Husband with chronic allergies and dry cough

[Farmorswede]

My husband has had life-long food allergies and airborne allergies, ie; timothy grass, ragweed etc. He is 3yrs post UPPP surgery and has developed a dry cough that is brassy sounding on exhalation. Positional changes such as laying down or tilting head back will start a "tickle, itching and tightening" in his throat. He can feel postnasal drip at all times. Diphenhydramine and oral prednisone, 20mg qd, offer some relief.  He has also tried Dimetapp which helps thin his thick secretions.His lungs are clear, as per family physician. I have raised his head at night but nothing stops the endless cough. He smokes about 5-6 cigarettes a day and will not stop. I have also tried cold water therapy? Does this work? Can anyone give me some suggestions? Thank you.

[Farmorswede]

Thank you. I will look into mercola.com. My husband has tried to quit so many times, One Step at a Time filters, Nicorette, Smoke Enders, Bupropion, Welbutrin, etc. He is the sweetest person until he tries to quit, and then he starts having anxiety attacks. I really feel that the smoking is aggravating this allergy situation. I put in expensive air purifier filters that were custom made for our heating/ aircondtioning system. I had an air purifier too but that didn't seem to help. I am using a humidifier at night to help with the dryness since the heat has come on. He just started taking Rhinocort Aqua and I am hoping that will help. Farmorswede

[FurballsMom]

As a serious allergy sufferer myself, I don't think you can get relief from these allergies until the air is cleared.  I hardly think that an air purifier will do much good, if your husband won't give up smoking, because those toxins will always be in the air, even if he smokes outside.  Latest research on mercola.com shows that the best and safest way to quit is cold turkey.  The articles he wrote about this are really very interesting and enlightening.  He talks about how important it is to get the emotional factors under control first, and he even offers some useful advice on that.  Before your husband throws up his hands and says something to the effect that this is why he can't or won't quit, he should read those articles himself and not just give up.

If and when I can ever afford an air purifier, I'll be following this advice myself.  I noticed that when I'm in an environment that does use air purifying systems that my allergies don't bother me nearly so much.

As an asthmatic, I have found that I really can't sleep on my back very much either.  Sleeping on either side helps the most for the coughing.