I’m not asking for medical advice, as I have yet another doctor’s appointment tomorrow and will certainly do what he recommends . . . But so far, Mucinex DM, codiene, Sudafed and steroid nasal sprays have not made a dent in this damn wracking cough, which is driving me and everyone in my office mad, and has my cat sleeping in other other room (and my cat is deaf!).
Doctor says it’s going around, this nagging, won’t-give-up cough, I don’t know what he’s planning to recommend tomorrow, though he does want to give a listen to make sure it’s not turned into walking pneumonia, which has happened to me before.
Anyone else have this? What wound up knocking it out? Or should I just sell violets in front of the opera house and await my end through consumption?
I’ve had one for ever. Was worried for some time. Drinking sweet tea or coffee tended to make it worse somehow. Particularly when I went to bed, it’d begin with a throat tickle which progressed to a cough that produced this light green phlegm. Gross.
Turned out, it was late developing allergies to pollen and dust.
Not thrilled about it but glad it’s not life threatening.
Curious to hear what the quacks diagnose you for. Let’s hope it’s something just as trivial.
Oh, I forgot, he also had me on one of those antibiotic packs about two weeks ago, all it did was upset my stomach. Hmmph. I do have hay fever, but that doesn’t usually turn into a cough with me. Hugely annoying, and of course I am Googling all kinds of terrifying diseases to keep me up nights.
Well, let’s see what the doctor says tomorrow. I’ve aleady sent out an office-wide e-mail apology to everyone, I’m sure they are sick and tired of hearing me re-enact Act III from Camille every day.
You’ll live, dearie. It sounds much like the ailment which struck me about a month ago. I kept checking my tissues for bits of lung.
If it’s what I had, you’re due for about three weeks of hacking misery, weakness and what I describe as a “generalized feeling of ickiness.” Lo, thy snot will flow like a river, and thy innards will heave with thine thunderous coughs, but this, too, shall pass.
My prescription is a cup of hot tea with honey, a good book, thick blankey and copious amounts of Turner Classic Movies.
I had that two years ago. I lived in denial for just under a month that it was really bad allergies. When I finally broke down and saw a doctor, I laughed at the discovery of my ailment. Did I suddenly get transported back to the 1800’s? It wasn’t that bad though. The cough wore me out, but being able to say that I had whooping cough more than made up for it. I guess I have a weird sense of humor.
Eve, I wish I had something useful to tell you. I’ll be sending positive thoughts your way. I hope this visit to the doctor’s is the one that finally helps.
If he decides to give antibiotics another go, don’t take it on an empty stomach. The last time I took them I made the mistake of taking them without food a couple of times and it felt like they were burning a hole through my stomach.
Everyone at work got a terrible cold last winter, with ceaseless cough. It took weeks (4-6 for most people) to get rid of despite various people doing whatever for it. I hope yours goes away sooner than ours did!
Whooping Cough has made a huge resurgence in the ( and I’m not saying your old, Eve.) senior community. It is at an epidemic proportions.
My mom had it last year and it was six weeks of solid coughing and nearly a year after that before her voice came back to somewhat normal. She still has residual coughing, but she is nearing 80.
The vaccinations of their youth have lost their effectivness. Senior centers and old folks homes are being hit like a Tsunami with this stuff. ( I read it in an Old People Journal Of These Kind Of Things, which instead of Thin thighs in thirty days it is Diseases You Can Look Forward Too That Will Cause Loads of Suffering. )
For what I’ve learned, it takes six weeks to get over Whooping Cough, and really there is zero the doctors can do for it, if that is what you have.
You might have picked up this bug at the place where your mom is at.
If I may make a suggestion, albeit small, hie thee to the candy aisle and find yourself the Altoid Licorice tin’s. Very strong, moderately spicey. Like a black jelly bean. Let one of the licorice pills dissolve on your tongue. Licorice is a natural cough suppressant and might help quell the throat spasms. ( I’m not making any promises, but I swear these little candies are better than any Halls or Ricola or anything out there by 1000 percent.) They are hard to find, so if/when you do locate them, buy a couple of tins.
Send me an email (jfarndt@hotmail.com) and I can get a tin in the mail to you today ( I stockpile them because I want to be a Collyer Brother one day.)
Well, he said I sound terrible, “it’s going around,” sent me in for X-rays to make sure my lungs are clear, told me to keep taking the Mucinex DM, and gave me an albuterol inhaler, Allegra-D for the congestion, and Levaquin antibiotics (which I won’t take till I get home tonight, in case they “disagree with me,” to put it delicately).
I love my doctor, he’s terrific, has e-mail, gets right back to me, sees me on short notice–I hope he’s not getting sick of me turning up on his doorstep once a week like a consumptive 19th-century French prostitute.
Of course Eve, if you DO end up dying of consumption you must make sure to have it as full of high drama as possible and keep us constantly updated.
Seriously though, a nagging cough like that is a real pain. Hope you get feeling better. ::hug::
My cough started just before Christmas and finally went away 3 weeks ago. (Mucinex, anti-bodies, cough syrup, drops etc. ensued) I have never experienced anything like this before in my 51 years on this planet. At first it was almost constant; I couldn’t walk even a block without trying to hack up a lung. Then it was intermitent but still uncontrollable. The most annoying thing was that when I coughed my left eye (never the right) would tear up and the coughing hurled the tears onto my glasses :dubious: so I ended up semi-blind.
Apparently, I’ve got whatever is “going around”, too. About 3 or 4 weeks ago, I was off work for the better part of 2 days, plus I spent the weekend hacking and snuffling and whining and sleeping on the recliner because lying flat in bed was no good at all. Then the cough began to subside. But it only subsided so much. I’ll go for several hours all quiet, then something will trigger a coughing fit. It’s especially annoying when it wakes me up in the wee small hours.
I’ve had about enough of it. I’m assuming when the pollen finally settles, so will the cough. I hope.
How did you people handle your coworkers? I am getting Very Dark Looks indeed, and I’m still new enough at this job not to want to be known as “that damn loud hacking coughing bitch.” Just “that bitch,” like at my last job, is sufficient.
Damn, the whole left side of my head hurts when I cough, I’m gonna give myself apopexy or something. Off to have dinner so I can take the Suspicious Antibiotic on a full stomach (I still remember when Cipro had me projectile-hurling for eight hours!).
Try some humidifying. I’ve found, especially when I have allergies, that the medicines dry me out so much, it irritates the nasal passages just from that, and humidity helps.
You don’t need a real humidfyer, just a wet towel on the floor of your bedroom can help, or boiling water in a pan. A fountain at work (noisy if you like to annoy, quiet if you want to drop pins at some point) will help there.
Well, I was up coughing all night, got about 20 minutes’ sleep, and am at my desk sipping tea and pre-apologizing to my cow-orkers . . . One more really good cough and my right eye is going to pop out, which at least will cause a certain amount of amusement.
