Lingering Post Cold Cough

[THoltz]

Hello Everyone,

About a week ago, I got a cold that started out with a cough. I developed a low grade fever, some chills, sneezing, stuffiness, and congestion. Over the past few days these have disappeared with the exception of the cough. It feels like a post nasal drip cough where I am constantly clearing my throat and coughing. Although it is getting better each day, it is still lingering. My fever is gone and i feel normal except for this post nasal drip.

I am currently on Day 7 of symptoms. How long does it take for this stuff to go away? I am not coughing up anything so I doubt it is Bronchitis or Pneumonia.

Still the lingering cough makes me nervous especially since I do not have a history of getting a lot of colds.

Any help would be appreciated

[ankietyjoe]

I'm on week 16

[nomorepanic]

My mum is on week 5

[THoltz]

I'm on week 16

What are you doing to relieve it?

My cough is by no means severe. Just irritating and a lot of throat clearing.

I wonder how long it will take for this post infectious cough to go away?

---------- Post added at 22:29 ---------- Previous post was at 19:17 ----------

At what point should I see a doctor about it? It’s only been 6-7 days but I am hypochondriac about these things and tend to overthink them

[NancyW]

My cough lasted about 3 weeks after I had the flu.

[WiseMonkey]

Last winter, I had the 90 day cough (and a few extras) after a bad throat infection, plus the sore throat kept coming back!

Some of these virus's are virulent and take a long time to clear. Try not to worry, it will pass :)

[ankietyjoe]

What are you doing to relieve it?

My cough is by no means severe. Just irritating and a lot of throat clearing.

I wonder how long it will take for this post infectious cough to go away?

---------- Post added at 22:29 ---------- Previous post was at 19:17 ----------

At what point should I see a doctor about it? It’s only been 6-7 days but I am hypochondriac about these things and tend to overthink them

I'm not really doing anything about it other than not thinking about it. I think the NHS recommendation is to go see the GP if it persists for 2-3 weeks? I can't remember, it's best to check.

But 6-7 days is literally nothing. It's a completely normal amount of time to have a cough after an infection.

[THoltz]

Since it started with a cough, I wonder if this is a case of acute bronchitis? I started coughing when I looking at a filter in my air purifier and it had a lot of dust on it.

Although I haven’t coughed any mucus, I wonder if this bronchitis? I’ve never had any issue with dust and coughing before

If so what is the treatment for it?

[ankietyjoe]

It's been a week. You said you had a fever, you had an infection.

It is completely normal to have a cough this short a time after an infection.

You're looking for a problem that isn't there.

[AntsyVee]

It's been a week. You said you had a fever, you had an infection.

It is completely normal to have a cough this short a time after an infection.

You're looking for a problem that isn't there.

Agreed. Once it gets to the three week mark, then you know you might need extra help to get rid of it. Common solutions are: nasal spray, sinus rinses, Sudafed, Mucinex and an Albuterol inhaler or codeine syrup if it gets really bad. It's not like there are not treatments for cough.

[Louna]

I had flu at the beginning of december - i just got rid of the cough the beginning of february!! Its just a horrid season this year i think, we’re all feeling abit sick lately

I ended up going to the doctors for it in january, i got reccomended sudafed which for me did not work as it increased anxiety for me.

I used saline solution which helped clear me up abit

To help “soothe” my throat i ate soup, had some lemsip, drank plenty of water and on days where the cough was making my throat hurt - had some ice cream!

You are only day 7 of symptoms - you should feel better soon. But as AntsyVee said - if it lasts longer than 3 weeks just pop to your doc and let them know and they’ll take it from there

hope you feel better soon and positive vibes your way!

[Mom2FourKiddos]

I got a nasty cold before Thanksgiving last year. I still have a cough from it. It's gotten better but not back to normal just yet. A week is really OK to be coughing still. :)

[THoltz]

Hello Everyone,

the cough has subsided a great deal but I still post-nasal drip albeit it is getting less noticeable every day. I still am clearing my throat quite a bit.

Hopefully within the next week or so, it will dissipate.
i always tend to blow this stuff up but you never want to be too safe

[THoltz]

So my cough has gotten a lot better. Still have Post nasal drip but it is getting better too. The only thing now is that I noticed I have a white tongue. I had it during my cold as I have before but I noticed it is still there.

Am I overthinking this?

[ankietyjoe]

Am I overthinking this?


Quite a bit, yes.