Is My Cough Induced By an Exercise?

Question

Whenever I go to sleep at night, I find that I have a pain in my throat when I breathe and then I have to cough for a couple of minutes in bed. Then again, when I wake up, I have another fit of coughing, but that’s it. I do not have that cough through the day. Is this a problem that I must be aware or is it just a passing cough? It is funny, many people I have talked to say that this cough is induced by exercise but I do not really think so.

Answer 1

Exercise usually triggers coughing in people with asthma especially when the air you breath is cold and dry. Moreover, recurrent cough at night-time and in the morning are signs of asthma.  However, since you are also experiencing pain in your throat your doctor will want to rule out some other conditions that trigger your cough such as gastro-esophageal reflux and rhinitis. If you have a family history of asthma, make sure to inform your doctor because that could him diagnose your problem. You have three to six times risk of having asthma. The type of asthma that does not manifest wheezing and shortness of breath is called cough-variant asthma.