These Subtle Differences Between Coughs Can Reveal A Lot About Your Illness

LOADING ERROR LOADING A cough can feel like a particularly annoying symptom to deal with, especially if it’s keeping you awake at night or lingering for weeks on end. If you have a dry cough with a viral illness and then about 10 days later develop a “heavy, productive” cough, this could be a sign of a bacterial infection, like bronchitis or pneumonia, Addrizzo-Harris said. Lastly, a cough is generally considered chronic if it lasts for more than eight weeks and could indicate conditions like asthma, COPD, GERD or a more serious lung disease, like lung cancer, Seo said. For people who have pneumonia, “they usually feel run down, drained, fatigued, fevers … it really takes a toll on an individual in addition to the cough,” Galiatsatos said. “Treating a cough with a cough suppressant without trying to figure out the underlying cause of it is like just taking pain meds without giving a second thought of why you’re having chest pain, for instance.” You should see a doctor promptly if your cough is accompanied by fevers, chills, night sweats, coughing up blood, shortness of breath, chest pain or unintentional weight loss, Seo said.