Cough that won't go away. Gasp! Help!

[harmono619]

I have been using CPAP for many years, since 2007 I think. It's not very high pressure, only 11.5. It's a respironics that has that pressure that varies as you breathe in and out. I'm using a nose cushion. Usually I like using the CPAP when I have a cold, because of the humidifier. But I had a cough about 3 weeks ago, and it won't go away. It's really bad. When I say bad, I mean not the amount of coughing. What happens, is in the middle of the night, sometimes 3 times a night I wake up with a really dry feeling in my throat, and trachea. I will instinctively cough, and that will then result in me gasping for breath. It's like an athsma attack. This has been going on for about a week like this, the athsma attacks, and I don't have diagnosed athsma. I've had really bad coughs, and I just cough, and that's it. But this is killing me. I can't sleep enough. It seems like the CPAP machine is drying me out, even though the humidifier is on as high as possible most of the time. When I feel like I'm going to cough, I hit the ramp button, and I have it set for 45 minutes, max time. I've been on antibiotics. I used a clean tube and mask. Still this problem. I don't mind coughing, but I don't like choking. I'm choking, I can't breathe when this happens. It's like I inhaled some water, only worse - can't breathe at all. If I stay calm, and try not to gasp in air fast, it will subside, and I can take a cough drop and feel better, but that causes me to lose about an hour of sleep or more each night. I'm thinking about reducing my CPAP pressure to a bare minimum until this goes away. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm going to call the doctor pretty soon.

[Julie]

What type of mask are you using? And what specific machine/model?

[BlackSpinner]

You need to see a doctor. ASAP.

Coughs that don't go away can be indicative of all sorts of nasty things.

It can also be asthma because asthma can present as a cough.

[LSAT]

Dry cough could be from acid coming up the esophagus at night.

[DavidCarolina]

Trachea/ vocal chord constriction?

Laryngeal reflux?

Are you using reflux med?

How small is your airway?

Have you tried bipap, to prevent hidden snores upon exhale (epap)

[DavidCarolina]

Forgot to add that food allergies of any kind can cause ANY problem and mimic ANY sickness in the body.

Most undiagnosed serious illnesses: sleep apnea and food allergies

[Guest]

I have been using CPAP for many years, since 2007 I think. It's not very high pressure, only 11.5. It's a respironics that has that pressure that varies as you breathe in and out. I'm using a nose cushion. Usually I like using the CPAP when I have a cold, because of the humidifier. But I had a cough about 3 weeks ago, and it won't go away. It's really bad. When I say bad, I mean not the amount of coughing. What happens, is in the middle of the night, sometimes 3 times a night I wake up with a really dry feeling in my throat, and trachea. I will instinctively cough, and that will then result in me gasping for breath. It's like an athsma attack. This has been going on for about a week like this, the athsma attacks, and I don't have diagnosed athsma. I've had really bad coughs, and I just cough, and that's it. But this is killing me. I can't sleep enough. It seems like the CPAP machine is drying me out, even though the humidifier is on as high as possible most of the time. When I feel like I'm going to cough, I hit the ramp button, and I have it set for 45 minutes, max time. I've been on antibiotics. I used a clean tube and mask. Still this problem. I don't mind coughing, but I don't like choking. I'm choking, I can't breathe when this happens. It's like I inhaled some water, only worse - can't breathe at all. If I stay calm, and try not to gasp in air fast, it will subside, and I can take a cough drop and feel better, but that causes me to lose about an hour of sleep or more each night. I'm thinking about reducing my CPAP pressure to a bare minimum until this goes away. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm going to call the doctor pretty soon.

I had the same problem...I had the doctor give me some antibiotics and it cleared up. Thank God for Skip breathing and knowing not to panic...

[Country4ever]

I've had a constant cough for a year. Chest x-ray normal. I do think it has something to do with using cpap.
Another possible reason (and I don't know your age), is sagging of the epiglottis.

[jencat824]

harmono619 ,

Are you on any new meds, specifically High Blood Pressure meds? HBP meds can cause this kind of cough & if that is the case the Dr. needs to change meds ASAP. I went for about a year with this type of cough several years into my PAP therapy & it had nothing to do with CPAP & everything to do with my HPB meds. I nearly went crazy with the cough & several time went into major asthma attacks (the go the ER attacks). If you are not on BP meds, disregard my comment.

Jen

[Janknitz]

Definitely time to see a doctor. Just because you don't have a diagnosis of asthma doesn't mean you haven't developed it (mine went undiagnosed for most of my life!). And it could be many other things, too. There's no way for us to do an armchair diagnosis. Make an appointment tomorrow!

[chunkyfrog]

There is no reason to delay going to the doctor; and many, many reasons to go as soon as you can.
It could be bad, or nothing, but the longer you wait, the more time it has to get worse--or just make you worry.

[zoocrewphoto]

The most common causes of chronic cough are:

asthma
allergies
post nasal drip
gerd

Other possibilities
heart problems
lung problems
side effect of medication

Also, something I have noticed - I use a full face mask, and a single cough is fine. But if I could more than a couple times, it feels like I can't get enough air fast enough, so I feel like I'm having an asthma attack and must remove the mask. So, the cough may not be as bad, but the cpap makes it harder to cough normally. The question is, whit is the true cause of the cough? Do you only cough at night? Do you only cough while lying down. It may not be caused by the cpap, but by the time of day or body position, and the cpap simply makes it harder. People with heart problems tend to cough more when trying to sleep. My asthma, if acting up, is worse at night. If I have a cold or asthma problems, I have to sleep propped up or I can't breathe well. It has been like that for over 20 years. When a took a particular medication, I had a small dry cough, only at night. So, there could be different reasons that would cause coughing at night.

[Country4ever]

I'm thinking (in the case of my cough) that my nasal pillow might irritate my sinuses and nasopharynx just enough to cause either post-nasal drip, or just some other kind of irritation.

[The Latinist]

Have you tried adjusting your humidity settings? In my experience, either too much or too little humidity can induce a cough. But I second everyone else's suggestion that you see a doctor, because it is entirely possible that your cough is indicative of an illness entirely unrelated to your OSA.

[Country4ever]

I had a chest xray and it was normal. I'm wondering what kind of test they do for the throat area? Would an xray of that be good enough.......or would they need something like a ct scan or an MRI?
Hopefully it wouldn't be a scope right off the bat.
I'm not the original poster, but I would feel better being sure nothing else is brewing. Could be something like a benign polyp. But.....I really do think my cough in part is to my sagging epiglottis..........which I'm wondering contributes to apnea. When I was younger, I could see the top of my epiglottis in the back of my throat. No its nowhere to be found. haha
I'm 64, so I'm learning to accept all my sagging things........but it's not easy.