Sure can. I cough very little most of the time(my COPD is 90% emphysema) but easily get SOB. People with chronic bronchitis will often have a cough that never really goes away. Take a look at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001153/

There are treaments that will help the cough. Check with his pulmonolgist (or get one if he doesn't have one) for the best options...

Dennis

Me too, what Denny said. Short of breath a lot, not too much coughing.

Is there any cough syrup that helps? I know not to take a DM syrup but it does help stop the coughing. Everyone I work with has colds, that is dangerous for me with COPD. For them it is just a cold, for me
it can turn into pneumonia.

Jazzkey, my doc has me on cough syrup with codeine. It does help.

Sabrina and Jazzkey,
I have that bronchitis cough that never seems to go away, dry, hacking....and have been told for years not to use a cough syrup that suppresses the cough (with dm).
But recently my new pulmologist said to get robitussin Peak, which does have a little DM in it and also has guafennisen, which is mucinex. He said to take it occasionaly to tame the cough, and it does work very well.
We need to cough to keep the mucus loose and out of there!! But if your dad could take this cough syrup and maybe every 6-8 hours take an extra mucinex, it might help.
I will always have this cough I guess, but this helps so I am not constantly coughing like I was.
Check with his doctor first, but remember, his cough means there is some irritant in his lungs , maybe just house dust, and his lungs are trying to get rid of it.
BJ

Sabrina, I have both the emphysema and chronic bronchitis, and I cough all the time (very annoying) and I and always short of breath. So your dad could infact have chronic bronchitis as the dominate aspect of his COPD. -- Take care, Bill

Sabrina, I take Benzonatate for the cough and it helps me quite a bit. Regards, Bill

I'm with Bill.....I have the cough and the SOB.................but unfortunately don't really know "what" I have, as I don't really have a doctor:(:( (specialist)..................so I just cough and am SOB :(................getting pretty tired of it:(

I don't have the cough but always sob and can't get the mucus up even with mucinex.

i'm like you, drinkcoffee...i have moderate/severe emphysema & pulmonary fibrosis.
i have a dry type, need to clear my throat type cough & REAL SOB.
seems to me that emphy is dry, bronchitus is wet

+funny you should ask. I have copd and i get really short of breath easily, but I don't cough up mucus much, however, my neighbor also has copd, and she constantly coughs up mucus, yet she doesnt get as breathless as I do. Hope this helps

I cough a lot in the morning after feeling a gurgling in the back of my throat most of the night. SOB comes later in the day. So I don't know which form of COPD I lean towards.

I do take Mucinex Expectorant in the morning and Spiriva is my inhaler at the moment.

The fatigue is what depresses me most. I tell myself that i am a five-hour-a- day person. Don't know how common that is...

I hardly ever cough, but get SOB with even a little exertion. When I do have an occasional cough, I always have sharp pains across my forehead, which I assume is some kind of allergy or sinus problem. I only have the stabbing pain when I cough. It can be pretty severe pain.

Sabrina, I have SOB all the time, but I also find ways to have that hacking cough your dad has. Folks with codp/emphysema, can have one or the other or both. My cough comes generally in the earl y evening, and try as I might I have yet to find a trigger for it.

As for the cough itself I have been prescribed Benzonatate, and that helps me a great deal. Take care, Bill

Cindy, I too am a 5-hour-a-day person. As hard as I try, that's all I've got. When I go with it I do much better than when I try to fight it. Ugh, sometimes it really bothers me, sometimes this whole mess with alpha-1 emphysema bothers me. Anyways, today I will go with it and be happy.