What causes Coughing after Eating in adults?

What causes coughing after eating?
Coughing after eating, GERD, Acid Reflux

Coughing after eating can be very annoying for you as well as others around you. You may feel very uncomfortable if you have to cough after a nice meal with family or friends. Cough after a meal can be very painful and distracting.

Do you often think Why do I cough after I eat? Have you ever worried about cough at the dining table? Above all, do you feel embarrassed with cough at family dinners or business lunches?

Well, if you say yes, you are not alone. There are many people out there who too often cough after eating.

Coughing after eating is a condition that has been attracting some medical attention lately. Moreover, there has been a good amount of research into ‘coughing after eating’ worldwide.

As a result, researchers made significant advance in understanding what causes coughing after eating.

These researches concluded that there are many different reasons why people cough after they eat. The researches also established that the condition can be dealt with and managed easily.

By treating the underlying conditions, coughing after eating is no longer a difficult situation to deal with!

What causes Coughing after Eating in adults?

Well, if you are coughing after eating just for a bit to clear your throat after a nice meal that’s okay.

But if you are coughing constantly for a long time after eating, that is something you may want to pay more attention to.

In this article, we will try to explain you as much as we can about what causes coughing after eating in adults.

Please note that the author is not a professional doctor or an expert in coughing after eating. The contents of this article are only the findings from the research that this author did out of personal interest.

We strongly advise you to see a doctor if you think necessary rather than treating your cough after eating on your own. Doctors can offer you the best possible way of treatment for GERD cough.

Coughing after eating is generally caused by one or more of the below reasons.

Please note that these conditions may not be directly causing coughing after eating. Coughing after eating may be the side effect of one more of these conditions.

So next time you wonder Why do I cough after I eat, you can check if you have any of the below conditions. Understanding the GERD symptoms is the first step in seeking relief from GERD and acid reflux cough. Therefore it would be very helpful if you can understand what causes coughing after eating.

GERD or Acid Reflux

GERD means gastro esophageal reflux disease. Some doctors also call it GORD or Acid Reflux.

It is the most common cause for coughing after eating and heart burn. For this reason sometimes cough after food is called as acid reflux cough.

As the name suggests, a reflux action in the stomach area upwards causes coughing after eating.

Semi-digested food from your stomach re-enter your food pipe when the muscles at the entry to your stomach do not close as they should after eating  or re-open during digestion.

When semi-digested food comes back into your lower esophagus, it causes irritation in your throat. When this happens, your brain causes a reflux action that results in coughing.

Cough due to acid reflux generally occurs after eating but in some cases, it may also occur during eating.

Some simple tips to deal with GERD cough include:

  • Use a bed or pillow customised for GERD relief 
  • Avoid over eating; instead have smaller meals throughout the day
  • Avoid going to bed soon after eating a meal; give it a couple of hours after a meal so you do not go to bed on a full stomach.
  • Try to eat slowly at a leisurely pace and chew all food very well before swallowing
  • Identify what foods trigger cough after eating in your case and stay away from such foods
  • Try to bring your body weight to a healthy level; lose weight if needed and avoid being obese
  • Try and drink more water throughout the day and keep your body well-hydrated

Of all the above tips to suppress coughing after eating, the easiest and most effective one is the pillow customised for GERD relief.


InteVision Foam Wedge Bed Pillow

InteVision Foam Wedge Bed Pillow is designed for patients with acid reflux, problem breathing, poor circulation, back or neck problems. This pillow measures 25″ x 24″ x 12″ and comes with a with High Quality, Removable Cover. The InteVision Foam Wedge Bed Pillow has a two-layer-design. The pillow is made of 1.5″ memory foam layer on top of a firm base foam for better comfort. There are added built-in channels between the top memory foam layer and the base foam to enhance air circulation. Therefore, this foam wedge pillow from InteVision helps with acid reflux, snoring, allergies or any other condition which breathing may be impaired in supine position. It provides a healthy, more comfortable night’s sleep. It comes with machine-washable, white cover.

Some people also use over the counter medicines to deal with GERD cough. OTC medicines may be good but a medical consultation is highly recommended for any persistent cough.

If your acid reflux cough condition does not improve soon with above tips, please see a doctor and seek medical advice.

Allergy

Have you ever wondered if your body quiet does not like certain types of food or certain kinds of cooking?

That could be a food allergy. Food allergy can make you cough after you eat. 

Allergy  could be another reason why you cough after eating. It could be that certain foods or types of foods or the way food is cooked or the temperature of the food that can cause coughing after eating.

Before you eat such food next time, you may find it helpful to know what allergy means and how to suppress a cough caused by allergy. Maybe you are allergic to certain foods or the way food is cooked.

In simple terms, allergy is a damaging immune response by your body to some foods. When you eat an allergen, your body perceives the food as a danger and produces histamine. Histamine causes allergic cough and other allergy symptoms. Allergic cough due to food can be mild or very severe.

Your body may be hypersensitive to some foods. People of any age can suffer from an allergy but it is more common in children.

Some children find their allergy disappearing as they grow into adults whereas, some adults start to show allergy symptoms to certain foods to which they were not allergic during childhood.

Most common food items that can trigger an allergic reaction in humans are nuts, fruits, shellfish, eggs and milk. The best way to deal with an allergic cough is to keep away from such foods that may cause an allergy.

How to treat allergies?

You can see a doctor and seek medical advice when you feel you are being allergic to certain foods. Doctors can prescribe you medicines like antihistamines or decongestants or steroids.

In some cases, doctors may rather recommend immunotherapy to deal with coughing after eating.

Immunotherapy means you get exposed to an allergen in a controlled manner over a long period of time by which your body gets used to the allergen and does not react with a severe response such as a cough.

Infection of Esophagus or Larynx

Infection of esophagus and larynx can cause inflammation in the areas through which food passes when you swallow. This may result in malfunction of the parts that help you swallow food.

As a result you may cough while you eat. This may even make you cough after you eat.

Infections and inflammations of esophagus and larynx can sometimes cause more serious problems than just coughing after eating.

These include difficulty in swallowing, severe irritation or even choking.

If are coughing after eating or you see any of these symptoms or you know you have such an infection, you must see a doctor as soon as possible for a medical advice. Your doctor may offer you some antibiotics.

You cannot buy antibiotics over the counter without prescription in many countries. Even if someone offers you antibiotics without a prescription, you must avoid such use as it might harm you in the long run.

You must use antibiotics only when necessary and in the right dosage for the right duration. Only a qualified doctor can help you with how to suppress a cough with antibiotics.

Dysphagia

Dysphagia is a condition that causes discomfort in swallowing.

If you have dysphagia, your body tends to reject the food you try to eat. This can result in coughing after eating. In some cases, you may even cough while you eat.

Other symptoms of dysphagia include the below. 

  • choking when eating or drinking
  • bringing food back up sometimes through the nose
  • sensation that food is stuck in your throat or chest
  • persistent drooling of saliva

If you see any of these along with coughing after eating, you must see a doctor.

If neglected, dysphagia can lead to weight loss and repeated chest infections in the long term in addition to  difficulty in swallowing.

Dysphagia is generally caused by another inherent health condition such as stroke, head injury, dementia, mouth cancer, oesophageal cancer or GERD.

Dysphagia treatment

Treatment of dysphagia includes:

  • changing the consistency of the food and drink thus making it easier to swallow
  • feeding from nose or direct into stomach via a tube
  • placing a stent in the esophagus and as a result widening the food passage by surgery
  • Asthma

Asthma is a very common condition that may cause difficulty in breathing.

It may not be a direct reason for coughing after eating. An allergic reaction or an infection of the airways that is related to your asthma is what causes coughing after eating.

If you have asthma and cough after you eat, you may want to find out if they both are related. You may refer yourself to a chest specialist.

A chest specialist would conduct some tests on you to determine if you are coughing after eating because of asthma.

If asthma is not the cause for your cough after you eat, he may look for other causes. If your cough with food is found to be a result of your asthma, doctors may do something to treat your asthma.

Common drugs used for asthma are almost always in the form of steroids.

Aspiration Pneumonia

Sometimes as you swallow food, accidentally food enters into lungs. This might happen either when you eat or drink something in a hurry or during a vomit.

As a result, in either of these cases, you may end up coughing.

So, when food or drink enters your lungs, your body responds with a cough to expel the foreign material. This is what happens in coughing after eating due to aspiration pneumonia.

So if you are coughing after eating, and you feel food or drink entered your lungs or respiratory tract, you must see a doctor to check out if it is aspiration pneumonia.

A doctor can help you with medical advice to get rid of your coughing after eating due to aspiration pneumonia.

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