Treatment of dry cough with allergies

A very common symptom of an allergy is a cough. The appearance of all or some of the symptoms at the same time should alert the person, make him suspect an allergy.

Especially when one of his relatives had an allergy. Treatment of dry cough with allergies should be carried out only after an accurate diagnosis is made, based on the following symptoms:

• Sudden appearance. So, an allergic cough appears even when a person feels normal, he does not have a fever, there is no redness of the throat, there is no body aches, as is the case with a cold.
• Paroxysmal: cough appears and disappears unexpectedly, lasts for a long time - from a couple of days to a couple of months.
• Increased symptoms at night. Coughing attacks mostly come at night. They are accompanied by a feeling of suffocation, a feeling of lack of air.
• No mucus is produced. Allergic cough is dry, non-productive, it does not give relief after coughing.
• Complemented by other allergic symptoms: lacrimation, a feeling of sore throat, rhinitis, skin rashes.
• Difficulty breathing, prolonged exhalation.

Why does cough occur with allergies?

In both adults and children, allergies occur by the same mechanism. It can be described as follows: the allergen enters the respiratory tract with air or blood flow, the interaction of the allergen with immunoglobulins E, the release of histamine. When histamine is released, various symptoms begin to appear - swelling appears, on the walls of the trachea, bronchi, the patient's breathing becomes difficult.

These mechanical obstacles are perceived by the body as something to get rid of, to free the breathing paths, and therefore a protective mechanism is activated - coughing. But if we talk about allergies, relief does not come, there is an obsessive and paroxysmal cough.

Allergens that cause coughing

The following substances most often provoke an allergic cough:

• household dust;
• microscopic particles of pet hair;
• tree pollen;
• particles of washing and cleaning powders;
• particles of antibiotics of the penicillin group;
• cigarette smoke.

Rarely, an allergic cough appears due to the ingestion of certain foods. The most common allergens are strawberries, strawberries, nuts, eggs, citrus fruits, bee products, and tomatoes.

Patients have a hard time with an allergic cough to pollen, which, when mixed with car exhaust, forms a mixture containing special proteins and pollen acid.

It can provoke a severe attack of allergies, hay fever, and bronchial asthma, which cause irritation of the mucous membranes and inflammation in the internal organs. Cough is most often not the only symptom, it is also complemented by sneezing attacks, and itching in the nose and palate, eyes, and wheezing in the chest, copious discharge from the nose and eyes.

A similar cough poses a great threat to people suffering from asthma or chronic bronchitis. This causes pulmonary hyperventilation, alveolar hypocarnia, which causes asthma attacks. When a cough begins to appear with a certain frequency, for example, only during the flowering period of certain plants, you need to visit an allergist.

When there is a suspicion of a cough, whether it is a cold or allergic, they focus on the signs that accompany it: on the color and amount of sputum. If the cough is allergic, the sputum is transparent, the cough is dry, accompanied by a feeling of lack of oxygen. As soon as the allergen is excluded, the symptoms immediately disappear.

It is recommended to undergo tests in the hospital for allergens to find out exactly what is the cause of feeling unwell and coughing. Allergies can be caused by food, drugs, cosmetics, which also include soap, shampoo, shower gel, creams, tonics containing alcohol, house mites and household dust, pollen and fluff, particles of animal hair, unnatural fabrics, ultraviolet radiation, genetic predisposition and more.

When the irritant enters the respiratory tract, edema begins to appear and a sharp spasm occurs, which provokes a hacking cough. When the allergen is not determined on time, bronchial edema provokes irreversible atrophy, due to which the disease becomes chronic and must be treated for a long period of time.

What allergic diseases are accompanied by cough?

Cough can be a symptom of one of the types of allergic disease:

• hay fever or hay fever;
• allergic rhinitis;
• allergic tracheitis;
• obstructive bronchitis;
• eosinophilic bronchitis;
• bronchial asthma.

Tests and treatments for allergic cough

Allergic cough is treated in two stages:
At the first, urgent measures are taken. This stage of treatment is considered especially relevant if the cough is complemented by suffocation. To this end, the following activities are being carried out:

1. Provide air flow.
2. Take an antihistamine.
3. Rinse the mouth and nose with saline to eliminate particles of the allergen from the mucous membranes.

After that, they call an ambulance or go to the hospital.
At the second stage, systematic treatment is carried out, which is necessary in order to prevent attacks. Before proceeding to systematic treatment, it is necessary to pass:

1. Skin scarification tests (they are prescribed for adults or children over the age of five).
2. ENT consultations, which can help determine the condition of the upper respiratory tract and exclude chronic diseases.
3. Spirometry and spirometry, which make it possible to evaluate the work of the lungs, to detect hidden obstructions.
4. Consultations with an allergist-pulmonologist.

After the patient has been examined, treatment can begin, which includes the following areas.

Elimination therapy

elimination therapy. Its essence is to eliminate the allergen that causes hypersensitivity. For example, if household dust is the cause of an allergy, then it is necessary to remove from the room those items that accumulate dust in large quantities: carpet, bedspreads with pile, books. Regular wet cleaning is required. When an allergy occurs to any food product, it is necessary to exclude it from the diet.

To quickly cleanse the body of allergic substances, you need to start taking intestinal sorbents: activated charcoal, polyphepan, enteros-gel. It is recommended for patients who have food allergies. Such drugs will not be able to help eliminate the effects of pollen on the human body. To alleviate the symptoms in this case, a temporary change of place of residence or even a climatic zone helps.

In order to cure an allergic cough in adults, the patient should give up cigarettes, since the substances that are rich in tobacco smoke irritate the mucous membranes and dry them out, due to the deterioration of the mucus glands.

In severe situations, if an allergic reaction occurs not to one, but to several allergens at once, and the symptoms are more pronounced, hardware methods of blood purification are used: hemosorption, immunosorption. Their essence is to purify human blood with special sorbent substances that can isolate from the blood and precipitate substances with a certain chemical composition on their surface. After the blood is cleansed, it is returned to the human bloodstream again.

Also, sometimes gravitational blood surgery is used - plasmapheresis and lymphocytopheresis. Both methods involve the exclusion from the patient's blood of the liquid part of the blood - plasma, which contains class E immunoglobulins, antigen-antibody complexes, and other substances that are responsible for the development of allergies.

Antihistamines

They are used for episodic or course use of antihistamines that inhibit the release of histamine. At the moment, there are many antihistamines of different generations that have different effectiveness and different effects.

For drugs of the older generation - Suprastin, Tavegil, Peritol - the following side effects are characteristic:

• drowsiness;
• inhibitory effect;
• fast fatiguability;
• feeling of heaviness in the head.

That is why people who use antihistamines should not get behind the wheel of vehicles and start work that requires a quick response.

New generation drugs (Zaditen, Claritin, Zyrtec) are more effective: their duration of action is longer, and there is practically no sedative effect. It is for this reason that people who work in active jobs should give preference to these drugs. In order to prevent hay fever, it is recommended to use Ketotifen.

You need to know that antihistamines are not taken without consulting a doctor, and especially when allergy symptoms appear for the first time.

Desensitization

The essence of this technique is that when an allergen first enters the body in a small amount, a person gradually gets used to it, and the intensity of symptoms decreases. Hypo- or desensitization is carried out exclusively in special departments of allergology.

Since so far it was only about the treatment of allergies, you need to figure out how to get rid of a cough. There are separate methods that help eliminate this particular allergy symptom.

Bronchodilators

An important direction in the treatment of obstructive bronchitis and cough form of bronchial asthma is taking medications that help relax the smooth muscles of the bronchi and eliminate bronchospasm. It is necessary to use aminophylline, salbutamol, beclomethasone. It is convenient to use drugs. Which are made in the form of pocket inhalers. You can use them only after you have received the permission of the doctor.

Expectorants

The cause that provokes the appearance of an allergic cough is the formation of thick sputum in the bronchi. That is why it is worth using drugs that thin it and contribute to coughing. Therefore, the use of bromhexine, ambroxol, sodium cromoglycate, will be necessary in case of an allergic cough. These drugs should be washed down with plenty of liquid so that sputum liquefies faster and is released from the respiratory tract.

Since the allergization of the population is increasing every year, you need to pay attention to such a symptom as a cough. After all, such a simple sign of allergy in the future can contribute to the development of bronchial asthma.

Rapid and effective elimination of the symptoms of allergic rhinitis and conjunctivitis can be achieved by taking antiallergic drugs, decongestants (vasoconstrictors). They can be taken without medical prescription, simply by following the instructions. The use of more effective anti-allergic agents (mast cell membrane stabilizers, hormones) can be carried out only after a doctor's prescription.

Allergic cough should be treated in the following sequence:

1. We exclude the allergen and use an antihistamine drug: Suprastin, Tavegil, Anaferon, Ascoril, but only if a person is not allergic to any component of this drug.
2. We use anti-allergic spray Nozanex, Cromaglin.
3. We use a decongestant to alleviate the condition of the eyes and nose: Vizin, Nazivin, Glazolin, Tizin, Otrivin.
4. As mast cell membrane stabilizers, we use Ketotifen, Zaditen in the form of tablets or syrup.
5. We use ointments (Triacort, Fluorocort), sprays (Flixonase), eye drops, eye suspensions, Dexamethasone tablets, Kenalog, Beclazone inhalation aerosols as corticosteroid hormones.

If you have any questions regarding the treatment of dry allergic cough, ask our consultant.