I wish I had some answers. My brother had this as well. They gave him some type of saline solution to put down the trach - what a mess when he coughed it up! Blood sprayed everywhere from the tube - all over the walls, mirror, it was tough to clean up. He drank lidocaine like water - well, used it ALOT - but he, too, had a high pain tolerance and it did little good. He also had "plugs" that would take 2-4 days to pass. He would cough so hard he would become sick and had terrible headaches. He was always afraid the plug would stop up his trach and he wouldn't be able to breath. We tried the humidifer's too, in every room of the house. Finally they did put him on "breathing treatments" with a machine a few times a day. That helped, but I believe hospice set that up. I can't remember what it was called but can find out if you need me to.
I hope someone has an answer to this problem. Our loved ones are suffering enough without this to deal with too.
Tonya