I also had acid reflex cause a cough, the acid was bubbling up from my stomach and into my lungs. I had terrible coughs from age 9 to age 18, they lasted for months at a time, I could not sleep or function either. I was finally diagnosed with acid reflux when I was 18 and after 2 weeks on medication I was all cleared up.
As for a relief, I used to take Sucrets Sore Throat Lozenges, Maximum Strength, the Wintergreen flavor was the best working, they tasted awful but they slowed the coughing down so I could function. The active ingredient Dyclonine Hydrochloride really helps, it numbs everything from your mouth down. I was enough for me to get to sleep, lie down at an incline, pop one of these in, and let it melt. Breath slowly, and don’t get excited, keep your breathing regular. As it melts, the Dyclonine Hydrochloride will numb your throat and that should let you stop coughing long enough to get to sleep. If this does not work, stay up later, until you are really tired and give it a try again. I got to the point where I was in a permanent sleepy daze, I did not get any real sleep, and I would sleep for maybe a half hour before I would wake up coughing. The biggest thing is to not get discourages, if you get discouraged, your heart rate will rise and so will your breathing. And that makes it worse.
http://www.medshopexpress.com/044640.html
Here is a link to it, this was the first link I found off of Google so you know what it looks like, and most drug stores carry them. I feel your pain, not being able to control your own breathing is terrible, I had coughing fits that would last so long and be so violent that I could no longer stand and would just crumple up on the ground. I did find that distracting my self from coughing did help, watching TV, or a movie, something not to funny and not to exciting, as to not start laughing or get the breathing up.