I have a dry cough and cough up gunk all the time. When I talk I also get dry and my throat tickles and I cough. I have been using the saline nasal mist for a while now and it helps with that at night, otherwise I was coughing and waking up with headaches daily. My daughters naturopath gave her a honey elixer for her asthma cough. It has herbs in it. She said she tried it and it worked great. She's supposed to bring it over so I can try it. I'll let you know about it when I get it. I googled honey elixers and it looks like some have echinecea in it which is not good for us, but there are others which do not.
Honey in itself is supposed to be great for cough. But yes, I too have a dry cough. It's annoying to others too, lol.

I have had a cough that gets worse when I try to talk. I was diagnosed with cough varient asthma. I now use flovent to control the asthma and a rescue inhaler when my cough is bad. I never had asthma before and I think it is due to the drying effects of Sjogren's.

Thanks for the replies. With this disease, you never know when your miseries are due to the Sjogren's and when there is something totally different going on. I agree that it makes sense that the dryness can cause a cough. Which specialist did you use to get your diagnosis?

My pcp sent me to a pulmonary specialist after my cough got very bad after having H1N1 and pneumonia last winter. Now my cough is triggered by allergens and being ill. I have been much better since staying on the flovent. It took two weeks to calm my cough down with high doses of flovent the last time. It was triggered by high mold and pollen counts after heavy spring rains.

I have a dry cough also but I thought it was from the reflux stuff.

I seem to have coughing attacks when I am trying to sleep at night. Anyone else having this issue?

My ENT started me using NeilMed sinus rinse twice a day. I saw the results myself with horrible red angry sinus tissues at the beginning of the therapy and nearly normal looking sinus tissues after only a month.

The salt water sucks fluids out of your nasal tissues which open up the breathing spaces like Sudafed, without the annoying medical side-effects. Now I'm using a sinus irrigation tip that fits my Water Pik instead, as per my rheumy. It really helps to break up the gunk and eliminates goo sticking in your throat.

Other causes of cough are asthma, allergy-related sinus drainage, and just plain old dryness. Stimulating some extra spit several times a day with sugar-free (please!) gum, candies of cough drops, will go a long way to lubricate your throat and reduce the dry cough. Anything with sugar significantly increases your risk of tooth decay, so that isn't the best alternative.

GERD and severe acid reflux make the dry throat issues worse, as does sinus drainage. These also can increase your asthma symptoms. Allergy-induced asthma is probably the most common kind. I had a patient who came in with some horrible scent one day last week. I literally had to get up and use my inhaler to get back the nagging cough that started right after she sat in my chair.

When I can't do anything else, I use Oral Balance moisturizing gel for slow release of moisturizer, enzymes and minerals to improve my dryness and get rid of the dry throat problems.

Tossie, you're right about avoiding Echinecea. I had a Sjogie friend who was pushing it to avoid a cold and she ended up in the hospital because of it.

What happens to sjs people with Echinecea?

Hi I also have a terribel irritating dry cough but like others not sure if this is the sjogrens or the gerd or bronchitasis .I use the glandosane
artificalsaliva spray which helps but my throat often feels so dry that when I do cough I feel I could choke as nothing there but awful thick muscous .Now after the last 2 years on plaquenil have got anaemia was wondering how many others have developed this

Echinachea can put Sjogie's into the hospital by stimulating their immune system and making them sicker.