I assume my companion is sick, since I hear her coughing pretty much constantly. I haven't found any kind of cure disease spell. Is there any way to get her to drink a potion or something?

That's a funny question; I don't think your companion is ill anyway. Maybe she coughs because you went close to some toxic plant or you are in a cave full of toxic air?

Something funny happened in my game yesterday. We were in Darkfall cave (Dawnguard related) with Meeko and Serana; we walked close to some plant that released something in the air and I heard someone cough just behind me. The voice was clearly masculine and Serana being a woman, only Meeko could've coughed... with a human male voice!

Maybe Serana's masculine vampire side was surfacing

I also had a coughing companion last week, but stopped en deleted that playthrough, so I cannot check it out anymore. It was Lydia in my case. First time I noticed it, we were in some cave and I remember thinking to myself how awesome the details in the game are, because of that cough. It makes the game more alive if NPC's cough, chuckle or feel pain, etc. Anyway, I figured at that moment it must have been a reaction of Lydia to some dust in that cave, but when we got outside in the fresh air she coughed some more. At that time I didn't recall hearing companions cough at all ever before... maybe it's something added or activated by some DLC? Anyway, it must be something if a companion starts to cough that much, it was like a cough every 5 minutes.

I noticed that children tend to cough quite a lot too. It does add to realism; I like that.

Oh Damn. Damn. Thats freaky. I need my brain to stop imagining that scenario

Hold on, is this a mod or is this something that's always been on consoles?

I assume its mod related.

her masculine VL form

what ?? coughing its in vanilla game sometimes NPC do that

I've only seen it once by the Altmer alchemist in the White Phial.

Like I said, children cough. It was the first time I heard someone coughing with an advlt woice though, so I guess it was related to that plant imported by Dawnguard. Maybe I heard it before and elsewhere by I don't remember clearly.

No worries my friend, followers/companions can't contract diseases. Why they cough is beyond me, perhaps simply for background noise. I've traveled with every companion/follower that's in the vanilla game and they all at some point developed a cough. Their not sick, no disease, just a simple cough.

Nope been there since day one, I think it's just used for background noise, in between their dialog.

Nope, always been there.

He's really sick, part of a quest connected to him. But NPC's cough as well from time to time.

Those plants do make them cough but they will " clear their throat " from time to time as well when traveling

People coughed in Oblivion and if you hit them with a cure disease they would stop. I just don't have a cure disease spell yet.

Maybe Lydia is allergic to dust, but she coughs all the time. Way more than every five minutes anyway.

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@carrots...thanks for what I will take as the definitive answer.

I have the game in Xbox, so no mods...and Lydia coughs all the time. It actually bothers me because it seems to always happen when we're in sneak mode. Is the dingbat trying to get us killed?

Interesting. I've never had this I believe.

A small price to pay to have her carry your burdens

Maybe you are using a mod which removes it?

"Vampire! It's count Dracula!"

"WRONG! It's cok-blockula!"

My take is that all companions/followers are Skooma addicts and the cough is from that.

When ever I have a companion with me, and I ignore them long enough, like making potions, they start coughing, or even yawning. I think they are trying to say that they are bored. So I quit having companions with me, so their coughing / yawning will not alert the enemies when I am trying to sneak up on them.

With your alchemy skills Ashley I'm surprised you havn't rustled up a cough mixture potion yet! LOL

Cannot find the proper ingredients for it.

I'm on PS3.

Maybe your PS3 has a virus?

I enjoy it too but the timing sometimes is hilarious....like when sneaking up on some bandits.

It's just idle pvssyr; they'll also hum and clear their throats. It doesn't mean they're sick, it's just a quirk of how random dialogues are selected.