Please share your secret cough remedies

[partypoopers]

My teenager has had a cough for three weeks now - it’s much looser now and he isn’t coughing quite as much but it sounds so painful and hacking, he coughs so hard he’s heaving. He’s still waking up in the night with it too. He’s been checked at the doctors who said it’s a virus.
We’ve tried various cough medicines, lozenges, jakemans, hot baths, spoonful of honey, warm drinks.... nothing gives him even a couple of hours break from it. I’m hoping the people of mumsnet have some secret remedies we can try

The only thing that ever works for me is co-codemol. The codeine in it is a cough suppressant and helps to stop that cough reflex. Although it is only a short term fix because you can't take it for more than 3 days it can sometimes break the cough cycle and help in the longer term as a result.

Vicks on feet and thick socks on!!

Covonia or Broncho-stop are both worth a try, the Vicks on the feet trick works at night but not sure about daytime when you're up and about. I saw an article the other day about a study being done which proved milk chocolate is actually a better cough suppressant than cough medicines but not had chance to try that one out yet, hope it's true!

Have you tried Robitussin?
Myself and DP had a hacking cough recently, went to the pharmacy and was recommended this stuff. Cough was way less severe after taking this. Wish I'd have found it sooner.

Try over the counter painkiller at night if the coughing start, it sometimes is enough to suppress the cough. Then sleep with head raised on pillows can help too.