Can you help me with my cough please?

i smoke. for just over a month iv had a cough- at first was a dry tickly cough, after recovering from a sore throat and flu symptoms... now its a wheezing, can feel my lungs working, hacking, coughing up mucus kind of cough. can i treat it with antibiotics? not serious right?

been smoking too long to give up just like that- but im trying to cut down. my lungs do not feel good haha.

First you need to see your GP, as a smoker 4 weeks of cough is long enough to make a chest X-Ray mandatory.

Secondly, and surprisingly as much to doctors as patients, most coughs are statistically unaffected by antibiotics! The longer the cough has been present the LESS likely it is to be bacterial and thus affected by antibiotics. At 3 weeks only about 5% of patients with cough can be shown to have a bacterial isolate from their sputum. Again statistically the commonest cause of cough is post infective bronchial hyper-reactivity = the infection is gone, but the lungs remain irritable.

The majority of doctors unfortunately give antibiotics to virtually 100% of patients with cough, despite the overwhelming evidence that it makes little difference. Generally only those with positive X-Rays, have focal chest signs on examination and who are toxic = feverish, at time of presentation, should receive them.

I`ll have a slice of sickness a tish who you will fall down he stuck in his thumb and pulled out a bucket full of weazel

like you I'm a smoker and like you I've had a chesty/dry/tickly cough for about a week........i think its time we gave up don't you?

added.....
seriously though a persistent cough for a month or more should be checked by your doctor as it can be one of the first signs of lung cancer!

If you hadn't mentioned you were recovering from the flu or something, i think i read that right? you were recovering from being sick? or the cough was like the cough you get when you are recovering from an illness? well ill go with my first assumption as say you were recovering from an illness. If you hadn't mentioned this i would write it off as a simple smokers cough, but because you were sick it could be more serious. If there is any pain in your back or shortness of breath please see a doctor your flu could have lead you right into pneumonia, us smokers are much more suseptible to it. Try buying an expectorant like mucinex and take this for a few days, also pump the fluids, drink as much water or non-caffienated beverages that you can. This will loosen the junk in your chest and allow you to cough it all up. Also try starting the shower and sitting in the steamy room, this too can loosen the mucus caught in your lungs. The smoke irritates your lungs and makes it a lot harder to get rid of mucus. If this does not help GO to the DOCTORS he will perscribe you to a week or so worth of antibiotics and it should clear up quickly. Try working it out at home first though, give it a few days, watch out of back pain or a low grade fever. GOODLUCK

I don't know if this is a joke or not. Not serious? You know it could be very serious! If you want to stop smoking, read 'Easyway to Stop Smoking' by Allen Carr, Cost about 拢8.99. It's a marvellous book. I gave up after 40 years and 30 aday. Been stopped over 3 years, never think about having a cig, even if I'm out drinking or eating with smokers.Good Luck.

OH IT'S VERY SERIOUS!!!
You may have what they call a "whooping cough" and it is deadly... very common in adults and teens... a smoking makes it worse!!! See your doctor ASAP!

Its your life. Die if you want to but it would be better to see your doctor to have the cough checked out and to get help in stopping smoking.
I know how difficult it is to give up. I used to smoke over 40 per day and even after 12 months I still used to get the urge.
The best advice I can give you is to avoid the places where there is anyone smoking for at least 6 months. It was the "smell" of the smoke that I found made me want to light up again.
My "smokers cough" took over three years to go completely - thats the time it takes for the damage to be repaired to your throat etc.

You are asking for trouble if you don`t stop smoking. Go and see your gp and ask for a chest x ray before it`s too late. Yes could be very serious - you could develop pneumonia.