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Chronic cough following sinus infection

I had a sinus infection at the end of June.  My doctor prescribed Augmentin (an antibiotic), and all of the symptoms except the cough went away in several weeks.  Since the cough continued, I went back to my doctor near the end of August.  My doctor ordered a chest X-ray (that was normal), and prescribed Biaxin (an antibiotic) and Azmacort.  The cough has improved, but it still has not gone away.

Other than the cough, I feel fine.  I do not cough at night.  When I get up in the morning, I cough about 5 or 6 times in the first hour to clear mucus from my lungs.  I've noticed that after I eat I sometimes have quite a bit of mucus in my throat, which causes me to cough to clear my throat.  I seem to be able to largely control when I cough, which generally is to clear mucus from my lungs.  

While I have a number of allergies, I have never had an extended cough like this.  I am 53 years old, male, never smoked, and in reasonably good health.

I'm getting quite frustrated with this cough.  Any input is appreciated.
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Avatar universal
A related discussion, Chronic Cough was started.
Helpful - 0
251132 tn?1198078822
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
It is possible that you have a chronic inflammation in the sinuses that is an outcome after the infection.  This is causing drainage and thus the cough.  Certain foods and irritants can aggravate the situation.  A course of nasal inhaled steroids might be helpful.
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Avatar universal
hi
i've am dealing with something exactly the same. The mucus in my case is coming from my sinus or somewhere above the palate in the back of the nose. I suspect there is an allergic thing here as antihistamines seem to help.
I used to worry that the mucous was coughed up from my lungs too - it's a scary thought that there's something wrong woth your lungs. But when i relised it was just originateing from above and gravity was taking it down, then I could relax known that the lungs were not the source of the problem. I also learned to get rid of the mucous early - ie suck it down and spit it out before it goes into the throat - this means I don't actually cough much any more. I still do in the morning as some has gone down while I was asleep. I had been through xrays and all sorts to try to find the source of my chest pain - it was from all the coughing.

doxycycline fixed the sinus infection and i had pseudoephedrine to dry everything up. Am now attacking the allergy component with antihistamines, etc. I find it's worse when we have the washing machine on - must be something in the detergent that gets me going.

good luck
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