<human>: Hi Dr,My question is the following... I ve had a chronic cough and suffer from an almost constant runny nose, and sometimes feeling that my nose is clogged. Last year the cough symptoms started to worsen and they were daily, often several times a day. The doctor put me on Seretide (salmeterol) for a couple of months this year and the cough absolutely disappeared. Since the first dosis and throughout the months that I took it, I didn t have a single cough attack. My question is: a cough that reacts to asthma meds, is necessarily asthma?? or can a sinus cough or GERD cough react to asthma meds??Thanks a lot!
<bot>: Hello. Thank you for asking at Chat Doctor. I went through your history. I would like to answer your queries as follows:1. Sinusitis, HERD and asthma are all internally linked. Both sinusitis and HERD can aggravate asthma symptoms. If one can control sinusitis and HERD, ones asthma control very much improved.2. So if you have sinus, and your cough has responded to Sere tide (Albuterol), I would suggest you to treat sinusitis well. Were I treating you, I would prescribe you montelukast and levocetirizine/cetirizine for at least 4 weeks. I would also suggest you daily steam inhalation and nasal irrigation with nasal saline spray.3. HERD cough may not improve with Sere tide (Albuterol) type of asthma medications alone. But if you have HERD, 6-8 weeks of antacids will treat HERD as well as HERD related asthma symptoms.4. In addition, I would suggest you avoidance of exposure to dusts, smokes and air pollution as much as possible. Please do not smoke if you smoke. 5. Regular breathing exercises and a healthy diet rich in vitamins & minerals (adequate amounts of green leafy vegetables, fruits, sprouts, etc.) will help you additionally. Hope above suggestions will be helpful to you and solves your queries. Should you have any further query, please feel free to ask at Chat Doctor. Wish you the best of the health. Thank you & Regards.