Here's a guide for you to avoid this kind of situation.
#1 Cough with sticky phlegm
This happens when you can hear mucus in the airways when you breathe and you find it a bit difficult to expel the phlegm because it's sticky. With this type of cough, you must take a mucolytic. The most common example is CARBOCISTEINE with a common brandname: Solmux ® in our country and in its simplest explanation, it acts by breaking down your phlegm into tiny pieces so that it will be easier and faster for you to expel it.
#2 Dry or non-productive cough:
It means that no mucus or very little of it is expelled from the airways but you always cough up. In this type of cough, you will need a cough suppressant or antitussive. From the word itself, it will suppress your cough reflex to stop you from coughing and damaging your throat since there's no phlegm. Example of it is DEXTROMETHORPHAN. This may also come in combination with an expectorant like the drug Robitussin DM ® which is indicated for dry cough.
#3 Cough with chest congestion:
Now there are kinds of cough caused by phlegm stuck in the throat or lungs. This is usually called “chesty” or “congested” cough. The congestion in those areas causes difficulty in releasing the phlegm and in some other case, difficulty in breathing. This time, you'll need an expectorant. Oral expectorants on the other hand thin the phlegm in the congested areas and allowing you to expel them much easily from your body. A well-known example of an expectorant is GUIAFENESIN with an example brandname of: Mucinex ® and Robitussin ®.
Those drugs I have mentioned are considered to be an over-the-counter medicines but I'm not sure if it is for the other country. Also, this one needs a thorough self assessment as to which category your cough belongs and be able to get the right treatment. But these cases sometimes vary depending on the severity and the causative agent. Most often,if it's viral, taking those OTC medicines will help since virus are self limiting or will disappear from your body without giving antiviral drugs. But, as I've said, it might vary. On the other hand, if it is caused by a bacteria, you might need the right antibiotic and you really need to see your doctor for further examination and proper treatment.
On my next article, I will be posting about self assessing your phlegm to know what might have caused it.
Anyways, thank you for reading and I hope that you find this informative. Also, feel free to upvote if you like this and also leave some comments or questions that you might want to ask. Godbless everyone!
Trust me, I'm a pharmacist! 😉