It just keeps lingering on. It clears for a while and then all of a sudden along comes Mr Cough.
Hack up a fur ball and then everything is fine.
I’ve noticed more dust around recently. Is this it?
Have I got some disease?
Has my wasted youth caught up with me?
Just leave me alone will you Mr Cough.
Air pollution gets much worse this time of year. Try taking some anti allergy pills.
I think it probably is the pollution. I’ve had this a couple of times. It’ll linger until I take a trip back to the UK, then it miraculously clears up (takes about two weeks).
consult a doctor and insist on a X-Ray, just to make sure it isn’t TB
Yeah, probably worthwhile (I sincerely doubt it’s TB, so leave the X-ray to the doctor’s judgement) but DO NOT go to a local clinic. He’ll just tell you “你感冒了” and give you the standard bag of M&Ms.
You should have your uvula checked.
A year and a half ago I had a cold in which I had a miserable phlegmy cough for about a month. Mercifully it went away, but I was surprised at how long it took.
I find that my cough improves if I smoke outside rather than inside. 
I second the air pollution thing. In October I stopped using the AC and opened the windows using fans and I noticed a sore throat also. This year it’s particularly bad in Kaohsiung since there has been very little rain or wind from the typhoons to blow the dirty air away. This morning I can’t even see the 85 building which is only 5 km away.
I second the air pollution thing. In October I stopped using the AC and opened the windows using fans and I noticed a sore throat also. This year it’s particularly bad in Kaohsiung since there has been very little rain or wind from the typhoons to blow the dirty air away. This morning I can’t even see the 85 building which is only 5 km away.
And the humidity perhaps
I noticed the same thing myself. Had this intense cough last year for about 2 months… would repeatedly come and then just as quickly vanish
Went back to ireland during the cold winter (cold and wet that is) and it was gone in about a week, and stayed away the three months I was there
Get a couple cases of the brown mixture cough syrup with .00001% opium. Good stuff.
You are in Tainan so it’s not likely to be humidity. Could be any number of things. Mold, dust, allergans, bad luck. There are tons of flowering things at the moment which could be affecting you.
I had bronchitis most of my second year in Taiwan but have had zero brochil problems since. Mine was due to the unhealthy indoor air at the school I taught at. You need to look carefully at your real environment and not just put it down to a nebulous air pollution.
From kaoshiung all the way up to Taichung will have particularly bad air pollution this time of year, until it rains or is blown out. Then the cycle repeats. Humidity is more a problem of North Taiwan. Too dry air can also cause coughing by the way.
Of course you should check with a doctor.
Do you have any other symptoms like sneezing , running nose or itchy eyes? If it is air pollution the antihistamine tabs can prevent these symptoms, just take one a day.
I mix half a cap of dettol into my spray bottle and just go to town on all the hard surfaces every other day. It kills molds and germs, plus I end up wiping up all the dust that settles around my bedroom. It’ll smell like a hospital for several minutes though. My wife, baby, and I all cough less, and have less issues with red itchy eyes.
Now to the problem of ants living underneath the floorboards and walls…
Got a severe bacterial cough with runny nose etc. on vacation back home in Germany, went almost away and then turned in Taiwan since June into a chronic disease. The first 2 months it had to be treated with antibiotics which had it coming back as soon as the last tablet was gone (or sooner!). Finally however the symptoms got less. Changed doc and treatment and was told it would be allergic. Allergy tablets, a hot cup of brown-sugar-ginger-tea and a hot cup of green tea keep it at bay ever since. My have a week or two without symptoms until Mr. Cough is back. But not as bad as in the beginning any more. Just made myself another green tea…
Fans, cold air con and cold air flow in the room can make this really bad.
Was wondering also what that might be.
My theory for many sufferers (still should check with docs of course) is similar to Bobs, a few years ago I caught a bad cold which did not go away. The back of my throat became so inflamed with nasal drip that at one stage I could barely eat , both of my eyes were red and itchy all the time too. I also developed acid reflux which may or may not have been related. Absolute misery.
I believe allergies combine with infections to create a ‘frankenfection’ which is particularly severe. You need to deal with the allergy so as to give your body a chance to deal with the infection.
In my case I stopped riding my scooter and I started taking antihistamines. I also drank warm water and avoided ice water. Have not experienced any serious problems since.
My place of abode was also moldy , watch out for that in Taipei especially.
This seems like a good summary. I tried variations of my anti-histamine/ginger-tea cure and the main component is undoubtedly the anti-histamine, though a change in weather respectively a tiny cold may start the problem in the first place. Good word for it, “Frankenfection”…
There’s a sandstorm on the way from China…so masks, stay indoors, take your pills… the whole lot folks 
.
Bob what’s the recipe for the ginger tea ?
or does anybody have any advice on natural antihistamines or any over the counter ones.
My son and I both get itchy eyes on the odd occasion as well as as a cough with cold air.
Cheers