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Dry, hacking cough!

Posted , 6 users are following.

constance.de
constance.de

Does anyone else suffer from a dry, hacking cough because of taking Pred?  For months I have had one, and I have changed my blood pressure tablets three times, thinking it came from them (I had trouble getting the right tablets when I started taking blood pressure tablets 33 years ago!).  This morning I read this cough can be a side effect of prednisolone.  Lovely, I'm stuck with it for the foreseeable future!!!

0 likes, 15 replies

15 Replies

  • EileenH
    EileenH constance.de

    Posted

    I had a dry cough because of PMR - it improved with pred! It can be a symptom of GCA affecting the chest arteries, which can happen even if it doesn't affect your head arteries. 

    Hope yours improves though.

    • constance.de
      constance.de EileenH

      Posted

      Something else Eileen.  You mentioned Bursitis (I think that was the word!) some time ago and I believe I may have it.  I have a sharp, stabbing, pain in the back of my hip when I move quickly and also when I sit on something hard.  Could this be a sign?

      Thanks for your interest and comments.

    • EileenH
      EileenH constance.de

      Posted

      Mmmm - trochanteric bursitis apparently starts with a sharp and intense pain that later becomes a more diffuse ache. Mine was sore first of all when I tried to lie on the affected side to do Pilates - didn't notice it in bed. It improved quite a bit with pred but came back a few years later and then it was like red hot needles. So yes, a possibility.

      The NHS site claims it will improve with rest, ice and pain killers - but if you are on pred the painkillers pose a bit of a problem. I take other stuff too and when I asked if they could suggest a suitable painkiller to use for it I was in the emergency department before my feet could touch the floor having a cortisone injection! I was at the hospital for a colonoscopy that week so had had to stop the warfarin so because I wasn't taking it I could have had a cortisone shot into the joint without any risk of bleeding. I don't think the injection was into the joint as it happened, it was on the outside of the hip, where you can feel the bony bit. Wherever it was it made a big difference. I had another done by my GP a few months later and the combination of the two sorted the bursitis very successfully.

  • mrsmop
    mrsmop constance.de

    Posted

    I had one because of Ramipril and currently because of oral candidiasis

    Hope you sort yours out soon

  • Mrs.Mac-Canada
    Mrs.Mac-Canada constance.de

    Posted

    I never really thought about it before but I was driving my husband crazy coughing all the time.  I thought it was my BP medication but was afraid to change because any change to medications makes it difficult to buy travel insurance and I choose travel over a cough any day.  I have to say though that I haven't coughed as much lately as my pred dose is lower.  Now I'm not sure about changing my BP medication.  I've been given a new medication called Lodestar.  Have you tried that?
    • constance.de
      constance.de Mrs.Mac-Canada

      Posted

      No, I've not taken Lodestar,  but I can't remember the names of all the tablets I've taken over the 33 years of BP - a cough and BP tablets seem to go together.  What do we do now?  We're stuck on Pred for..........??

      Our husbands do suffer, don't they?

      Have a great Christmas and  pain free 2015 - that is to everyone.  Constance

    • EileenH
      EileenH constance.de

      Posted

      Ah yes - but my husband has had a dreadful cough for the last 20 years since he had cancer - not lung cancer but the lungs suffered badly. Early mornings are not a particularly quiet time in our house. Nothing to do with me who would dearly love to sleep for longer!

      Actually, it occurs to me, any of you with a chronic cough since pred should ask the GP to get you checked for silent reflux - regurgitating acid at night. It can happen without "heartburn".

    • EileenH
      EileenH

      Posted

      Ooops - meant to say, BP meds haven't given me a cough. In fact, all things considered they don't have much in the way of noticeable side effects. I must be really lucky.
    • constance.de
      constance.de EileenH

      Posted

      That's interesting.  I had a stomach ulcer a few years ago and have had esophagus trouble since then.  Acid reflux and NOT Pred causing cough?Still doesn't stop the cough though - I need to take a tablet  for that every day as well.  Woe is me!
    • constance.de
      constance.de

      Posted

      I also wanted to commiserate with you.  Both you and your husband have really gone through it.  I hardly dare complain when I hear the other stories on this forum.  Onwards and upwards!
    • EileenH
      EileenH constance.de

      Posted

      And of course - all this is especially relevant for anyone who is taking alendronic acid or any other bisphosphonate...
    • EileenH
      EileenH constance.de

      Posted

      We then, like all of us now, just got on with it! And looking back, it was a bit sh*tty (to put it mildly) but we survived and got over it. And that is the important thing to hang on to in PMR and GCA.

      These things will pass. And they do.

  • ptolemy
    ptolemy constance.de

    Posted

    I have had a continual cough since taking pred. It is more of a clearing your throat type cough, but I need to cough most of the time. A friend on pred says she has the same problem. 
  • 3party
    3party constance.de

    Posted

    I had not connected the cough with the Pred., but I have now!  Thanks.
  • Mrs_CJ
    Mrs_CJ constance.de

    Posted

    I am so glad you brought up this topic.  I have a pesky cough throughout the day. It's the worst in the morning, and when I lay down in bed at night is my second worst time.  

    I have a lot lot of post nasal drip and am seeing an allergy doctor who thinks I have a sinus infection. One of her key monitors is whether the antibiotic is stopping my coughing. Well if my cough is from prednisone it isn't going to stop anytime soon!  My next appointment  I'm going to explain to her that I think we need to focus on the post nasal drip and controlling my wet cough and not on trying to stop my dry cough. 

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