Cough won't go away

[The Ponzzz]

Ok, I been trying to get to the bottom of this, but can't seem to. Have posted on some medical forums to try to get some advise as well, but I've gone weeks without having anything give me a response that isn't what I already have done.

Around my birthday(3/17), I got sick with flu like symptoms. After a week of them not going away, I had to go to the doc's who took an xray and informed me it was the flu and possibly walking pnumenia on top of it all. Was given an antibiotic and sent on my merely little way.

AFter the meds were gone, everything but the cough went away so I went back in. They told me my lungs looked healthy for the most part and it was just a dry cough, it should go away within a week or two. They gave me some prescription of tussin with t-3 in it... They also imformed me if if still doesn't go away, come in again or go to the ER.

So, after a month and a half, still no go, and one night I was coughing so much I got light headed... I normally go into coughing fits that last til I puke up what looks like stomach acid(it's a formy clear liquid). I am not suffering from any heartburn or anything, and I am not stuffy or cough up any mucus of any sort. So I went to the ER, they pretty much dismissed me and gave me more tussin...

Now I'm going on June, still have it. I noticed today that I didn't start coughing until I had some soda. And I don't drink much soda each day so I am not 100% sure I can relate it to the soda, just seemed, odd!

I'm not a smoker, I'm 25 and I have just about any health problem in my family. I use to be a cross country runner, but I will admit I've gotten pretty lazy after 21 and have gained a bit of weight(not a whole lot, but I'd say about 20 or so pounds since 21). I don't cough when I go for a jog with my dogs or any other phyiscal activity. Just when I'm sitting here...

Figure we have some nurses aboard that can give me some direction. I don't have great insurance, and my last two visits have done shit for me, so I really don't want to go back if I don't have too... They did all sorts of breathing tests on me along with xrays....

[Artha]

Check/replace your air filter, maybe. I know ours is old and I've been coughing a lot for a week or two because of that.

[Czeska]

Allergy season could be part of it. I used to get laryngitis that'd last a month and a cough that would, too, just from that.

[The Ponzzz]

I have never had allergies ever. I do know that you can develop new stuff every few years.

Also, this started when we had a few feet of snow. The snow didn't melt until last month.

Not sure if those make a difference...

[Jolena]

I would look into allergy testing and definitely change the air filters.

[The Ponzzz]

Ok, just call the doc up again and be like, wtf mate?

But, I go out with my dogs to the dog park(where they get to run free with no leash) and I'm fine, never coughing outside at all. It's only when I plop my ass down here...

[Hulkein]

Mold problem maybe? Sounds unlikely because it didn't start until you had the flu, but who knows.

[Back]

People can develop allergies as they grow older. If you don’t smoke, or work in some environment that has toxic fumes of some kind, its probably just a natural resistance to pollenates.

[The Ponzzz]

Oh shitz I hope it's not mold...

My girlfriend I live with smokes though and she's not coughing at all.

SHe has allergies as well and she's bad outside during spring...

Figured I'd toss that out.

[The Ponzzz]

People can develop allergies as they grow older. If you don’t smoke, or work in some environment that has toxic fumes of some kind, its probably just a natural resistance to pollenates.

I work in an office and travel to print shops. But I'm generally fine working, until I sit down in my office. After I sit there and sip my drink, I start to cough.

[Asha]

You're affected by smokes.

[Jayvn]

stop rolling around in asbestos :)
seriously I hope you figure out what it is though

[Kitsun]

I started last year with a flu-like thing that I caught on a flight home from Vegas. I kept the cough for nearly five months after that. Doctors never gave me anything that really helped. One day it just stopped.

[Harli]

Me and my mom go through this every spring, we think its because of the mold from all winter and everything blooming around, i dont know what part of the country you live in but it might just be if you had a really wet winter, you have a new type of mold or fungus blooming spores. My advice would be to get a humidifer and vacum like crazy, and steam clean your regular areas at least once every 6 months. This is what i do and it helps.

[The Ponzzz]

Yea, I own a steam cleaner due to some asshole dogs I own, so I generally wash my rugs once or twice a month. I will go get a humidifer...

I live in Upstate NY.

And yes, doctors aren't really helping.

[Back]

I work in an office and travel to print shops. But I'm generally fine working, until I sit down in my office. After I sit there and sip my drink, I start to cough.

Offices. Leaders of air borne viruses second only to bars.

[Hulkein]

I think he means a personal office in his house.

[The Ponzzz]

Well, it's not in my house, but I'm the only one there uses it, it has it's own door to the outside and I clean it.

But it does connect to the central area where our receptionist is.

[Amber]

Does it get worse when the air conditioner is on?

[Stanley Burrell]

Me and my mom go through this every spring, we think its because of the mold from all winter and everything blooming around, i dont know what part of the country you live in but it might just be if you had a really wet winter, you have a new type of mold or fungus blooming spores. My advice would be to get a humidifer and vacum like crazy, and steam clean your regular areas at least once every 6 months. This is what i do and it helps.

Dehumidifier. Especially with what you said (and for the summer in general.)

[Back]

It may be cancer.

[The Ponzzz]

Does it get worse when the air conditioner is on?


Haven't turned one on yet.

Only gets worse when I drink soda...

[The Ponzzz]

It may be cancer.

Wouldn't they have seen that in the tests they took?

[Sean of the Thread]

H I V

I'll mail you a red ribbon.

[The Ponzzz]

H I V

I'll mail you a red ribbon.

Fucker.

[Skeeter]

Get a swallowing eval done. If it only happens when you drink something it sounds like you are aspirating.

[Makkah]

An interesting idea is atypical symptoms of GERD. I noticed you say you haven't noticed any heartburn, but sometimes it can atypically present with asthma/coughing. I think I read it having to possibly do with irritation to the cranial nerve X (vagus) which cross-innervates the eso and pulmonary systems. My GF has noticed something similar lately as well.

[Back]

My GF has noticed something similar lately as well.

Is that a clue?

[Makkah]

HEY!

[The Ponzzz]

So looks like a doc visit again is needed. Guess I should try another doctor though...

Thanks all.

[Ilvane]

I was thinking asthma, myself. One of the more unusual symptoms of asthma is a chronic cough with no wheezing. I'm just an LPN though, not a doc, so I would say go see a different doctor. I would have said allergies to begin with, but you seem to have no problems outside. We've been having a horrible pollen season this year, but if you aren't worse outside, I'd say that's not the cause.

Angela

[Stanley Burrell]

Maybe you have that new drug-resistant strain of TB. That'd be so fuggin hardcore.

[Miss X]

I would definitely go back to your doctor. It could be a symptom of asthma
(particularly if you're coughing mostly at night and the cough is a bit productive), other allergies or anything really.

Having said that, remember it can take a log time to recover from a virus totally. I'm having the same issue with night coughing myself at the moment. I would advise you to try a mixture if Pholcodine (15mg) and Diphenhydramine (up to 50mg) at night to help you sleep. The Pholcodine will suppress the cough and the Diphenhydramine is an anti-histamine so will help with allergies etc and make you drowsy. If they sell Cough Nurse OTC in the US, that's the right combination of the two. Night coughing is horrible, and this is the only way Ive been able to sleep lately.

To be honest though, without listening to your chest and having a look at your throat its hard to judge. Did your doctor say he could hear any crackles when he listened? Do you have any swollen glands in your neck? Are you feeling generally run down? Did the doctor check your peak flow?

Not really my area of expertise though to be honest, I'm much better with chronic wounds than coughs! I would pop back to your doctor and get a few more things checked, have some blood work and maybe try some bronchodilators. :)

[Sean]

Man there seems to always be something wrong with you from your cough, to your laptop, to your crazy exwife. Sounds like you just need a vacation from it all.

[Stanley Burrell]

Yeah, the Bahamas are really nice this time of year.

[CrystalTears]

If it's only happening at home or the office, I'm betting you're allergic to something. I would get tested for indoor allergies if I were you.

Also keep in mind that illnesses like pseumonia and flu that target the lungs could leave them damaged and just cause problems for you in the future. It may even trigger asthma now from time to time. If the cough is not flu related, I'd get checked for allergies.

[The Ponzzz]

Man there seems to always be something wrong with you from your cough, to your laptop, to your crazy exwife. Sounds like you just need a vacation from it all.


I know.

And yea, made an appt for Monday. Thanks for the advice, everyone!

[Tsa`ah]

I wouldn't be so quick to jump on the asthma bandwagon, but it is a possibility if you're having coughing fits at night or any constricted breathing.

Just from personal experience it sounds like a mold issue, but I wouldn't rule out the possibility of a developing respiratory disease.

A good bandaid for the cough ... Tessalon (Benzonatate), ask for the pearls.

[CrystalTears]

Which is why I said to focus on allergies, even though the flu and possible pneumonia may have damaged his lungs in some way. So he shouldn't completely rule out asthma, especially when it bothers him more when there is still cold in the air.

I went through the same fiasco when I moved up north.

[Ilvane]

The only thing that made me think of asthma was that he said it was worse after he came in and sat down, after exercise(which is common in asthmatics) and it could just be a bronchial infection, but it's something to look into.

Angela

[CrystalTears]

If it was really just asthma, he'd experience it during the jog too.

[Ignot]

I just saw the last episode of House so I can say I am somewhat of an expert in this field. Have you eaten any insects lately? I will need to inspect your home in NY....

Seriously, I hope you find out what it is. I find from my experiences (im not trying to start a debate) Doctor's help little. Either they cant find the problem or when they do they cant make it better. Get a second and third opnion if you have too. Good luck.

[Tsa`ah]

If it was really just asthma, he'd experience it during the jog too.

Well the onset of adult asthma isn't the same for everyone. I suffer from acute asthma, but I'm not bothered with symptoms due to physical activity.
Sudden changes in the climate, be it from hot to cold or the other way around, will set me off ... and of course allergens or chemical fumes. About the only time I have asthmatic symptoms due to physical activity would be in the presence of the above events.

Currently he just has a persistent dry cough and apparently no other symptoms, so it's kind of hard to jump to asthma.

About the only way to determine asthma at this point is with an attack of some sort, or if his quack sends him to a pulmonary specialist to map out his respiratory function after the cough is gone ... but that's not happening unless he shows more symptoms than just a cough.

If he's more concerned about it than his doctor is (for asthma anyway) he could start charting out his peak flows 3 times a day and pair that with a blood/ox count.

Until then, as I said, just ask if Tessalon pearls would be a good suppression until they figure out what the problem is. From what he posted, the violent coughing fits should be enough for his doc to say "let's try it".

[Ignot]

Vocal Cord Dysfunction Syndrom.

[Skeeter]

Aspiration bitches.

[The Ponzzz]

Ok, I just worked a full day, been home now for an hour. Not a single cough from me at all. I drank nothing but water. No soda, no coffee, no nothing!

Not a single cough.

Gonna go for a mile walk with the dogs in a minutes before the sun goes down, and I'm gonna try to jog it for a bit just to see how my breathings going.

[The Ponzzz]

Ok got back, didn't quite do a mile, but no coughing and I'm still fine. I will let you know if anything happens as I sit here in the house tonight!

[Lomoriond]

Check the Poo!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFvAGSgLiEA

[m444w]

Go get a liter'o'cola

[The Ponzzz]

No cough at all yet. And I just had dinner...

[Soulpieced]

I need a cheeseburger, it's for a cop...

[Latrinsorm]

Soda contains high fructose corn syrup, which as we all know is the white man's poison. QED.

[Sean of the Thread]

Like most poor people.. of all color and creed.. I drink sugar free kool aid.

[The Ponzzz]

I DON'T NEED NO KOOL-AID!

[Sean of the Thread]

I DON'T NEED NO KOOL-AID!

OH C'MON DRINK THE KOOL-AID

http://www.newenglandfilm.com/news/archives/2006/09/images/big-jonestown.jpg

[The Ponzzz]

So, just got back from the doc's. Nothing. Did the same thing as before, gave me more tussin with T-3. Told me to avoid foods that I feel make me cough. Had a few tests done that I will find the results to later, I'm guessing, seeing I heard nothing there.

Here's the thing, I have not had soda and I have not coughed, at all. I mean I cough like any normal person would cough, but nothing that is just a coughing fit for hours.

Though, he did no cancer checks on me and laughed when I suggested it be cancer, thank's BL... :(

[Divinity]

Did anything I said help? :/

[The Ponzzz]

I'm thinking, but, I'm going to test the soda theory in about, oh, an hour. If I cough after the sida, it's the fucking soda...

[Jayvn]

I have quit drinking soda.... I'm on day 5 now... by far day 3 of the withdraw was the worst, like a vice on my fucking head.. I may be in the clear now.. that stuff is evil. Hopefully that's all that's linked to your cough.

[The Ponzzz]

Yesterday was the first day I coughed. I will say it didn't happen after I drank 2 glasses of pepsi. It took a few hours later, and I was coughing all night...

[CrystalTears]

Do you drink any other caffeinated and/or carbonated drinks other than soda?

[The Ponzzz]

None, completely removed coffee from my morning routine.

I normally drink Barq's rootbeer, but this is happening it seems with that, diet pepsi, coke zero and normal pepsi.

Oh well, I drink beer, never had a coughing fit after beer.

[CrystalTears]

I'm wondering if it's a carbonated thing, especially since you were sick recently. When you have a bad cough, they usually recommend that you stay away from carbonated and citrus liquids as they can aggravate the situation, make it painful on the raw areas. Maybe cut it out completely for a like a month, see if it helps make the cough go away. Just a thought.

[Sean of the Thread]

I'd look into the caffeine at this point.

[Soulpieced]

I quit drinking soda 5 years ago. You don't need that junk. H2O all the way.

[Artha]

I quit drinking soda 5 years ago. You don't need that junk. H2O all the way.
Ditto, mostly. Juices (made from real fruits) are the shit too. I actually felt a lot better just in general shortly after I stopped drinking soda.

[Ilvane]

Crystal light ftw.

Though good old H2O is good too.

Angela