Dr. Abdullah Bilal Ayoub, a resident physician, discusses a hidden cause of chronic cough. I personally know a young man who suffered from this type of cough for a long time, which affected his health and psyche. He visited doctors until he discovered that it was the type mentioned in the segment...
Coughing, or "cough," is a very healthy and necessary reaction to protect the respiratory system from any harmful or external irritants. However, in some cases, the harm from coughing may be greater than its benefit, especially when it persists for long periods ranging from weeks to years.
Medically, chronic cough is defined as a cough that lasts more than 8 weeks in adults. The causes are usually due to three main things:
In some cases, medications may be prescribed to the patient to treat all the aforementioned causes without responding to treatment. Here, after taking the complete medical history and performing the necessary tests to exclude any other organic cause, we may reach a diagnosis called: "Nervous Cough" (Sensory Neuropathic Cough).
This type of cough is usually characterized by being continuous and unremitting, and may appear with or without a clear trigger.
Patients with this type of cough often benefit from some nerve medications such as "amitriptyline" (Amitriptyline) or "gabapentin" (Gabapentin).
Important Note: If this condition matches what you are experiencing, this does not necessarily mean that this is your final diagnosis, but it may be very beneficial to discuss this possibility with your treating doctor to reach the optimal treatment.