Coughing so much
Posted , 4 users are following.
Hello, I was diannosed 11 yrs ago. Been on Turbuhaler ever since. I rarley cough up anything. Just a wee bit if all it. But over the past few years my coughing has increased. Cough all day long !. wake myself up at night coughing. I pop daytime cold medication everyday now. Seems to help calm the cough and dry up the phlem at bit. Flowers, dust, dog hair , smoke send me into a huge coughing fit. I'm SO tired of coughing or clearing my throat ALL day long. Plus it cannot be good to keep popping cold meds everyday........... What to do????
1 like, 12 replies
aitarg35939 DebbieRV
Posted
Hi Debbie
A lot of new inhalers and nebulizer meds have come on the market while you've stayed on that one, which is no longer working for you. Doctor might take it away or add other meds, but the bottom line is:
Go see your doc AND tell the doc about the changes.
I screwed myself by just assuming the changes in my coughing were COPD progression. Wrong! Now my lungs are terribly scarred & constant infections are my life.
Please go see your doc ASAP.
DebbieRV aitarg35939
Posted
saw my lung specialist over a yr ago... I've been using Simicort 200 from the beginning... only thing he ever did over the past 3yrs was increase usuage. Cold med.. he just shrugged said its ok.. I'm going to try anti-hitamsine today. I do see my GP next Friday,, but they never much help.. since my specialist retired.. will have to find a new one. I just thought everone coughed as much as me... I know alot of it is enviormental.....
aitarg35939 DebbieRV
Posted
I've had that kind of crap pulmonologist before. Have you tried the nebulizer combo of ipatropium bromide and albuterol? It cones in an inhaler also but that's not as effective. So long as I'm pretty regular with this stuff, I don't cough so much.
What will anti-histamine do but make you dryer and even more wired than the ciugh medicine? I'd go for some OTC honey cough drops first, but that's just me.
DebbieRV aitarg35939
Posted
hi, I do not couph any stuff up... specialist told me once to try a anti-histamine and in the spring /summer my coughing was getting worst. I do keep my "Fishermen's freinds" with me :-) I've never heard of ipatropium bromide and albuterol ... puffers?
aitarg35939 DebbieRV
Posted
The inhaler is called combivent, but It's not as effective for me as the nebulizer form. I'm in the States, the inhaler may have a different name elsewhere.
DebbieRV aitarg35939
Posted
aitarg35939 DebbieRV
Posted
Debbie, after my last reply it hit me that you said you don't cough up phlegm. This is very unusual in bronchiectasis if I correctly understand the disease. If I am correct, then either you're misdiagnosed or you're coughing so much because the stuff is there but needs to be loosened & gotten out.
Do you get many infections?
I'm sure there's someone on here who is far more knowledgeable than I am.
DebbieRV aitarg35939
Posted
hi,, yes it is usually but there is a dry type of Bronchiectasis. My mother and aunt have Bronchiectasis also. Mom, coughs up some stuff.. Aunt, not so much and myself extremely little. They don't use puffers. I have to. I have had all the tests , including twice (can't remember what they are called) where they scope your lungs. 1/2 my right lung is the worst. Left lung a bit at the bottom. I tried the anti-histamine yesterday. Seems to have helped a bit.... didn't cough as much as the day before. I know alot of my coughing is triggered by my enviorment. I almost dread summer. If it humid out I find extremetly hard to breathe...... Going to call the Lung Sp office tomorrow and see if other doc has taken over my doc. patients .... :-)
aitarg35939 DebbieRV
Posted
Well, that just sucks that there should be both a dry and a wet form! Summer in some ways is best for my lungs: no ragweed (fall), no cedar (winter), no oak-pecan-ash-whatever trees blooming (spring), grasses longer producing pollen (spring), but if it rains a lot, we have the same year-round mold problem. My next-to-last infection was due to foolishly spending 10-15 minutes outside in an area covered in oaks at the height of the season. I don't understand about environment making it worse even if our forms of BX differ.
Hope there's a new specialist who's helpful.
tony_15641 DebbieRV
Posted
mary08543 DebbieRV
Posted
Sorry you are struggling so. Lots and lots of water. I live on sugar free Ricola when cough constant embarrassing at times cuz people assume you're contagious. Don't settle - keep going to docs for answers. I use Albuterol nebulizer daily followed by electric Airway Clearance system to keep lungs clear. I take Advair twice daily as well as Flonase once and also Singulair year round to stay ahead of it. I have asthma too and 12 month environmental allergies so I never stop routine. When I get infection it takes 2-3 rounds of antibiotics to get rid of. You need to be proactive and walking helps too. Good luck. Hang in there
DebbieRV
Posted
thxs all,,, my GP said there is not much they can do. But am going to a new lung specilist end of July. Since I have low blood pressure I can take cold meds. (didn't know cold meds up your blood pressure) and I live on Fisherman's friends. Anti-histamines didn't help. SO tired of couphing all day......