Often, we consult famous doctors for cure of our severe but non-emergent ailments, ignoring the humble non-specialist doctor in our neighborhood close by.
This is similar to the physical reality of darkness below an earthen lamp (যেমন আমরা বলি, প্রদীপের তলায় অন্ধকার).
Beginning of My Cough Episode
I lived in Guwahati for a year in an one-room apartment. A few months before leaving for Kolkata on transfer, my cough started, and it continued unabated. It was a wracking cough and when it started, I could not talk or even think, till it subsided after 10 to 15 minutes.
From my experience, I knew allopathic medicines intensify nasty coughs, rather than giving relief. Also, Guwahati being a relatively unknown city to me, I didn’t know any dependable allopathic doctor.
With my preference for homeopathy as a cure for cough and other such ailments, I went instead to the most prominent homeopath in Guwahati. I sincerely hoped he would at least provide me some relief. Unfortunately, his medicines had no remedial effect on my devil of a cough whatsoever.
I Left No Stones Unturned: Consulted Many Reputed Doctors for Cure with No Success
Reaching Kolkata on my transfer, number one priority was to cure my cough. Those days, I did not know any reliable homeopath, but half a dozen names came up as specialists on lung and trachea. Later I came to know these specialists as Pulmonologist.
I went from one doctor to another, following their advise meticulously; went through many tests including the painful bronchoscopy. At the end, those renowned doctors could not provide any relief to my cough.
My cough continued with more intensity, affecting my days, nights, and work life.
A Dead-end
I reached a dead end, with no solution in sight—a state of sheer helplessness.
Like all living beings, I also have the urge to go on trying to solve my physical problem. I thought ceaselessly during this period, "What else can I do?"
The Bright Idea
That was the point when I felt really helpless, I remembered my local doctor, an ordinary MBBS, known in the locality for giving effective results for common ailments.
He was an unassuming person, tall, thin, with an occasional smile, a soft-spoken man, taciturn. In the past, for seasonal fever, normal diarrhea, and other such ailments, I visited him. I remembered now, Dr. Bhattacharya has an exceptional diagnostic power. He was a General Practitioner (GP) and I preferred the GPs. Why not consult him! I considered him now as my last resort.
Taking an appointment, I waited for some time till my turn came. Entering his small chamber, I was greeted by his faint smile. "What is your problem?" was his expected first question.
An Unusual Approach, But the Perfect Diagnosis for Cure of the Severe Chronic Cough
After quickly going through my prescriptions and pathological reports, he set those aside and pulled out a sheet of printed paper from his drawer.
With his eyes fixed on the paper, carefully keeping it below my eye level, he asked a series of questions. Before this questionnaire session, he told me to answer each question with only a "Yes" or "No."
At the end of the brief question-answer session, he looked up, with a twinkle in his eyes.
"You have bronchial asthma, an acute case. 80% of the people in Kolkata has it. Don’t worry. It will take about a month for a complete cure."
His prescription took only a few minutes to finish. Then he explained, "I have given you an inhaler. It will cure your cough. Later, if you face any such difficulty, you may use it. This is a steroid medicine, but not addictive or harmful. Lot of people use it."
He asked me where I had been living. I gave him a brief description. He explained, "Your room had dampness. The room was not dry and it was without a good fresh air flow. The damp in the room caused your problem."
True to his promise, within a month I got completely cured.
That was My Go-To Solution for any Cough in Future
Later, all through these years, I kept the inhaler of the prescribed brand always with me at home or out on a trip. I have a tendency to catch a cold easily, which usually ends with some kind of cough. After that fateful consultation with Dr. Bhattacharya, as soon as I detect I have caught a cold, I try to snuff it out immediately, using the inhaler for a few days.
My Takeaways
The learnings from this eight-month-long most persistent case of cough in my life are:
- Be extra careful from catching cold, which may end up with a persistent cough for me. There is no need to go to a pulmonologist for me. By now, I understand my body. If the lung or trachea problem is particularly difficult, I would first consult a dependable general physician who will direct me to the best specialist, if needed.
- Never ignore the person so close to you (like a humble local doctor) that he remains invisible to you for solving your problem. First, search close by for solving your problem. If unsuccessful, then only broaden your search for the right solution adviser such as specialist doctors, lawyers, and the likes.
- Cough is one of the hardest common ailments to cure: I learned from my homeopathy studies that in homeopathy, there are eighty different cough! It is one of the most difficult common ailments to cure (like sleep problem). My experience fully corroborated this observation about the difficulty to cure cough.
Later, I came in touch with my homeopath, Dr. Rupak Bhattacharya who always cured my chronic ailments. Now, for cough, sleep, brain function and other non-emergent chronic ailments, I would go to Dr. Bhattacharya as my first choice.
12 Home Remedies for Cough You can Try
Most of the times when I catch cold and a mild cough, I get my cure using home remedies only. I guess you also do. Some of these home remedies or off-the-shelf remedies I have used myself or I know these to produce excellent results for cough.
- Inhaler: Must be prescribed by your doctor. Mine is Seroflo 250. Once, when I needed it and found the tube exhausted, I tried my wife's inhaler of a different brand. Her severe asthma was cured by using this. But it didn't work at all for me. Conclusion: Your doctor must prescribe your inhaler.
- Cherry Cough Syrup: There are many cough syrups you can get in your city or town. This cough syrup I have used for a number of years with a guaranteed cure. In Kolkata, it is easily available, but in Ranchi, a city hardly 400 kms away, people haven’t even heard of it. Try out your own cough syrup.
- Glycoseptol gargle: I first discovered Glycoseptol herbal gargle for magical cure of my complete voice loss. Later I discovered, a slow gargle with 20 drops of Glycoseptol in a glass of warm water clears up congested throat and relieves cough as well.
- Mulethi Syrup: A herbal syrup I got online to completely cure my cough with a loud hollow sound from my chest like a drum beating—a peculiar painful cough.
- Vasaka Syrup: Another herbal cough syrup reputed for giving relief for many types of cough. I have it with me for using next time when I cannot keep away a cough.
- Clove (লবঙ্গ): This gives a good temporary relief to persistent mild cough with throat irritation. When I was delivering lectures in a post graduate management class, and had a persistent irritating cough, I used to keep a piece of clove in my mouth and finish my lecture without any problem.
- Turmeric (হলুদ): I never knew how many benefits turmeric has till the time I noticed my son drinking turmeric powder in warm water. It has a wonderful effect on cough and many other ailments.
- Salt water gargle: Well, who in the world don't know about it! Everyone, I guess. But, most of you may not know how much better the effects are with salt water gargle if you use sea-salt instead of common salt from the market. If you believe in the benefits of sea-salt, you could also discover where to get it.
- Ginger, honey and holy basil leaves (আদা, মধু, আর তুলসিপাতা): During our childhood, we always used to drink this concoction in warm water when we caught cold and cough. This is one of the most common remedies for cough and cold.
- Steam vapor: In case of a serious chest congestion and cough, doctors prescribe to inhale steam, covering the head by a towel, from a kettle of boiling water twice or thrice a day. This is a common practice with wonderful effect.
While these remedies provide temporary relief for mild cough and cold, a chronic and painful cough like the one I had needs professional targeted medical attention.
Unless, chronic cough is caused by any internal organ deterioration, there is no permanent cure in conventional medicine for chronic cough. With a brief research, you will realize it. The embedded link is from Mayo Clinic, USA. It is a short article. Please go through it to realize the extent of difficulty in curing a chronic cough.
Conclusion:
You do not need to restrict your search for a doctor, especially for chronic ailments, to only one discipline of allopathy, homeopathy, or, for that matter herbal treatment. You have to understand your body well to guess what actually causes your problem and choose a treatment path and then a doctor. This approach should give you the best results, increasing the chances of success for cure.
Postscript
Years later, out of curiosity, I visited again Dr. Bhattacharya, my cough doctor, to know which exact questions he asked me to reach the correct diagnosis and cure. He looked thoughtful, "It was so many years ago. That was a guideline published by WHO, but I don’t remember what questions I asked you". Then he pushed a printed leaflet towards me, a WHO leaflet. It had dozens of questions none of which I could remember as any of my questions!
Things change with time.