What causes a PESKY DRY COUGHING SPELL, TICKLISH RECEPTORS in Your THROAT?!? 9:56 AM, EST Sat Jan 2023 | By: HITE1955 With: ‘ Doug ‘ INOGEN ONE G5 | IO- 500

Hi. This is another great question .There is an article published on this site a while back that may help you understand the cough reflex more. I will attach that article here (https://copd.net/clinical/chronic-cough) if you would like to check it out. What do you think? John (copd.net community moderator)

I have a similar situation. However, my sinuses seem to run constantly and this tickles my throat. Then I cough. To my knowledge, I'm not coughing up phlegm, just coughing to stop the tickling in my throat.
Occasionally I have a coughing spell but it appears more due to just a need to cough, possibly an allergic reaction, then I'm all set for a while.

- For me, it involves a multitude of issues, which, all combined at different times and ways, can be a nightmare, both day and night. First, I need to drink a lot of water. Seriously. A LOT. Like, more than I ever drank in my previous life. I spent a lot of my life drinking a lot of other things, like soda, and tea, and coffee, but little water. Now it's the opposite. I still drink my morning coffee, but no more soda or tea. Tea is bad for my kidneys and soda makes me fat. Also, the combination of all my issues leaves me with chronic dehydration, so no matter how much water I do drink, it's never enough. Aargh! But I made a concerted effort to change all that, and now I drink my morning coffee, and then only water, at least about 6 17oz bottles a day of spring water. Cold, of course. I keep a case in the fridge and three more on the counter.
Next, I take Mucinex. I was put on it in rehab about 3 years ago and it has worked for me ever since. I take the generic stuff from Amazon at 28 cents per pill - 1200 mg extended release Guaifenesin. Less than half the price of the brand name. It keeps me clear of congestion 99% of the time. I struggled a lot last year when I had repeated cases of pneumonia for most of the year, but it worked through all that, though I also spent 11 months on high-dose Prednisone. Not fun. But I also have other complications. MY esophagus continues to shrink, due to spinal deformity in my neck from injuries in my youth that have come back to haunt me. I now have to take my pills with applesauce just to be able to swallow them, and it still takes over 60 seconds to swallow each pill from the time I swallow till it reaches my stomach, and I can feel it all the way. Same thing with food, so my diet is very restricted now too. Then I keep a bag of Hall's extra strength cherry cough drops in case my throat gets irritated. Since I also have a hiatal hernia, GERD, and gallstones, all these things can cause aspiration if I am not extremely cautious, and I have to be vigilant, with my deformed throat. It's a life or death thing at this level, and can get very scary when the GERD strikes, especially since I live alone.
Lastly, I have a bubbler on my concentrator and keep it filled with distilled water. I am at 3.5 L of 02, 24/7, through my cannula, so there is the final straw in the mix that dries my sinuses and throat. Well, and I also sleep with an NIV machine, with a mask, so that adds even another drying issue. It takes a balance of all these measures to keep it all in check so that I still have a voice and can breathe okay. But it works, except when there are more issues, like Sahara dust, or smoke from nearby fires during fire season, and stuff like that, all of which can also be quite irritating. But, altogether, it works for me, most of the time. It took a lo9ng couple of years of working to develop this regimen into an integrated method, but I do okay now, although, just like all of us, I have my good breathing days and my bad ones. Right now I've been having some bad ones (weather - related) and the doc has me on some temporary Prednisone to help. And so it goes. Keep us posted on what you find works for you.