Coughing so hard when lie down that can hardly breathe. Anything I can do?

[CantSleepWontSleep]

Went to bed an hour ago but have had to get up again as didn't go more than 5 seconds without coughing, and it was hurting, and could hardly breathe.

Tried propping myself up in bed but still no good.

Am downstairs sitting up now and still coughing very frequently, but not quite as bad.

I never seem to need my inhalers (very very mild asthma) so they are all years out of date and have been thrown away.

Is there anything I can do/take? Am breastfeeding so most medication is out. I neeeeeeeed some sleep as am only getting 3 or 4 hours a night at the moment as it is (6 week old ds doesn't sleep).

Honey, lemon and hot water

The coughing is caused by your throat going into spasm which can be alleviated by paracetamol, but you may not want to go down that route.

Coughs are rotten aren't they, and they always seem to get worse at night

Hope you feel better soon

You really really need to see a doctor, get some inhalers and maybe anti bs. Certainly night time coughing is a marker for asthma.

You may well have a chest infection, too.

Propping up on pillows is a good idea, can you take paracetamol to get you through the night? Someone will know if paracetamol and BF mix.

Truly, with a tiny baby you need to get your strentgh asap.

Hope you get some sleep and get sorted tomorrow.

my worst coughs are when i'm congested and the mucous moving round (sorry if TMI)) aggravates my throat which causes me to cough without pausing for breath. The only thing i find helps is one single night nurse tablet (which includes decongestant and very mild sedative which allows me to wake up for baby but sleep through coughing) and lying on my stomach (which i hate, am a back or side sleeper).

There is truly nothing worse than a bad cough, and i have been known to fall asleep propped into sitting position in bed before

hope it goes soon.

Go to your gp tomorrow. If you are having trouble breathing get yourself checked out to rule out pneumonia.

sorrt, have just seen you are bf so won't want medication you have my utmost sympathies, i had the worst cough for first 12 weeks of my pregnancy, as if I wasn't tired enough, sleep was prevented!

I have huge sympathy -- DS and I both had whooping cough from when he was 2 weeks old and I well remember that desperate need to sleep while the coughing made it impossible.

Assuming you don't have whooping cough there's some mixture (can't remember what it is) that isn't technically prescription-only but that pharmacists don't like to give you without a prescription because it's popular with drug addicts. Anyway, it's OK with breastfeeding (they gave it to me before they worked out that it was whooping cough) and apparently has been shown to have an actual beneficial effect. Or they may have been lying to me and it's just a placebo. Either way, talk to your GP. It's hideous trying to get through this with a newborn and you need some help.

Thanks ladies. Have taken paracetamol (ok whilst bf) and made a chamomile tea with honey (was out of lemon - do they serve a particular purpose?).

Will try and get appt with GP tomorrow. Hate having anti-b's as they upset my tummy, and already had one course (not for this) since ds born.

Had more paracetamol and tea in the night, and am off to the doctor's at 9am. Unfortunately it's the wet doctor as my good one has a couple of days off. Will let you know what she says.

Ds kindly slept a bit better than normal, so either he took pity on me or this bug is wiping him out too (we all have it, but I'm the worst).

Now have amoxycillin and an inhaler. Hoping they take effect quickly.

She checked ds' lungs and they are clear, so that's good news at least.

hope they help you get a better nights sleep

Oh, I hope you start to feel a bit better soon.

Would steam help if it gets worse in the night again?
Worth a try...

I never seem to get on well with steam Jas. Just hoping that ds continues to be dopey so that I don't need to put in a lot of effort with him overnight.