Constant cough and phlegm

Hi All. Very grateful if anyone can offer any advice, empathy or contact details for a doc or medicine that might help.


I'm 50 and have now lived in HK for 13 years. Most of the time I've lived here I've been bothered to some extent by a persistent cough and phlegm. Some times of the year it doesn't bother me too much, but other times it does, and my cough might be bad enough to make me retreat to the washroom at work so as not to bother my colleagues. The cough is usually dry and quite hard, and I can get sudden fits of coughing that last 30 seconds to a minute. Most of the time it's just a fairly regular one-off cough, repeated every minute or two, and a regular clearing of the phlegm at the back of my throat. The phlegm doesn't come up when I cough, but can usually be brought up by hawking up (ie. making a loud noise in the back of the throat).


About two months ago I was back in the UK and I picked up a pretty nasty regular cold and cough. The cold went after a few days, but the cough was brutal for about two weeks. After returning to HK it has stayed with me - so it's a bit like my 'continual' cough but its bothering me more than usual - hence my post. It just doesn't want to leave me alone! The phlegm is also worse than usual, especially in the mornings after getting up, and is sometimes greenish, but also sometimes clear.


In most other respects I'd say my health is pretty good. I work out at the gym two or three times a week and am fairly active and in quite good shape.


I have seen doctors before about my ongoing cough/phlegm problems, but none of them have helped. They usually pronounce my airways to be clear (my nose is usually clear) and prescribe anti-biotics, which have never done anything to help. I also once went to a highly regarded Chinese medicine specialist. She prescribed a course of special medicine and a dietary regime which I stuck with but that didn't help either.


Some people say it's probably the pollution and so the problem won't go away until I leave HK. Maybe. But then why doesn't it improve when I go away on holiday? Could it be that I simply haven't been away long enough for it to have any effect? Anyway, I'm stuck in HK for at least another year or two.


Very grateful for any help or advice!

It could be the pollution which has exacerbated an existing condition. I'm not a medical practitioner but believe that Ventolin is simply a sticking plaster and not a magic cure. I have used it on occasion and it is certainly effective. However, Ventolin has side effects, albeit probably not noticeable in the short term. I would suggest you use the internet to make yourself fully aware of these, and enable you to weigh up the advantages and disadvantages of using this long-term, especially with regard to your kids use of it.

Thanks jwng. I might give Ventolin a try, and if it doesn't improve matters I might try Dr Chan.


I don't get post-nasal drip as such but my nose does get clogged up at times (of course the phlegm in my throat often has to come out by my blowing my nose) and on some days this kills off my sense of smell and taste.


Worth adding perhaps that I don't smoke. The weird thing is that I used to smoke before I came to HK but my lungs/airways/whatever were never as bad then as they are now. My guess is that there must be something about HK that my lungs don't like, and over the years I've blamed the aircon, the humidity, the constant changing from dry cold aircon air to hot humid air, and the pollution. It's probably all of them combined.

HI
Could you kindly give me the details of DR Michael Chan
tried to call but seems he doesnt work there. I have same problem described by Marco
thank you

If you have suffered it for long and tried different doctor previously, It maybe some kind of autonomic instability in your body that cause the ongoing coughing. I would recommend you to try TCM since it help regulate your body to recover from some ingrained problem in yourself. You may consult Chinese Medicine Doctor, Veronica Hoi, in central as she is quite experienced and attentive. Also, she would explain in details and she is able to speak English which most other TCM Doctor in HK cant do. Hope it help.

I feel your pain, although I've been here for 5 years I started coughing badly two weeks ago (my toddler as well). The GP (in IFC) gave me allergy pills, some orange syrup (Bricanyl and Pholcodine) and Bisolvon. Enough to last me three days... So far all this medecine has zero effect, last night was awful again.
The natural solution is to leave HK I'm afraid.

I relocated 8 years ago for similar reasons...

When I left the problems cleared up --- but within 24 hours of returning for business trips the symptoms reoccurred.

However about 6 years ago we filled our office with Alen Air Purifiers --- and from that point on the pollution did not affect me.

The thing is ... I spend most of my time indoors with perhaps an hour or two outdoors on average per day.

If the indoor air is clean that the battle is mostly won...

Air purifiers make a HUGE difference.

its humidity.. always keep humidity around 30-50.

if you have a chronic cough, consider getting an inhaler. i wont recommend you a particular brand since i am not a doctor. but many many of my friends in hk have had this problem. i bet people who are prone to having this problem are coughing quite seriously during this period (summer/ raining season). if both method work, please come back and post your result so others may benefit from it.