ARTICLE AD
I’ve never have kids and had NO idea . . . Wow! But I get cough-variant asthma, triggered by post-nasal drip, when I have the flu or a bad cold, and I cough so hard and uncontrollably that I can barely use the albuterol inhaler I keep strictly for those times. It usually happens when I’m asleep, so all hell breaks loose in the dark as I scramble for the inhaler.
If you’re waking up coughing so hard that you are fighting to breathe, and this is a pattern for you, it could be asthma, triggered by post-nasal drip and irritation. An inhaler can help, even if you never need one the rest of the time. You know the drill: “Talk to your doctor.”
We got the new Flu A on Christmas this year, and I’d wake up coughing so hard that I couldn’t use the inhaler correctly. That was scary. A doctor friend recommended a prescription nasal spray, Ipatroprium. It stopped the post-nasal drip, which stopped the asthma. Once again, “TTYD.” My PCP was a bit reluctant, since it’s an off-label use, but my friend knew first-hand that it works. There are other medications that help, too, so don’t suffer needlessly!
