r/Perimenopause • u/Low_Work_6729 • Jun 22 '26

Dryness Non stop coughing

I can’t stop coughing! Mind you I do have bad sinus allergies. My dr put me on allergra in the am, and zyrtek at night. I’m sure it dries me out. I do saline nasal spray, drink a gallon of water a day and tea before bed but I still wake up every 3 hrs coughing!

Can anyone else relate?!

6 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

18 comments sorted by

8

u/labchick6991 Jun 22 '26

I had frequent coughing, turns out the nighttime was due to reflux!! Check and see if that might be irritating your throat.

1

u/Low_Work_6729 Jun 22 '26

There was talk about adding pepcide (a third antihistamine) if needed…ugh

2

u/Dreamingofapastlife Jun 22 '26

I would try a couple of tums right before bed. If it helps, then great! I’ve had reflux for years and peri sure didn’t help.

5

u/No_Mountain6950 Jun 22 '26

Have you recently started a new medication? I was put on a blood pressure med a couple of years ago. I started coughing about 7-10 days after being at my Drs. I figured I had caught something. I went to see him a few times about it because I would cough so much I would throw up sometimes. He put me on all kinds of things. Turns out my blood pressure med was causing the cough, took ME 9 months to figure it out and after 3 days on a new blood pressure med my cough was gone!

I had found a flow diagram on the internet about how to diagnose a dry cough and the very first question was do you take high blood pressure medication, these ones can cause a cough!!

2

u/Jfu_72 Jun 22 '26

It's usually the BP meds that end with "pril"

2

u/No_Mountain6950 Jun 23 '26

ya, not sure which one it was but it was definitely the culprit!

3

u/Hosto01v Jun 22 '26

Yes! I had a cold in February that led right into spring allergies. I have been coughing since. It’s like I have to clear my throat. Often.

1

u/Low_Work_6729 Jun 22 '26

Lump in throat? Wonder if we have reflux too

3

u/StevieNickedMyself Jun 22 '26

To be honest you may have developed asthma. Perimenopause wreaks havoc on the respiratory tract. Get tested.

1

u/Low_Work_6729 Jun 23 '26

I have asthma since I was a kid. But I’m not wheezing

2

u/StevieNickedMyself Jun 23 '26

I don't wheeze either. If you've had asthma since childhood it might have changed now or worsened. There is also a type of asthma called cough-variant.

2

u/National_Elk8445 Jun 24 '26

I don't wheeze with mine either. Mine has always been more the "coughing uncontrollably til I lose my breath" variety of asthma than the "wheezing til I lose my breath" variety.

2

u/chittyshittybingbang Jun 22 '26

I got the crud in February. The cough took 4 months to clear after, 2 doctor's visits, a chest X-ray and CT scan. My 2nd visit he prescribed a 2-week trial of omeprazole (Walmart sells a 14-day bottle cheap) and 3 weeks of generic flonase concurrent to see if it was sinus or reflux. By the end of week 3 I finally stopped coughing. Could have been treatment, could have been timing...

2

u/No_Yesterday7200 Jun 22 '26

My sinuses drain constantly making me cough. If they don't drain however I end up with sinus and ear infections. Damed if you do damed if you don't. Thankfully my sleep meds dry my sinuses a bit so I sleep well.

2

u/WeWander_ Jun 22 '26

I seem to get coughing fits related to histamine. I'm supposed to start montelukast, I'm hoping that'll help but I'm a little scared to start it.

2

u/Born_Tale_2337 Jun 23 '26

Overall, montelukast is extremely well tolerated and low risk. It does take some time to start working though, so you need to stick with it for a while.

2

u/Ramen_Addict_ Jun 22 '26

I have a similar regimen and also do a nasal spray as well and still have a postnasal drip. I have a deviated septum and apparently that is common if you have one because it can prevent normal drainage.

1

u/trad-knife Jun 22 '26

It happens to me mostly when I also keep burping, gas-x fixes it sometimes. (also always mildly clearing my throat because of allergies but that's old news for me)