Hi, I wonder if anyone can give me some advice...
I'm 39 and for the last 15-20 years, I have suffered from a reoccurring type of bronchitis (?)... Every time I get a common cold or flu (about 2 x per year), for a few days I have a productive cough, and then it turns into a very dry cough (without coughing anything up) and this dry cough last for about 2 months on average. I don't know what to do, I'm really at my wits end! :confused: It seems that I have tried so many things - cough syrups definitely don't work, nor do antibiotics (I gave up on those a long time ago), I've also tried vitamins, turmeric, ginger, ginseng, omega 3, carrot juice, honey and lemon etc etc.....! I am also currently using 2 types of prescription inhalers - salbutamol and pulmicort. This time I started using them on the onset of my cold (as advised by GP and a specialist) with the hope that I would get rid of the cough sooner, but I have had the same old dry cough now for the last 3-4 weeks and I've still got it. I've had many chest xrays in the past, which were all clear.
It doesn't even seem like the virus is still there, as I have no other symptoms. My sinuses are clear and I have no fever. I even went to a chest specialist last summer (when I last had this cough), who called it "bronchial hyperactivity", or "bronchial reactivity". He said there is nothing I can do about it except taking the inhalers. But they don't even seem to help that much. I have also purchased a saltpipe which I started using about 10 days ago - although initially, it helped bring up some phlegm, it hasn't got rid of the cough really.
I have been thinking of trying acupuncture as a last resort (I might post this message on the acupuncture forum too), but in the meantime, I'd be grateful to hear from anyone about this problem. Any ideas or suggestions are more than welcome, as I'm desperate to find a solution:(. Many thanks!