Aurora (Palo Alto. Ca) on 11/10/2013:

On the subject of cough, I got my yearly winter cough again, but was working so much I needed a remedy desperately, and happened to get elderberry concentrate (without alcohol) and phytocillin, took them together 3-4 times in one day, and slept for the first time in a couple of weeks! I kept taking them and cough didn't come back. Very happy!

Another problem;

Yesterday I got yet another episode of a cough, that I have learned is not a cold or flu, but possibly some kind of allergic reaction; something will start a tickle in my throat, and I start coughing. I cannot seems to pinpoint what is the trigger, because the episodes are so random, at all odd hours of the day, different places, no food commonality. Sometimes the episode unravels and goes haywire from there; the cough makes the tickle worse, my body seems to think I have an intruder in my throat, and is violently trying to "throw it out"-by coughing until gagging and throwing up, tears streaming down my face, and I'm desperately trying to get air in-between gagging and violently coughing. Horrible, especially when in public. I don't see any thread on this "allergic" kind of cough, that just comes once and then dissappears, sometimes for days or weeks, to trike again from out of no-where....

Any ideas appreciated! I see online I'm not alone with this. Doctor says "30% of coughs have no explanation" and wants to give anitbiotics. Sigh.