How to prevent dry cough due to sweets and cold food items?

Question

Hello doctor,

I got 116 fasting blood sugar and 166 after eating a meal when I took the diabetes test. I have been getting dry coughs even if I eat a little bit of sweet or cold things. Why? How can I prevent it?

Please help.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to iCliniq.com.

I understand your concern.

First of all, sweets or sugars themselves are not the causative factors for cough. However, it may aggravate the cough at times. I would like to understand more about your medical history, which is missing from your query information. They are:

Are you a known diabetic? If yes, for how long?
Do you have any other associated symptoms? When did you start experiencing the symptoms?
Do your symptoms resolve by themselves, or do you need to take any medication for the same?
Do you have any kind of allergy?

I will explain to you from a very general perspective. Most importantly, some food items, including sugar, can cause allergic or intolerance type of cold symptoms, which are, however, rare in adults and are most commonly encountered in young age. This is the main reason for the cough and irritation. Sugars are hydrophilic; they absorb moisture from the surrounding tissue, making it dry and causing throat irritation, leading to a cough. Our throat harbors lots of bacteria, which are not harmful and live as commensals.

However, some harmful bacteria always exist but are dormant. When the sugars interact with them, these bacteria become active and initiate pharyngitis, leading to cough, throat pain, and fever. Initially, the cough will be dry, but later, due to bacterial overload, it becomes a wet cough.

I advise you on the following tips for now, as your complete medical information is unavailable.

Please have a good amount of water, which helps to rehydrate the throat tissue and body.
Try to avoid consuming cold things.
Be vigilant about the symptoms every time you have sweets, whether it is just once a while or every time you consume them.
Strengthen your immunity, which plays a big role.
In case of any severe symptoms, you can please consume Allegra 120 milligrams (Fexofenadine) once a day for three days. Medication needs to be taken after consulting the doctor.

I hope this has helped you.

Please feel free to reach out to me again if you have further queries.

Thank you.