Can anyone advise me how to get rid of this cough quickly

Thank you for the ideas, I too have a ventolin inhaler which I use regularly, I also have some codeine linctus from some other illness but I will try and I have bought some 'vocalzone' lozenges which have helped in the past for voice strain but do help with laryngitis.

Well well well! I had to go for a blood test today and another woman said to the nurse that she had an awful cough and was going to get some cough medicine later. After the woman had gone, the nurse said 'a fat lot of good that will do her'! I asked why and she said that there is no evidence that cough medicines do anything - I was puzzled. So, I have just googled it and she's correct!

There is no good evidence from research studies that cough medicines work. It is thought that they have little benefit on the cough (or cold) symptoms.

www.patient.co.uk/health/cough-medicines

Web MD admits that: "The NHS says there's not much scientific evidence that cough medicines work … The NHS says there are no shortcuts with coughs caused by viral infections. It just takes time for your body to fight off the infection." Sure, if the syrup contains paracetamol, it might ease your aching head; if there's any antihistamine in there, your streaming nose and eyes might dry up a bit. If you want to soothe your throat, honey and lemon is at least as good – the Guardian's told you that already.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/oct/16/cough-medicine-wont-cure-you

The WebMD link (there are 2 pages on this link) also states that we should be wary about which cough medicines we take as the ingredients may interfere with medications we already take or exacerbate an existing medical condition:

Many experts question the use of cough medicines because clinical trials have not found that cough medicines are any better than a placebo or dummy treatment.

If all that is true, how come big pharma can make the claim that these 'syrups' (as I shall now call them) help to get rid of a cough? Isn't that misleading? Have you seen the price of Benylin!

Do not go out in the night air. Or have your windows open at night, or once the damp starts rising. Cold dampness will irritate it further.i

Poirot would be proud of you jinglebellsfrocks

It's true!

I don't think any of them actually claim to get rid of a cough, HollyDaze, just to ease the symptoms. They have to be very careful what they say about their products these days.

I agree - and so would Poirot

They must lead us to believe it does though Ana as so many (me included) believed they did help to get rid of the cough; maybe misleading us?

I suppose the old chestnut of the Carbolic Smokeball Company is still 'fresh' in their minds

I hope you are all feeling better ny now.
I've still got my cough.

If you have an irritated throat because of perpetual coughing, suck an ice cube (or an ice lolly!). It calms the inflammation in a way that hot drinks don't. BTW, codeine has a very 'binding' effect on the bowels - so be prepared with a laxative!

I found something last year that sounds about right for you all - Boots mucous cough relief. It stops it all pretty much instantly. I think I had better get some more in. It's brilliant for dry tickly coughs when you just know there is something down there that you can't get rid of.

I've had a dry cough - nothing major, just irritating - since I had a cold some weeks back and it's accompanied by mucus in the back of the throat from time to time. I'm sure if it were hot and sunny I'd forget all about it

Not necessarily, mine has been hanging on for months and months. I think allergies must be aggravating it.