What could be the cause of constant tiring coughing?

I've had a bad tickly cough for months now with a lot of mucus.

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Q I thought it was due to dairy foods and have cut back on them, but I’m not sure that has made much of a difference, and the constant coughing is very tiring. What is your advice?

A There are two common causes of the type of cough you describe. The first is secretions from the nose passing back down into the throat - a postnasal drip - and though in the short term this can just be due to a cold, more persistent symptoms are often due to nose inflammation caused by an allergy.

Though allergic rhinitis is sometimes caused by foods, airborne allergens, such as house dust mites and moulds are a more likely cause, along with pollens in the warmer weather. The other common cause is reflux of acid from the stomach back to the throat, where it causes inflammation, which in turn produces mucus.

Though many people with this often have heartburn as well, sometimes a sore throat and cough is the only symptom. A persistent tickly cough can also be a side effect of some medications, especially ACE inhibitors, such as ramipril (and others ending with “pril”) and calcium channel blockers, such as amlodipine (and others ending in “dipine”). So the best thing to do is speak to a doctor who can help sort out the cause, and if medication is to blame, prescribe an alternative.