I have had persistent coughing problems since January 2018. It got a lot a worse after a couple of months, then 2 courses of antibiotics gave some relief but the coughing didn't go away. Then eventually it got extremely less. Recently it started again, and I took another course of some cough tablets and an antibiotic which gave me relief. But just 10 days after it I've started coughing really badly again. I smoke very rarely, I quit after the coughing started in January. Then I started smoking socially again in August, and now the cough is back.