. Dysem may help, it's worth a try.

Vickey-MN

I've had that for a couple of weeks but I did have an upper respiratory infection that started it.My x-DIL has a dry cough all the time.Hers is caused from a thyroid problem.
Maybe a trip to the doctor to have that checked might be in order.
Vickey,have they tested your thyroid?

Get a humidifier/vaporizer type thingy to put next to your bed at night.
Or use a facial steamer that covers your nose and mouth just before you go to bed.

Many medications for high blood pressure can cause a dry cough.

Lisinopril (bp drug and very commonly prescribed,) is notorious for this. But I would definitely check it out with a doctor.

Cough drops really help stop the cough cycle. Like others suggested, lots of water definitely help too.

Dry cough could also be caused by mold. Check to make sure you don't have any sources of mold at home.

Hope you feel better soon.

Get to an MD. This has gone on too long to be 'nothing'.

I had a deep (dry) chest cough a couple of times in the fall; both times it went away just as I was ready to make an appointment.

Fast forward to mid-February. We are in Maui. My cough returns, but much worse. After several days I can hardly catch my breath and my ribs hurt. I see an MD who gives me Prednisone. The following a.m. I have a fever of 101 F. Doctor now gives a 10-day course of antibiotics (Biaxin) in addition to the steroid. I'm still coughing (dry). Doctor prescribes Robitussin with codein. Doesn't help. Doctor prescribes Tussionex extended release, which DOES help. I have a chest X-Ray. MD says it is bacterial pneumonia but X-Ray tech says it is not pneumonia. I get TWO courses of the Prednisone (60 mg for three days; 40 mg for three; 20 for three).

Somehow DH and I got home March 3 (12 hour travel day). My own MD takes another chest X-Ray and says it may NOT be pneumonia. I also have a sinus CT, which isn't 'very interesting'. (You never want to be an interesting patient.) Wednesday I had a chest CT. Now my MD thinks it IS pneumonia. At least I have some shadow over the upper right lobe -- and he doesn't THINK it is cancer.

Monday I see a chest specialist.

All this time I have hardly slept due to painful coughing. A week ago -- four weeks into this -- I started bring up some phlegm.

ONLY the Tussinex has helped with my symptoms. Does anybody know why this syrup is so expensive? ($80 for 120 ML.) There's nothing IN it that's expensive: hydrocodone and antihistamines. There is no generic, according to my drug plan, which does NOT cover this medication.

Background: I have had asthma for 30 years and have had three sinus surgeries for chronic sinusitis -- I'm good for a while after the surgeries, then bad again.

Right now I have the 'pneumonia', coughing, two very red eyes, and the last two nights I waked after three hours of sleep to find myself drenched in sweat. (I'm long past menopause.) My temp varies from my normal of 97.8 to 101, 102. I'm pushing fluids and have used a steam inhaler; still getting green stuff out of both sinuses and lungs.

Grateful to hear anyone's similar experiences!

And I've missed our only grandchild's Fourth Birthday Party. Sob.

Chisue and Tahoe-- Have you and your docs checked into Valley Fever? I know it occurs in Central CA and I presume can happen elsewhere. My s-i-l had it and it took her doctor some time to figure it out. Lots of dry coughing and low-grade fever.

sjerin -- How do they treat Valley Fever? I attribute some of my problems to the high winds that hit Maui in mid-February and are only now moderating. Wind was constant, night and day, with gusts 30+ MPH. From our place we could see the red dust from the cane fields blowing down the central valley and out over Maalaea Bay. I also know they spray some terrible pesticides on the cane.

I have a dear friend who contracted Wegener's Disease -- a disease of the small blood vessels, so it can hit lots of places in the body.

I'll definitely ask the lung guy about Valley Fever. Thank you!

I also think you should see your doctor...Sometimes a cough is heart related....

All of above, and BP meds Actonel makes a dry cough. I also found out that some fleece blankets make me cough because the fleece IS NOT polyester materials, but cannot find out what. Put blanket away, no cough. Looks and feels fleecy, but seems not as soft. Just read in Good Housekeeping, that buckwheat honey is suppose to help also. Maybe a dr specilizining in pulmonry problems would be a good choice.

My s-i-l was on a particular antibiotic (don't remember which one,) for a year, it seems to me. I hope you find out what is causing your cough.

sjerin -- Thanks. At least there is something to be done -- long-term course of antibiotics.

chisue, your night sweats may be caused by the prednisone. That medication, while a miracle worker for swelling/lung problems, can cause a lot of side effects. I've been on it for ten months, gradually tapering down to 5 mg/day, & have made a list of the side effects I have experienced during this time - 17!!! And some still occuring.

Chisue, like Kathleenca said, you could be having side effects of prednisone. They can last after the last pill for quite a while. It made my fast pulse even faster, weight gain, I had night sweats and some insomnia. It's a pill I love to hate. Works good, acts bad.

Thanks so much for all of the replies; my cough is getting better.

The only thing that ever help me was a spoonful of honey.

Some dry cough is caused by sinuses dripping in to the throat. I've found Zycam nasal spray to work very well for me. Before that I used to use Fishermans Friend cough drops.

Thanks for the heads-up on night sweats and Prednisone, but I've had to take the drug MANY times in the past -- especially brfore there was Advair for asthma -- and I've never had that reaction. True, this time it was a double dose of 60, 40, 20, but the sweats didn't start until ten days after I'd finished.

I saw a pulmonary specialist yesterday. Showed him my nice collection of two chest X-Rays (from Hawaii and from local MD), sinus CT and chest CT. There's a peculiar 'something' in the top two lobes of my right lung, close to the center. He wants a PET scan. If it shows only old scar tissue, that't that, but if not, I have to have a bronchioscopy (right term?). I was glad he wants to get a clear diagnosis, not just throw some antibiotic at me. DH and I stopped for groceries enroute home. Then I had some soup and slept for three hours. I never nap during the day, but we are both exhausted.

Meanwhile, today DH is off to see our internist for HIS cough and sinus infection. All these docs say we are not contagious, but I can't understand how they know that.

This has taken over our lives! It feels like it's been going on *forever*, but is actually only about five weeks from when I started coughing while we were on Maui.

Last night, I probably could have slept, but DH was hacking away! The Tussionex didn't help him. Only taking one of the small Ambiens got him to sleep.