Cough. Duration: 4-5 weeks. Notes: Was Dry, now wet and with sputum.

[Janshi]

Background:  

21 years of age, no major sicknesses.  Born in America, lived 6.5 years in the United Kingdom, world traveler.  Only known allergies are cats and possibly spring allergies.  

Case:

I was in Scotland for my semester abroad this past February - May.  Near the end of my time there I developed two things: a sore throat, followed by a cough.  I had the sore throat for a week, and a week or two after I developed the cough.  It was at first a dry cough.  Aggravated by lack of liquids and dry environment.  I had a week of this in the UK before I flew back home to the US.  I spent a day in California before going to Massachusetts, then Maine, where I currently work.  The cough became more wet and sputum filled the second or third week.  The cough has ranged from mild to slightly more painful - at times it was just a constant but low-key thing, on occasion becoming more wet and prolonged.  Currently I cough very little, except for when I have an 'attack' - a ten second or so long hard coughing full of sputum.  

I HAVE seen my doctor.  He does not know what it is.  He did prescribe medicine to soothe the cough but it didn't seem to work too well.  I am using Chinese herbal medicine infrequently, probably going to use it more often now.  It is NOT TB.  My chest x-ray is clean.  

Any suggestions?  Is it something I can ride out?  Any experience with a long cough?