Suggestions for helping with the IPF/PF sometimes never-ending cough
Disclaimer: *Note, these suggestions are from what patients have used to relieve their cough. You will need to check with your doctor if you choose one or more of these suggestions to make sure whatever you choose doesn’t interfere with something else you are doing.
One of the things that a person who has been diagnosed with IPF/PF has to endure is the cough. The sometimes never-ending cough. It can be dry, it can be productive and it can be relentless.
Here are some of the things that patients have done to alleviate their coughs.
- Pineapple juice 100% – the person who suggested this said “the fresher the better.” One person keeps a small can in her purse. She gets them on Amazon 100% Dole.
- Jakemans Boston England (The Original and Famous Throat and Chest) person gets at GP Tessalon Pearls (Benzonatate – prescription required from your doctor) Taken three times a day.
- Robitussin DM Fisherman’s Friend Extra Strength cough suppressant lozenges (these are strong and you may need to check out several flavors to find one you like)
- Wintergreen Life Savers
- Mucinex
- Nothing scented (candles, dryer sheets, use green unscented cleaning products. You can use hydrogen peroxide to kill mold in the bathroom or anywhere else. Simply spray it on your grout and it will kill the mold. You can spray it on the grout on your floor also and wait a half hour or so and then use a tooth brush to brush the grout and then wipe it up or wash the whole floor. The great thing about using it is, it doesn’t smell.
- Eat small meals
- Honey and lemon juice
- Morphine under the tongue. (This will have to be provided by your doctor and monitored…. This is used typically in the end stages. Or when you go under hospice.
- Don’t eat right before you go to bed. Watch what you eat. If you have gerd, be careful eating or drinking things that produce it.
- Chocolate, spicy food, etc. Many folks have been told to do away with dairy as it exacerbates the phlegm which produces coughing.
- One person shared that she uses a breathing technique. As you breathe in hold to the count of four, breathe out with pursed lips slowly like you are blowing out a candle to the count of eight.
- Virtussin A/C cough expectorant – this is a cough medicine that will require a prescription. Since it has codeine in it, you will need to pick up the prescription from your doctor’s office, they will not send it to your pharmacy because it is a controlled substance.
