A forum for people who suffer from chronic or persistent coughs to share ideas... these don't have any sort of official approval so you try any of them out at your own risk. I've consigned some of the more unusual ones I received to the Oddities bin on the left. I've also listed very simple remedies separately. If you're a sufferer, good luck, and please report back by commenting on the particular posting if you find success. Or just comment to the most recent posting and I will pick it up.

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

good news, bad news

The good news is that I have taken part in the drug trial now.... and it works!  The bad news is I have now finished the trial, and the cough is back as bad as ever - hence me writing this at 4.30 am, awake and coughing. And the bad news is compounded by the fact that the new drug as trialed won't be available for probably at least three years..

There was a very good article in the Daily Mail about the trial, written by Ben Spencer on June 13. Quote:

The new drug, known for now as AF-219, blocks receptors on the throat nerve which triggers the cough reflex, effectively muting the cough response. 


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3638098/Twice-day-pill-silence-persistent-cough-Drug-reduced-frequency-75-market-three-years.html#ixzz4I7afpBG3
Briefly, my story is a follows  this was a "blind" trial in that some patients would be taking a placebo tablet, but I knew as soon as I started taking the pills that I was on the real thing, because it affected my taste quite badly. An hour later, a beans-on-toast lunch tasted of cardboard!

While that was unpleasant, the effect it had on my cough was equally dramatic - I would say it reduced it by about 75 per cent. 

Over the next three months the pattern of my day was this : breakfast, tastes fine, then take a pill ; lunch, taste not very good ; evening meal, taste OK, take a pill ; night time water, funny taste.

So, take a pill, taste disrupted for 5-6 hours... taste returns.

But the effect on my cough was significant - much reduced, so much so that I wasn't particularly conscious of what is going on in my chest for much of the time. I was sleeping much better, through the night most of the time. Still coughing a bit in the morning, but nowhere near as much as "normal" with me. 

My wife noticed - our morning chats over tea were not disputed by explosive coughs as much ; friends remarked on the absence of coughing. 

I must pay tribute to the team at Wythenshawe Hospital who ran the trial - Professor Jackie Smith and her colleagues, particularly nurse Terri Collier - they were all very helpful and supportive. 

I have told them I would not hesitate to take this drug if it were available...  There's lots more detail I could go into but I'll leave it at that for now - the cough is subsiding and I might just get back to sleep.

I just wanted to put this out there and let everyone know - there is some light at the end of the long dark tunnel that is our cough experience. We just have to be very patient!

    Peace and love!

           Nick

Sunday, April 17, 2016

Still looking for the cure....

I thought I would post something just to keep the activity going, though I've not much to say.... my cough is still very troublesome at about the same level as ever - cough EVERY morning first thing for at least half an hour, then it eases off a bit but comes back at various unpredictable and seemingly random times during the day.
I'm just about to go on a trial for a new treatment from the Cough Clinic at Wythenshawe - it's of a drug that has been quite successful in previous small trials.  12 weeks of taking the tablets and tests - but I could be on the placebo, you never know, so it could be a while before anything comes of it.  Just have to hope that I get the real drug in there!
Will report back....
 
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