I don't know how it's in the States, but here in Europe, you can get Cetirizine (Zyrtec) over the counter, and it worked pretty good for me. I use Aerius now, only because my healthcare insurance comp. doesn't pay the Zyrtec anymore. Coughing up sputum is common. You can also ask for a "Flutter" (I checked, it's got the same name in the USA), a device you blow on, and then it pulsates to, kind of, massage the sputum out of your lungs.