4 year neurogenic cough...
Posted , 4 users are following.
Hello, I have been coughing for 4 years straight. I have seen many ENT's and a neurologist. I've tried many medications with no success. I'm currently seeing an ENT who specializes in chronic coughs. I've had over a year of botox injections and steroid injections into my vocal chords with zero success. My cough is not a normal cough. It is extremely loud and persistent. I've actually scared people if I start coughing near them...which is heartbreaking. We know that my laryngeal nerve is highly sensitive. Within the last 3 weeks I had a large dose of botox. The only thing it has done is to take away my voice. I'm coughing so bad that my throat is swelling. I need advice. I don't know where to go from here. I'm desperate. I need to have a life and right now I don't.
0 likes, 4 replies
Reglois Hr4suns
Posted
Has n't any one suggested you go for a CT scan or x ray to see if the cough comes from your lungs. If you haven't had one maybe suggest that you ought to.
Hope you soon find the cause
Sue
alberto44558 Hr4suns
Posted
Hi
I had a neurogenic cough too for many years and what worked best was amitriptyline (but also made me lazy and fat).
Coughing too much had a few consequences on me, including some weakly acid reflux and a tracheal diverticulum.
I recommend you take a CT scan (or MDCT) to ensure you don't have anything abnormal in your lungs or trachea. Since you coughed so much, you could have developed a tracheal diverticulum. In many cases, these don't cause any issue. But when they do, they cause unspecific symptoms.
Mine is located at the bottom of the neck, in the right side. And I can feel it. Stuff seems to get stuck there.
The other thing I recommend you to do is to check for non acid reflux or weakly acid reflux. You can do those with a 24h ph test and impedance MII.
I no longer cough, however the diverticulum makes me feel a thing stuck there that forces me to clear the throat on the right side. The secretions feel below the larynx and seems to also affect the swallowing (due to the size of the diverticulum).
Hope this helps you.
Hr4suns alberto44558
Posted
Thank you so much. I've had the ph test and it came back fine. I've tried amitriptaline and it did nothing for me, sadly. I've never heard of the tracheal diverticulum but will definitely ask about this. I wish you luck in stopping your cough. Thank you for responding as I feel there is little to no support available.
alberto44558 Hr4suns
Posted
Yes, this is quite uncommon and difficult to spot.
if Amitriptyline didn't work, try Gabapentin or Pregabalin. I tried Gabapentin and it worked, but it was less effective, and it would cause me to get half blind and loose eye focus.
Ensure that the PH test was done with impedance as well. If you got acid reflux, it will be easily spotted on a PH test, but if it's a weakly acid reflux, or no acid reflux. It might not be detected.
There are a bunch of articles about this around. But many doctors feel that weakly/no acid reflux won't cause issues, but I think it's debatable.
Tracheal diverticulums are not frequent and usually they don't cause problems, but when they do they cause cough, neck pain or chest pain as well. And the feeling of secretions stuck.
Your cough could be neurogenic indeed, but I think you would need to rule out everything else, including sinus problems (such as polyps that might be blocking your nostrils and contribute to post nasal drip). I do have polyps and will try to get them removed.
Another things you should rule out as well should be that there are no diverticulums such as zenker (these can contribute to cough), reflux, lung problems, or tracheal diverticulum.
A High Resolution CT Scan or MDCT should be done in your case after such a long time. A barium swallow as well just to discard any esophageal diverticulum too.
What causes you to cough? is it a tickle? do you feel a constant annoyance in your throat every day? does it disappear?.
Take care, and thanks. I still have a long way to go.