What should you do if you have an unbearable cough when your Yang is healthy?

This is the 4191th article of Da Yi Xiao Hu

After being infected with the new coronavirus, some patients developed symptoms such as body aches, fever, fatigue, diarrhea, and cough. After a week, as the antigen turned negative, the clinical symptoms gradually eased.

However, a small number of patients experience severe coughing symptoms that occur day and night, and some even cough up blood, causing extreme pain in sleep, physical strength, and mentally. What should be done about such severe coughs?

1. Mechanism of cough

Patients infected with the new coronavirus experience coughing because the virus causes congestion and edema of the tracheal mucosa, damage to ciliary function, or even loss of cilia, exposing the tracheal epithelium and nerve membrane, resulting in coughing or even severe coughing symptoms. The cough is more obvious due to the excitement of the vagus nerve at night.

2. General Countermeasures

1. Pay attention to the ambient temperature adjustment to avoid catching cold;

2. Open the windows for ventilation;

3. Get enough sleep and talk less;

4. Drink plenty of water and eat more fresh vegetables and fruits. Recommended fruits include monk fruit or snow pear. You can also boil Fritillaria cirrhosa and monk fruit or snow pear and drink the water.

5. Oral cough and expectorant drugs, including Feili Ke mixture, Qiangli loquat dew, compound licorice tablets, etc.;

6. Oral antiviral drugs;

7. Anti-infection treatment.

3. Trump Strategy

When general countermeasures are ineffective, we have to use the trump card countermeasure - central cough suppressant. Commonly used central cough suppressants include codeine, dextromethorphan, cloperastine, pholcodine, dimethomorph, and pentoxyverine.

4. Precautions for using ace drugs

1. It is forbidden for those who are allergic to drugs;

2. Pholcodine can be used in children;

3. Codeine and pholcodine are addictive if used for a long time;

4. Use with caution in patients with impaired liver function, cor pulmonale, asthma, infants, and breastfeeding women;

5. Some patients may experience side effects such as fatigue, drowsiness, decreased vision, slowed breathing, nausea, vomiting, and constipation;

6. If serious side effects occur, stop taking the medicine and seek medical attention immediately.

Author: Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital

Qian Mingping, deputy chief physician of general surgery