Q: I am a 29 year old lady and have been diagnosed as suffering from pulmonary (lung) tuberculosis. I have been taking medicines: Anticox-450, Mymbutol 800 and PZA 750 with B since one and a half month. My appetite has improved very much and there is no fatigue or chest pain etc but cough has remained. It comes down for few days but for the last two days I am suffering from dry cough every 10 minutes. My doctor has asked me to take Bicanyl syrup 3-times a day. I am taking Erithroxin 3/4 tablet a day for hypothyroidism and TSH is 5.67. Why is the cough persisting inspite of other clinical improvement? What is it due to? How long will it remain?

A:If your weight is 72 kg then the dose of the drugs should be as follows: Rifampicin 600 mg, INH 300 mg, Ethambutol 1000 mg and Pyrazinamide 1500 mg all to be taken once a day on an empty stomach 1 hour before breakfast. If your X-ray is showing improvement then you need not worry about the cough and let your doctor prescribe the appropriate medication.