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Waking up coughing every morning: The request could not be satisfied

What Is Nocturnal Asthma? | Everyday Health

If you wake up at night coughing, wheezing, and feeling breathless, you could have nocturnal asthma. So, what is nocturnal asthma? Also called nighttime asthma, it is the type of asthma that gets worse at night.

It’s not unusual for asthma symptoms to worsen after dark. Even in healthy people, “your best lung function is between noon and 4 p.m.,” said Ileen Gilbert, MD, a pulmonary specialist at Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin. “And it is at its worst between 3 and 4 in the morning.”

One reason for the decline in lung function is your body’s circadian rhythm, or natural clock, which causes hormone production to ebb and flow. During the wee hours of the morning, levels of the hormones that protect against asthma symptoms are at their lowest, Dr. Gilbert explained. If you have asthma, you’re more likely to wake up coughing and wheezing as these levels fall.

A sinus infection or postnasal drip could be another cause of nocturnal asthma. When you lie down, nasal secretions can accumulate in your airways and make it harder for you to breathe.

Also, if you have allergies to pet dander, sleeping in the same room as your cat or dog can make your asthma worse at night.

Dust mites lurking in your mattress or bedding could be yet another trigger, said Clifford Bassett, MD, medical director of Allergy & Asthma Care of New York.

Peak Flow Meter for Diagnosis

Peak flow meter measurements are used to diagnose asthma, including nighttime asthma. “A peak flow meter is a handheld device provided to asthma patients as part of their asthma care plan,” said Jameel F. Durrani, MD, of the Regional Lung and Sleep Clinic in Allentown, Pa. “These devices help to compare the severity of airway narrowing or spasm at different times of the day.”

Studies show that anywhere from 30 to 70 percent of patients with asthma tell their doctors about waking up with nighttime asthma symptoms at least once a month. You can have nocturnal asthma regardless of the type of asthma you have – including allergic, nonallergic, occupational, and exercise-induced asthma.

If you have nighttime asthma, chances are it’s because your asthma is poorly controlled. “All asthmatics can get nocturnal asthma if their asthma is out of control,” Gilbert said.

The best way to control nighttime asthma is to control your asthma in general. “If you wake up more than twice a month with asthma symptoms, then you need to be on [long-acting] controller therapy,” Gilbert said. “If you wake up in the middle of the night, you can take your rescue inhaler to ease your symptoms. But that won’t prevent it from happening again.”

“If you’re waking up more than twice a night with cough, wheezing, or chest tightness, then your asthma is poorly controlled and you need to review your asthma treatment plan with your health care provider,” Dr. Durrani added.

Asthma and Sleep

Having difficulty sleeping with asthma can be serious. When you are sleep-deprived, you can be extremely fatigued during the day. “In children this can lead to increased learning difficulties, reduced attention span, and mood swings,” Durrani said. “In adults it can lead to reduced performance at work.” Also, he said, when you’re overtired at work, you’re more prone to accidents.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, people who have nocturnal asthma tend to have more severe asthma, and the more severe your asthma, the greater your risk of death.

Try these tips for getting a good night’s sleep:

  • Use mattress and pillow covers that keep dust mites away.
  • Look for allergy-free pillows.
  • Keep animals (live and stuffed) out of the bedroom.
  • Use a humidifier to keep the air moist.
  • Time your medications and adjust doses so they will continue working throughout the night.

What Isn’t Nocturnal Asthma

Some people wake up coughing and wheezing but may not have nighttime asthma. Other conditions that can cause you to wake up coughing and wheezing include: heartburn, gastric reflux, untreated or undiagnosed sleep apnea, heart failure, and abnormalities of the vocal cords, Durrani said. See a sleep specialist to determine what’s causing your nighttime asthma and find the treatment that’s right for you.

Why Do I Wake Up Coughing Every Morning?

“My cough has become worse since I quit smoking. What’s going on?”

“I am sick of this constant hacking in the mornings!!”

If you are a smoker or have been one at some point of time, you certainly would have gone through this ‘giving up on smoke’ cycle. Wondered what’s happening to you? You have SMOKERS COUGH!! A smoker’s cough is a persistent cough that develops in long-term smokers —”persistent” meaning that it’s present for more than 2 or 3 weeks.

Cigarette smoke contains chemicals that irritate the air passages and lungs. When a smoker inhales these substances, the natural protective and cleaning mechanism of our lungs tries to clear itself by coughing.

Normal clean lungs have active cilia (tiny hair like formations lining the airways) that have a sweeping action to clear harmful material out of the lungs. Cigarette smoke, however, decreases the sweeping action of the cilia, so the poisons from the smoke remain in the lungs.

When a smoker sleeps, some cilia recover during the night and begin their cleaning action again in the morning by inducing the well-known ‘Early morning cough’ of smokers. This is so because our body is in a natural state of detoxification in the morning, trying to filter waste hence, on waking up, the smoker coughs as lungs try to clear away the poisons that got built up the previous day.

The best and the only effective way to stop smoker’s cough is to eliminate the root cause, tobacco smoke. Some people seem to cough more than usual soon after stopping smoking. The cough is a sign that your body is starting to heal.

Sometimes, ex-smokers get scared by this and think they have a new problem. But it’s not that at all, just your body trying to get back to normal. Smoking deadens the cilia in the lungs so when you stop smoking, the cilia become active again and start clearing the mucus sticking to your lungs; as a result you might cough more than usual — perhaps for several weeks before you notice any positive changes of giving up smoking. The idea is to restore cilia to their natural efficient self where they resume their work of clearing mucous from your lungs.

How can Salt Room Therapy help smokers?

Salt therapy is an extremely effective treatment for reducing smokers cough. A one hour session in the salt room involves the inhalation of dry salt aerosol particles into your lungs. As salt enters the lungs it starts reacting with the mucous present there and loosens it. As mucous sticking to the airway walls loosens, function of cilia improves, thereby increasing their cleaning efficiency to move this mucus out of lungs. This helps in reducing inflammation in the whole respiratory tract, absorbing edema from the mucous lining the airways. As the mucous melts, this leads to widening of the airway passages, restoring the normal transport of mucus and unclogging blockages in the bronchi and bronchioles, allowing rapid elimination of the residual tar.

And all of these through a 100% natural process with no side effects and no medicines.

Bronchiectasis – Symptoms – NHS

The most common symptom of bronchiectasis is a persistent cough that brings up a large amount of phlegm on a daily basis.

The phlegm can be clear, pale yellow or yellow-greenish in colour. Some people may only occasionally cough up small amounts of phlegm, or none at all.

Other symptoms may include:

Signs of a lung infection

If you develop a lung infection, your symptoms usually get worse within a few days. This is known as an infective exacerbation.

It can cause:

  • coughing up even more phlegm, which may be more green than usual or smell unpleasant
  • worsening shortness of breath

You may also:

  • feel very tired
  • cough up blood, if you have not already done so
  • experience a sharp chest pain that’s made worse when breathing (pleurisy)
  • feel generally unwell

When to seek medical advice

If you have not previously been diagnosed with bronchiectasis and you develop a persistent cough, visit a GP for advice.

While persistent coughing may not necessarily be the result of bronchiectasis, it needs further investigation.

If you have been diagnosed with bronchiectasis previously and begin to experience symptoms that suggest you have a lung infection, contact a GP.

You’ll usually need treatment with antibiotics.

Some people with bronchiectasis are given a stock of antibiotics as a precaution in case they suddenly develop a lung infection.

When to seek immediate medical advice

Some people with bronchiectasis develop a severe lung infection that may need to be treated in hospital.

Signs and symptoms of a serious lung infection include:

  • a blueish tinge to the skin or lips (cyanosis)
  • confusion
  • a high temperature
  • rapid breathing (more than 25 breaths a minute)
  • severe chest pain that makes it too painful to cough and clear your lungs

If you experience any of the above, phone the healthcare professional in charge of your care immediately.

This may be a GP, a doctor who specialises in lung conditions (pulmonologist), or a specialist nurse.

If this is not possible, call NHS 111 or your local out-of-hours service.

Page last reviewed: 27 July 2021
Next review due: 27 July 2024

Why Am I Waking Up Gasping for Air?

Waking up in the middle of the night and realizing that you were gasping for air during sleep can be scary and something you shouldn’t ignore. It can be a sign of a serious health problem. And if you do find yourself waking feeling short of breath, don’t assume right away that it’s sleep apnea. “Gasping at night can be caused by a lot of things,” says otolaryngologist Omar G. Ahmed, MD, who specializes in treating sleep disorders at Houston Methodist Hospital.

The key to finding out what’s causing your nighttime gasping is to see a sleep specialist, who will perform a physical exam and ask a lot of questions. How long have you been gasping at night? How often does it happen? Have you gained weight lately? Do you have any major health problems?

A sleep specialist may suspect sleep apnea as the cause of your gasping, but you might be surprised by the variety of other potential causes.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), the most common form of this nighttime breathing disorder, occurs if your tongue and other tissues in the mouth fall backward and block your airway when you lie down for a snooze. Each time that happens, you stop breathing for up to a minute or more, and it can happen hundreds of times per night. You may not wake up, but a bed partner will likely be wide-eyed at your snoring, as well as frequent gasps for air.

If a doctor suspects you may have sleep apnea, they will order a sleep study, which can be done at home, though tests conducted in hospital sleep clinics provide more information. While you sleep, you’ll be connected to various monitors that measure your breathing, oxygen levels, body movements, and other factors that offer clues that you have sleep apnea. “We want to find out if obstructive sleep apnea is occurring, and if so, how severe it is,” Ahmed says.

If you are diagnosed with OSA and you’re carrying some extra pounds, “the most important thing you can do is lose weight,” says sleep specialist Priyanka Yadav, DO, of the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Comprehensive Sleep Center, in Hillsborough, NJ. Dropping 10% of your body weight, she says, can reduce episodes of sleep apnea by up to 50%.

The current “gold standard” treatment for OSA is continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), which uses a mask-like device that fits over the nose and mouth and is attached by a tube to a motor that blows air. “CPAP creates pressure in your airways so they don’t collapse while you sleep,” Ahmed says. CPAP is first-line therapy for people with moderate to severe OSA, which makes up 80% of the 22 million Americans who have sleep apnea, according to the American Sleep Apnea Association.

Many of Yadav’s patients with mild cases of OSA benefit from special mouthguard-like devices that prevent the airway from being compressed by moving the lower jaw forward; they work best for back sleepers.

A relatively new device approved by the Food and Drug Administration, called Inspire, is for people with moderate to severe OSA. Inspire is implanted in the chest and senses when you breathe, then stimulates nerves to keep your airways open. “Patients do really well with it,” says Ahmed, who has implanted the device in many. Inspire is approved for patients who fail on or can’t tolerate CPAP and isn’t available for very obese people. If all else fails, Ahmed and other surgeons can perform procedures that widen the airway.

Central Sleep Apnea

Less common than OSA, central sleep apnea (CSA) is not caused by blocked airways. Instead, signals from the brain that normally maintain breathing during sleep go haywire, resulting in periods where there is little or no air flowing into the lungs. CSA can also be brought on by certain medical conditions or drugs, as well as sleeping at high altitude. CPAP is the usual treatment for CSA.

Anxiety and Nocturnal Panic Attacks

It’s possible that your psyche is triggering your nighttime respiratory problems. “Some patients will say, I’m not snoring, but I wake up gasping at night,” Yadav says. If she rules out sleep apnea and other potential physiological causes, Yadav often discovers that a patient is most likely gasping during sleep due to anxiety or nocturnal panic attacks.

Everybody knows what anxiety feels like. A nocturnal panic attack is a nighttime version of a panic attack, which is the sudden onset of overwhelming fear and worry, often accompanied by a pounding heart, perspiration, and shortness of breath. Some people who have a panic disorder primarily experience attacks when they’re asleep. Choking and shortness of breath are common in people who experience nocturnal panic attacks.

People who have sleep-time gasping and other symptoms related to anxiety and nocturnal panic attacks often have a history of insomnia, Yadav says. If you wake up gasping, the sheets are soaked, your heart is pounding, and you’re scared out of your wits, you may be experiencing one of these problems. Yadav suspects that the number of people worldwide who experience these attacks has probably risen during the COVID-19 pandemic. She refers patients to a psychotherapist or psychiatrist for counseling and, possibly, medication.

Post-Nasal Drip

This common problem can cause nighttime gasping, too, particularly if you happen to have heavy nasal congestion. When a congested person lies down at night, Ahmed says, thick drainage can drip from the nasal passages and into the nasopharynx, or upper part of the throat behind the nose, and then into the oropharynx, or the portion of the throat at the back of the mouth. “That can cause people to feel like, Hey, I suddenly can’t breathe!” Ahmed says. Post-nasal drip can also cause coughing and the need to spit out thick mucus.

Post-nasal drip occurs due to various forms of rhinitis and sinusitis, which are inflammation and swelling of the mucous membrane of the nose and the sinuses, respectively, Ahmed says. Some people have chronic rhinitis, though the common cold and seasonal allergies can produce similar symptoms. Also, a condition called vasomotor rhinitis simply causes people to produce large amounts of nasal mucous fluid, she says.

Various medications such as antihistamines, nasal steroids, and others can help relieve rhinitis and sinusitis. If medications don’t help, various other procedures may offer relief. If you have chronic rhinitis, cryotherapy can deliver extremely cold temperatures that “freeze” a nerve in the nasal passage that’s causing you to produce too much discharge.

Endoscopic sinus surgery is an option for people with hard-to-treat sinusitis. “The goal of this procedure is to open up the sinus passages, as wide as possible, so they can drain easily,” Ahmed says. Widening the sinus passages also makes it easier to treat ongoing inflammation that’s causing post-nasal drip in the first place.

Acid Reflux

Can that cheeseburger you had for dinner trigger a nighttime gasping episode? Most of us get a touch of heartburn now and then, and if you get a burning sensation in your chest routinely you may have gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Nighttime gasping and other discomfort can be caused by a related problem, called laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR), Ahmed says. As in GERD, acidic juices from the stomach leak out and creep back up the windpipe in LPR. But instead of causing classic heartburn symptoms, Ahmed explains, the acidic fluid instead irritates the throat in LPR (it’s sometimes called “silent reflux” since it seems to sneak past the chest). “That can produce the sensation that you have something stuck in your throat,” he says, which can cause you to wake up feeling like you need to clear your throat so you can take a breath.

You may be particularly likely to have a flareup of either GERD or LPR soon after you fall asleep, resulting in a gasp attack, since the body’s peak production of stomach acid occurs between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m., Yadav says.

Fortunately, a number of preventive measures can help with both. Avoiding fried or fatty foods is wise for many reasons and may ease acid reflux. You also should watch your evening consumption of highly acidic foods and beverages, such as tomato sauce, orange juice, and coffee. Take an acid reducer such as famotidine (Pepcid) a half hour before dinner, Yadav suggests, or ask your doctor about using a related medicine, called a proton-pump inhibitor, such as esomeprazole (Nexium) or omeprazole (Prilosec). Finally, elevating the head of your bed slightly (special risers are available) or using a lot of pillows can let gravity keep stomach acid in its place.

Heart Failure

A common cardiovascular condition, heart failure, which affects over 6 million Americans, can leave you short of breath, which can limit your activities by day and wake you up at night. This condition occurs when the heart is unable to pump adequate supplies of blood to the body’s other organs, depriving them of oxygen. Blood backs up when your heart cannot pump it forward properly. This back up can leak into your lungs. “And that gets worse when you lie down flat,” Ahmed explains.

People with inadequately managed heart failure often wake up abruptly, struggling to breathe. Propping up your head may help, but if you have heart failure and wake up short of breath often, tell your cardiologist. If you haven’t been diagnosed with heart failure but have shortness of breath at night or by day, especially if it’s accompanied by swelling in the legs or feet, see a doctor as soon as possible.

Asthma

If you have asthma and it’s not well controlled with medication, that may explain why you often wake up gasping. When you breathe, oxygen-rich air travels down your windpipe and into your lungs, where it passes through a tree-like formation of tubes with ever-tinier branches called bronchioles. It turns out that bronchioles have a daily cycle. They’re most open around 4 p.m. in the afternoon, Yadav says, but most constricted (or closed) around 4 a.m. “That means there’s more airway resistance at night when you’re sleeping, which can make underlying asthma worse,” Yadav says, which could lead to a predawn fit of wheezing and shortness of breath.

7 Reasons Why You’re Waking Up Feeling Congested

If the first thing you do in the morning is reach for your bedside box of tissues to blow your streaming nose – or you find yourself constantly sniffing – listen up.

Dr Claudia Pastides, a GP for online doctor service Babylon GP, tells HuffPost UK one of the major causes of people waking up with a stuffy nose is rhinitis – which is basically the inflammation of the tissues lining the inside of your nose.

The inflammation can be caused by an allergy, referred to as allergic rhinitis, or it may be non-allergic rhinitis, says Dr Pastides.

Here, she walks us through how to deal with the issue – as well as some of the other reasons you could be awaking bunged up.

1. Allergies

The most common contender is likely to be an allergy. Allergic rhinitis is thought to impact around one in five people. “It’s commonly caused by something in the environment around us triggering an allergic response,” says Dr Pastides. “The allergic response causes the lining of the nose to swell up and produce more mucus.” Cue: all of the snot.

Some of the most common allergens wreaking havoc on our nostrils include pollen, mould and dust. “Some people only get allergic rhinitis at certain times of the year – for example, if your allergy is to certain pollens,” adds Dr Pastides. “Or it may be year-round – if, for example, your allergy is to dust.”

If you’re often really congested first thing in the morning, but the issue resolves itself over the course of the day, it might mean you were exposed to a particular allergen overnight – for example, dust, dust mites or pet fur. Or, if you have hay fever, you might notice it’s worse in the morning when pollen counts are high.

Thinking about when in the day you struggle with the issue – and whether it’s seasonal – can help you determine what it is you’re allergic to. Failing that, you can take an allergy test. Dr Pastides recommends discovering what the allergen is so you’re able to avoid it, although she notes this is easier said than done. Most people won’t know what the allergen is – or simply cannot avoid it.

If this is the case, you can take over the counter medicines such as antihistamines or regularly flush your nose with saline water. But if it’s affecting your day-to-day life and not improving, speak to a doctor about it as there are prescribed nasal sprays which can help, she adds.

thianchai sitthikongsak via Getty Images

2. The common cold

You’ve probably had less colds over the past year, as you’ve been exposed to fewer germs while spending more time at home. But that doesn’t mean there’s zero risk of getting one. If you have a short period (one or two weeks) of waking up congested, it could be because of a cold attacking the lining of the nose.

Symptoms of a cold, which appear gradually, include: a blocked or runny nose (obviously), a sore throat, headache, muscle ache, cough, sneezing, a raised temperature, pressure in your ears and face, and loss of taste and smell.

“Allowing the cold to run its course is often the best treatment,” says Dr Pastides. You’ll want to rest up, get plenty of sleep, drink lots of fluids and possibly take painkillers for any aches and pains.

3.

Your environment

Really cold or hot weather, humidity, or being in very smoky environments can all cause you to wake up with a stuffy nose. Avoiding these circumstances will stop the blocked nose, says Dr Pastides.

If you can’t avoid them – we get it, you can’t control the weather – there are things you can do to ease the issue.If it’s really cold, for example, wrap a scarf over your nose to warm the air around your face or go to sleep with the heating turned on low.

4. Pregnancy

Yes, that’s right. Being pregnant causes a whole host of bodily changes, one of which is inflammation of the nose lining due to hormones.

Sadly, there’s not a huge amount you can do about this. “The blocked nose will settle down when you’re no longer pregnant, but in the meantime it may help to lift up the head end of the bed a bit,” says Dr Pastides.

“If you’re still struggling, it’s a good idea to speak to a healthcare professional about it and see what treatments are suitable to use in pregnancy.

5. Overusing nasal sprays

More patients are turning up in hospital with self-induced rhinitis caused by overuse of nasal sprays like Sudafed or Vicks Sinex, according to Paul Spraggs, an ENT surgeon at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

“These are medicines you buy over the counter for short-term use in colds, but people tend to get addicted to them,” he told HuffPost UK. “That causes a type of rhinitis we see in secondary care a lot, which is very difficult to treat.”

If you’ve been using nasal decongestant sprays a lot, they might – ironically – be causing your blocked nose. If you suspect this might be the case, speak to your GP about it.

6. Polyps

Nasal polyps are painless, fleshy swellings that grow inside your nose. While they’re not usually serious, they can keep growing and block your nose if not treated, states the NHS.

Symptoms are similar to a common cold – blocked nose, runny nose, constant need to swallow, reduced sense of smell or taste, nosebleeds and snoring – however while colds tend to disappear after a week or so, symptoms of polyps will not clear until the issue is treated.

If you suspect you might have polyps, speak to your GP who should be able to offer a steroid nasal spray to shrink the growths. If it doesn’t improve after about 10 weeks, they might suggest surgery to remove the growths.

7. Sinusitis

Inflammation of your sinuses can cause a runny nose in the morning – the issue can be acute (short lasting for about one or two weeks, often due to an infection) or chronic (long lasting), says Dr Pastides.

Sinusitis is common after a cold or flu, with symptoms including: pain, swelling and tenderness around your cheeks, eyes or forehead; a blocked nose; a reduced sense of smell; green or yellow mucus from your nose; a sinus headache; a high temperature; toothache and bad breath.

“Although acute sinusitis is often short-lived and typically gets better by itself, polyps and chronic sinusitis should be diagnosed by a doctor and may require specific treatment,” says Dr Pastides.

But if a blocked nose has been going on for a while and isn’t improving, or if you have other symptoms such as a fever that isn’t settling or you’re feeling generally unwell, it’s wise to bring this up to your GP.

Sore Throat? An Open Window is the Culprit – Cleveland Clinic

If you wake up with a sore throat, you might wonder: Was it because you left the window open or a fan running? Experts say there are a variety of reasons this happens ― but they’re thankfully often easily addressed with simple remedies.

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While people may believe leaving a window open caused their sore throat, it really depends more on the air quality, says Michael Benninger, MD, Head & Neck Institute Chairman. “Cool air from an open window can help people breathe better, unless the air is very dry,” Dr. Benninger says.

Fans also can dry the air, but the soothing white noise may lead to better sleep. “I suggest facing the fan away from you. It will still circulate the air while producing background noise,” he says.

Other
reasons for waking up with a sore throat

“The most common reasons for a sore throat in the morning are a dry environment, especially in winter, along with mouth breathing and acid reflux,” Dr. Benninger says. He says that dehydration, hay fever, or the beginning of a cold can also be culprits. People who snore or have sleep apnea may also wake with a sore throat.

If you consider your sleeping environment and symptoms, you often can find ways to rid yourself of that sandpaper-in-your-throat feeling.

Here are some common questions to ask yourself:

  • Is the air dry? If you suspect the air is dry, which tends to be a problem in the winter, use a humidifier. Drinking extra water in general, but especially before bed, can also help.
  • Could you be mouth breathing? Breathing from your nose helps keep moisture in your mouth and throat. Sometimes if your nasal passages aren’t clear, you end up breathing out of your mouth. For short-term relief (for a cold), you could try oxymetazoline (Afrin®) at bedtime for a few days. For longer-term relief, you can use a steroid nasal spray (fluticasone), or you can use Breathe Right® nasal strips.
  • Do you have acid reflux? People reflux more when they are in a lying position, Dr. Benninger says. “There are pillows that may help, but a healthy diet (low in acid) and weight control are the keys,” he says. If acid reflux is an issue for you, he suggests taking an h3 antihistamine like Zantac® or Pepsid® before bedtime. Also, he suggests not eating right before bed and avoiding alcohol, which can cause increased snoring.

What about allergies?

Do you have allergies? If so, treating indoor and/or outdoor allergies can also help reduce a sore throat.

Other allergy tips include the following:

  • Change air filters regularly.
  • Keep pets out of your bedroom.
  • Remove carpets and drapes, if possible.
  • Line mattress and pillows if you are allergic to dust mites.
  • Shower in the morning (the steam can soothe your throat).

It’s hard to fathom, but dust mites and debris can add five to 10 pounds to a mattress over a few years.

For some people, this advice might be even harder to fathom: “Disobey your mother’s rules and don’t make the bed,” Dr. Benninger says. “Dust mites like dark, warm environments so keep your sheets pulled until right before you sleep.

When is it time to see a doctor?

If you answer “yes” to these questions, it’s time to see a doctor:

  • Do you have a sore throat not associated with a virus that lasts all day?
  • Is your sore throat not improving after a couple of weeks?

It’s especially important to get your throat examined by a professional if you have the above symptoms and you also smoke, have acid reflux and/or drink a lot of alcohol.

“Any associated change of voice or difficulty swallowing is more worrisome,” Dr. Benninger says.

Primary care doctors can help but if the soreness persists, it may be time to see a specialist (ENT). It could be a sign of a more serious condition. “HPV (human papilloma virus) is becoming an epidemic for oral-pharyngeal cancers. A person with multiple partners or with papilloma elsewhere should be particularly cautious,” Dr. Benninger says.

Fortunately, a sore throat in
the morning that goes away after some food or drink rarely is a sign
of something serious.

Allergic Rhinitis | Cigna

Condition Basics

What are allergies (allergic rhinitis)?

Allergies happen when you are exposed to certain particles in the air (allergens). Your body’s defense system (immune system) overreacts to certain substances. The immune system may treat a harmless substance as if it were a harmful germ or virus. Many things can cause this problem. You can be allergic to things such as pollens, dust, or animal dander.

Your allergies can be mild or severe. Mild allergies can be managed with home treatment. But medicine may be needed to prevent problems.

When allergies aren’t treated, they can affect your health. You may have problems such as sinusitis, plugged ears, and ear infections. Allergies can also affect your quality of life. You may avoid seeing people, have problems sleeping, and feel tired or grumpy.

What are the symptoms?

Allergy symptoms may start minutes or hours after you breathe in an allergen. Your symptoms can last for days. You may sneeze or cough. Your eyes may be itchy and watery. Or you may feel “stuffed up,” making it hard to breathe through your nose.

How are allergies diagnosed?

Your doctor will do a physical exam and ask questions about your symptoms, activities, and home. You may also have certain allergy tests done. Knowing what symptoms you have, when you get them, and what makes them worse or better can help your doctor know if you have allergies or another problem.

How are allergies treated?

The treatments for allergic rhinitis include avoiding things you are allergic to (allergens) and managing symptoms with medicine and other home treatment. In some cases, treatment may include immunotherapy (such as allergy shots). How often you need treatment depends on how often you have symptoms.

What can help you manage your allergies?

When you have allergies, you may feel better or worse at different times of the year. Learning what triggers your allergy symptoms will help you manage and treat your allergies. Managing your allergies is an important part of your health and can help you avoid other problems.

90,000 10 morning rituals for a productive start to the day

On average, a person wakes up 25,000 times in a lifetime. This means you have 25,000 chances to spend your morning so that the rest of the day is perfect.

Every morning is a clean slate. This is an opportunity to change one day for the better. And from such days our life is formed. If you want to achieve your goals, ask yourself the question: what do you do after waking up and how do you feel?

1.Do not reset the alarm

We are used to hating the sounds of the alarm clock, so we press the reset button or pause it: we are fine, and we do not want to get out of the warm bed at all. Although, after 10 extra minutes of sleep, we feel worse.

Evolution is a slow process, and humanity as a species is not yet accustomed to waking up from artificially created noise. So we just ignore it.

When we wake up, our body begins to produce dopamine, a chemical that suppresses feelings of drowsiness.Its effect is comparable to drinking a cup of coffee or an energy drink. When we sleep, serotonin, the hormone of pleasure, is produced.

After resetting the alarm, two hormones with the opposite effect begin to be produced simultaneously. Due to such a load on the body, we wake up disoriented and inhibited.

2. Consider not only the reward

We use rewards to motivate ourselves to do certain things, such as waking up early in the morning and going to the shower.But as the author of The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg argues, an award alone is not enough to establish a habit.

Identify the signal that leads to the unwanted behavior and replace it. For example, instead of hitting the end call button on the alarm and falling asleep again, you can reward yourself with a cup of aromatic coffee. The smell of coffee in the room can serve as a signal for this action. If you live with someone, ask them to brew a drink every time you wake up.

3. Follow the appropriate strategy

The average adult needs 7-9 hours of sleep, but some get enough sleep in 6 hours, while others need less than 10. To cheer up, one person needs a shower, while another needs a cup of coffee. Determine which category of people you belong to, and it will be easier for you to create your own strategy and understand what advice to follow.

The writer Gretchen Rubin writes in Better Than Before that all people can be divided into four groups depending on how they are motivated by the reward:

  • Adherents of rules and procedures: always follow the rules – both external (established by the authorities) and internal (which they come up with themselves).
  • Bound by promises: who work well only under pressure of authority and when they feel justified obligations to other people.
  • Those who seek common sense in everything: for each business they need internal motivation, some sense for themselves, if they find it, they do the job.
  • Rebels: any task makes them want to do the opposite.

4. Wake up to natural light

In one experiment, a group of adults suffering from insomnia were sent on a camping trip for a week.For several days without artificial lighting, the participants in the experiment not only began to fall asleep faster, but also got up easily in the morning. Sleep inertia has almost completely disappeared.

Study organizer Kenneth Wright came to the following conclusion: in order to sleep soundly at night and wake up easily early in the morning, you need to get up after natural light.

It is quite possible to do this in a city environment: sleep in a room with a window, or better place the bed closer to the window in order to get the maximum amount of light in the morning.

5. Meditate

Meditation is good for everyone. At the same time, it should proceed in its own way for everyone. There are dozens of its varieties – conscious, transcendental, yogic. But no specialist can say for sure which one is right for you.

On the other hand, the benefits of meditation are quite obvious: the level of anxiety decreases, labor productivity increases, and memory improves.

For example, using MRI, scientists have found a decrease in the activity of beta waves in the brain after a 20-minute meditation session.This means that during meditation, the brain stops processing distracting information, so we calm down.

6. Minimize decision making

We are all subject to what psychologists call decision fatigue. This process takes away our resources, strength, so in the future it becomes more and more difficult for us to make effective decisions.

As you can see, I only wear gray and blue suits. This way I try to make fewer decisions.I do not want to waste energy and think about what I will eat or what to wear. Because I have too many other things to do.
Barack Obama

To simplify the decision-making process, Obama uses special notes that are divided into three piles on his desk: “agree,” “disagree,” and “let’s discuss.” This method significantly speeds up the feedback cycle, which means that things are completed faster.

To make your morning more productive, think about what decisions you can make automatically every day.Here are some simple steps to help you: choose an outfit before bed, eat the same for breakfast, get up early to avoid traffic jams.

7. Eat the frog

Psychologist Brian Tracy, in his book Eat the Frog! 21 ways to learn to do well ”writes that each of us has our own frog – the biggest and most important task over which we procrastinate.

If you eat a frog in the morning, the rest of the day promises to be wonderful, since the worst for today is over.

Mark Twain, writer

Therefore, the first thing in the morning is to eat your biggest frog, even if you don’t feel like it at all. Our reserves of willpower are limited, so we need to start the day with an important task while we still have strength.

In addition, the level of creativity is higher in the morning. This is confirmed by research: after waking up, people experience increased activity in the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for creativity.

8. Do one important thing

Psychologist Kevin Kruse, while studying the habits of millionaires, Olympic champions and entrepreneurs, found that none of them mentioned a to-do list.

There are several disadvantages to keeping a to-do list:

  • Time is not included. When a person sees a long to-do list in front of him, he starts tasks that will take less time. Therefore, tasks requiring consistent, long-term execution remain unfinished (about 41% of tasks from the entire list, according to iDoneThis).
  • There is no distinction between urgent and important matters. Again, on impulse, we rush to the urgent and ignore the important.
  • The stress level increases. The to-do list provokes the Zeigarnik effect, known in psychology: because of unfinished tasks, annoying, uncontrollable thoughts appear in the head. Therefore, we feel tired all day, and at night we have difficulty falling asleep.

Therefore, instead of the list of tasks, select only one task that you have to finish today. After completing it, you will feel satisfied and can easily deal with the remaining less significant tasks.

9. Get ready in the evening

Your well-being during waking up and throughout the day will depend on how well you sleep.

Numerous studies show that electronic devices can disrupt sleep cycles. If you regularly experience sleep problems, try turning off all devices 2-3 hours before bedtime (this also applies to e-books).

The cold glow of the screens interferes with the production of melatonin, the hormone that coordinates our internal clocks.

In the evening it is necessary not only to get enough sleep, but also to decide how to spend tomorrow.

Greg McKeown, author of ESSENCIALISM. The Path to Simplicity, ”recommends that before planning the next day, first write in a diary how your day went. If you don’t figure out what you did right and what was wrong today, you won’t be able to make a productive plan of action for tomorrow.

How to plan business? We already mentioned that successful people rarely use to-do lists.However, Cruz noticed that almost all of them use a calendar.

The method of scheduling tasks in the calendar is devoid of all the shortcomings of the to-do list that we talked about earlier:

  • you can manage your time;
  • You can plan the most important things for the beginning of the day, when you still have reserves of willpower;
  • You will avoid overstraining by including scheduled breaks in your calendar.

10. Take a shower to wake up

Misogi, or the awakening soul, is a ritual practiced by the Japanese samurai.Every morning they poured a bucket of cold water over their heads.

The domestic analogue of misogi is a contrast shower when we alternate streams of hot and cold water.

Studies show that this type of hydrotherapy has a positive effect on health: it reduces stress, strengthens the immune system, the body begins to burn fat better and fights depression more effectively.

If you decide to try a contrast shower on yourself, follow the following procedure:

  1. First shower at normal temperature.Then turn the tap handle so that the water turns ice cold. Stand in a cold shower for 30 seconds.
  2. Now turn on the tap to make the water very hot. Under such a shower capillaries open, blood circulation improves. Stand under it for 30 seconds.
  3. And again switch to cold water, under which stand for another 30 seconds.

It seems that everything is very simple, but at first you can experience a real shock.

Every morning Benjamin Franklin asked himself the question, “What good can I do today?”Before getting to work, you must recuperate and prepare for the new day. This is the only way you can do something significant.

Everyone will have their own perfect start to the morning. Someone likes to listen to music in the morning, someone to read and check the schedule. Create the perfect routine for yourself. We hope our recommendations will help you with this.

90,000 Why do allergy symptoms occur in the morning?

Blocked nose, sneezing, postnasal drip, cough, runny nose are all common reactions to allergens.And, despite the fact that allergy manifestations can occur throughout the year, especially during the flowering of plants that emit allergenic pollen, in some patients, allergy symptoms appear only in the morning.

At the same time, such people feel quite normal during the day. Does this sound familiar to you? Then take care not to start your day with allergies.

Here are some of the causes of allergy symptoms in the morning and how to prevent them.

Main causes of morning allergy symptoms

Sometimes they are caused by allergic rhinitis or hay fever.Allergic symptoms occur when the immune system overreacts to allergens in the air, causing swelling and inflammation in the nose.

This reaction of the immune system can be the cause of the aforementioned symptoms as well as others:

Consider allergens that can cause morning symptoms.

1. Pollen

If you are allergic to pollen, especially trees, you may notice a worsening of your allergy symptoms in the morning.

This is because the concentration of tree pollen in the air is highest in the morning and at noon.And if you’re outside at this time of day – walking your dog, running, going to work or on business – you can start sniffling, sneezing and coughing.

2. Dust mites

Allergies can also show up in the morning if you are sensitive to dust mites. These are ordinary microscopic inhabitants of house dust, and, unfortunately, the bedroom is the place where they most often actively reproduce.

Mites usually live and breed on mattresses, pillows, beds and upholstered furniture.And if you sleep in a bed where ticks live, you may wake up with allergy symptoms every morning.

3. Pet dandruff

Pet dandruff is another trigger for morning allergies, especially if your pet sleeps in your bed or bedroom. Even when pets are not sleeping with you, their fur can still accumulate on your bedding.

4. Mold (spores and mycelium of fungi)

Indoor mold can also worsen allergy symptoms in the morning, especially if your bedroom is close to a bathroom or near fungus growth sites.

What else can cause morning symptoms

Unpleasant reactions in the morning can be caused not only by allergens. Non-allergic rhinitis due to the common cold can also trigger nasal congestion, runny nose, sneezing, and coughing, which are similar to allergic symptoms.

The difference is that non-allergic rhinitis does not activate the immune system.

Allergy-like symptoms can be caused by other factors, which will be discussed below.

1. Strong odors

If you use scented shower gels, essential oils, or lotion before bed, the odors can irritate your nasal mucosa, leading to congestion and increased mucus production. As a result – sore throat, cough and runny nose.

If these irritants enter your nose and throat at night, you may wake up with allergic-like symptoms.

You can also wake up if you are sensitive to the detergent you use to wash your bed linen.

2. Medicine

Certain medications can also provoke non-allergic rhinitis in the morning.

Sometimes the blood vessels in the nose dilate due to side effects of certain drugs such as ibuprofen , aspirin , sedatives, and drugs to lower high blood pressure. If taken before bed, these drugs can cause nasal congestion and morning runny nose.

3.Acid Reflux

Acid reflux is a condition characterized by spontaneous or recurring injections of gastric or duodenal contents into the esophagus. This leads to damage to the esophagus, which is closer to the stomach, with the development of erosive-ulcerative, catarrhal and functional disorders in it.

Sleeping on your back can worsen reflux and irritate your throat. This can cause sore throat, postnasal drip, and cough in the morning.Symptoms often improve during the day.

4. Hormonal changes

Hormonal changes due to pregnancy, menstruation and oral contraceptive use can also cause non-allergic rhinitis. This is because changing hormone levels can increase mucus production and cause mucosal changes, leading to nasal congestion, runny nose, and sneezing.

Hormonal changes can cause allergic-like symptoms throughout the day.Or you may experience choking in the morning caused by exposure to an allergen / irritant while sleeping.

How to prevent allergy symptoms in the morning

Here are some tips for preventing unpleasant morning symptoms, whether you are dealing with allergic or non-allergic symptoms:

  • Stay away from pets and keep them away from your bedding.
  • Bathe pets at least once a week to reduce allergens in your home.
  • Get the carpet out of your bedroom.
  • Use a dehumidifier to reduce the humidity level in your bedroom by up to 50%. This helps to neutralize dust mites.
  • Place the dust covers on the mattress and pillow.
  • Dust at least once a week and keep your bedroom clean.
  • Treat bedding, upholstered furniture and mattresses with special anti-mite agents.
  • Vacuum carpets at least once a week using a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter.
  • Wash bedding once a week in hot water (at least 60 ° C).
  • Do not sleep with open windows. This will help reduce pollen levels in your bedroom.
  • Raise your head 15–20 cm during sleep to reduce gastric backflow.

You can call the representatives of the sanitary station or other services, including private ones, to check the premises for mold.

When to see a doctor

Morning allergy symptoms can also disrupt the quality of your sleep at night.See your doctor if you cannot control your allergies on your own, or if symptoms last a long time and get worse.

Your doctor may prescribe medications or test the causes of your allergies to find out why your symptoms are occurring and if they are actually allergic.

If the cause is an allergy, then some of its types can be cured. For this, the method of allergen-specific immunotherapy (ASIT) is used. It is also called allergenic immunotherapy (AIT).After a course of such treatment, hay fever usually recedes for many years, or even forever.

For treatment to be effective, it also requires high quality drugs. In particular, the allergens of the Spanish company Inmunotek, available in Ukraine, have this.

Only a doctor can choose the optimal course of AIT for you – after an appropriate diagnosis.

So:

Don’t let your morning allergy symptoms affect your day.

Whether you’re dealing with seasonal allergies or non-allergic rhinitis, the tips above can end sneezing, nasal congestion, and other annoying symptoms.And you will wake up refreshed and ready for new challenges.

90,000 Why did you start waking up at the same time every night

Not everyone manages to sleep well through the night. Often we wake up in the middle of the night at the same time for no apparent reason. Chinese medicine claims that this does not happen by accident.

Where are the problems and why is the Chinese meridian needed

The problem, according to the followers of alternative medicine, is a consequence of the disturbance of the flow of Qi energy.When we are completely healthy, it moves freely throughout the body. But if there are certain health problems, the Chi energy is blocked in the affected organ and makes us wake up in the middle of the night.

The Chinese clock (in another way the meridian) is divided into 12 parts, each of which lasts 2 hours and is responsible for a specific organ. If at a certain moment this process is interrupted by awakening, it is possible that the matter is in the imbalance of the work of some organ.

21: 00-23: 00 thyroid gland

In the early stages of sleep, the endocrine system is restored and the blood vessels become more active.Problems with the immune system, thyroid gland, adrenal glands, or metabolism can prevent falling asleep during this period. High levels of anxiety can also prevent you from falling asleep.

Meditation and yoga will help improve the quality of sleep during this period.

23: 00-01: 00 gallbladder

It produces an enzyme necessary for digestion, and it also helps break down fat consumed during the day. Awakening during this time period indicates the presence of kidney stones, and you need to reduce your fat intake.

The Chinese believe that gallbladder diseases are associated with emotional disappointment, low self-esteem, resentment, so if you want to sleep peacefully all night, work through your emotions and let go of resentments.

01: 00–03: 00 liver

During this period, your body goes through a cleaning stage, removing waste from the blood and other tissues. Awakening at this time indicates that the liver is overloaded with toxins. To help it and the body as a whole, drink more clean water and limit alcohol and caffeine.

Waking up after one in the morning can also indicate an overabundance of negative emotions, in particular anger, rage, frustration. Try to remove these feelings from your life.

03: 00–05: 00 lungs

The lungs are the first organ that is filled with Chi energy, collecting oxygen and transferring it to all organs and systems. If you wake up at the specified time and also experience symptoms such as nasal congestion, sneezing, coughing, then it is possible that you are eating poorly.

Lungs are also associated with feelings of sadness and grief. For a sound sleep, you need to avoid these emotions, and breathing exercises are effective as well.

05: 00–07: 00 colon

During this period, Chi is concentrated in the large intestine to help remove all waste from the body. If there is an imbalance in this organ, you may also experience symptoms such as constipation, weight gain, and premature aging. For your colon to function properly, you need to stretch, drink plenty of water, and use the bathroom when you wake up.

Awakening in the early morning hours is also associated with emotional blocks, a sense of hopelessness and dissatisfaction with one’s own life. Try to work through your feelings and problems, so you will not only improve the quality of life, but also restore healthy sleep.

Be sure to read about it

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