I haven't slept in 3 nights---Please advce me

[*bejeweled*]

Hi, I have a dry cough that has kept me UP for the last 3 nights. During the day, I'm tired, but have no cough at all. At night, I can't sleep because as soon as I close my eyes I start coughing. This goes on all night long.

I'm drinking lots of tea w/honey and taking Coricidin HBP. What could this be? Do I need to go to the doctor?

Thanks for listening.

[littlest birds]

I recently had a flu illness that left me with a cough that dragged out and was mostly at night and fairly dry.  I hadn't really had a cough while I was sick, but I did afterward, and it even took several days to after to start.  It was minimal in the daytime and constant at night.

I was able to get relief with plain Mucinex, which I only needed to take at night.  Within a few more days, the cough faded away.  I used Mucinex because it loosens coughs instead of suppressing them which most others do including the Coricidin.  It helps your body get out what it is trying to get rid of while making it gentler on you as well.  It seems like it would make you cough more but it made me cough less and it also helped me get some sleep.

I do not know how Mucinex would relate to the blood pressure factor.  The only thing in the plain mucinex is Guaifenesin which thins mucus--its reputation is that it is very safe overall.  I can't tell when you should worry enough to go to the doctor but you might want to try the Mucinex for a night or two.

[*bejeweled*]

Thank you for the advice. I was able to sleep 3 hours last night, so I feel like at least things are improving. What a difference a few hours of sleep makes. I will look into the Mucinex.

[SubliminalDarkness]

I would go to the doctor. I had something like that and it turned out to be bronchitis, but not the viral kind. I needed an antibiotic, and the doctor also gave me a cough syrup with codeine so I could sleep and night and actually get better.