I have coughed alllll night! How do I stop it?!

[BretonStripe]

Suffering with a heavy cold. Have taken paracetamol for the headache and earrache, and have cough syrup and lozenges for THE MOST ANNOYING TICKLY COUGH EVER! But it's not touching it

Any tips please oh wise Mumsnetters? I'm propped up in bed. Is a hundred times worse when I lie down.

Woe is meeee!

Trebor strong mints are good if you've got a tickle in your throat and you've maxed out on medicated stuff.

It's a bugger of a virus OP.

Yes codeine or night nurse

I went to the pharmacist on my knees last week after a cough had been keeping me up. They sold me Covonia night cough medicine and it was AMAZING. I actually slept the next night and I felt so much better for it. I still have the cough (this is week 2) but it’s not keeping me up at night any more.

If it is a tickly cough I find a moist atmosphere helps when breathing in as this is often the trigger for me so my weird trick is to breath through a hankie or the bedclothes to make a muggier atmosphere and I generally stop coughing. It's free so worth a try everyone!

I 2nd Covonia night time but if you have asthma, gp may be needed

If you've got a tickly cough that's worse when you lie down, you need the stuff that brings up phlegm. It should be labelled something like 'for a more productive cough'. I've forgotten what the ingredient is, sorry!

Honestly I find a natural ginger lemon and honey tea work wonders and speed up recovery.

Boil some ginger in water, have as much as you like, the more the better but remember it gets spicy, leave it for about 20 mins. Take off the heat and squirt in half a lemon and honey to taste, sip throughout the day. I make a big load and keep it in the flask and the I feel good all day. When I stop drinking I feel awful again.

And if all else fails, swallow a blob of calgel or something similar :)

Right, I bombarded the poor woman in Boots with all your suggestions! There are certain ones that I can't take with other things blah blah, and they were out of stock of the Colgate Peroxyl...there was an alternative behind the counter mouth antiseptic but I couldn't have that with the Covonia Spray so have opted for the latter. Spent over £20 on Night Nurse, Covonia Spray, chesty cough syrup (Guaifenesin) and lozenges. Also found some in-date VapoRub in my cupboard, hurrah! And will put menthol oil in my oil vaporizer thingymajig.

Thanks everyone - gonna throw everything at it and hope I sleep! (Kids at school so have house to myself).

I wouldn't worry about the Vicks being in date...DH is using one dated September 2009

I always have to sleep propped up on pillows when I have / had a cold, for up to 6 weeks. It helps to reduce the coughing. Pholcodeine is good, & if you are asthmatic, remember to take the proper dose of all your medication. Sometimes I sleep downstairs on the sofa, so DH & DD get a break from my dreadful cough (then I nap during the day)

Definitely something with codeine in it. Only thing that works for me....I get terrible coughing fits at night when I have a cold.

Oh poor you, I had the same cough, started end of July and I've basically caught virus after virus since, still have the annoying cough, was actually getting a gurgle sensation whenever I tried to breathe through the mucus. Only this last week have I started to feel some what better but still coughing! Driving me up the wall.

Codeine is a cough suppressant. Get some nurofen plus but they do make you drowsy. Good to take before bed

I wasn't allowed both Night Nurse and Pholcodeine so chose NN...now wishing I'd got the Pholcodeine.

Oh god, I hope it doesn't drag on for months like you @Feelings you poor thing!!

Dh has been sleeping in the spare room all week!

Oh my word! Night Nurse definitely works - good job I set an alarm for school run Still have to sleep sitting up tho.

Hope everyone else who is poorly on this thread managed some rest and/or a nap too

Glad you got some kip Breton and hope you're better soon. Might take a while for your energy levels to return. It was a two week virus in this house but we felt fairly tired afterwards.

I used to get dry tickly coughs all teh time and they would last for weeks and weeks and weeks, even after all other signs of cold had gone.
Now I take cough supressant as soon as it starts, it's the only thing that helps ime.

What cough surpressant do you take TheKitchenWitch?

Please don’t take codeine to suppress your cough if you are coughing up yellow or green phlegm. You can give yourself a horrible lung/chest infection. I had pleurisy a few years back as a secondary infection and it was vile, wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.

Steam is your friend. Start early in the day, inhale steam and cough up everything you can, blow your nose lots. Do this several times during the day if you can. If you wake up coughing, go downstairs and steam again. It’s miserable, but it won’t last forever.

Yy suppressant is only for dry tickly cough.
I’m not in uk, but I take Silomat drops (they taste revolting) which contain Pentoxyverin as the active ingredient (I’ve just looked that up).
I found nothing else helped and I would have these dry cough attacks, even weeks after the cold was over, that were so bad I could barely breathe.

That sounds a lot like asthma TheKitchenWitch

Chop up an onion and leave in your room when you go to bed. Stinks but meant to help get rid of a cough! Don't know how (something to do with absorbing germs) but some people swear by it!

I rubbed vicks on my feet in desperation at 3:40 this morning - amazing, how the heck does that work then????

Well I went to see a nurse today as still struggling with this ridiculous cough...seems to be getting worse! She listened to my chest and has prescribed antibiotics and steroids. Hope they start to work quickly as I have a busy weekend!