My Aunt Iris did that as a parlor trick. She was our favorite.
It’s a long shot, as it’s more shortness of breath than cough…at least with me.
But I apparently have had a chronic sinus infection. Which you wouldn’t think would cause coughing and shortness of breath (and terrible tightness in your chest) but apparently it does.
I went to a doctor (waiting of course till I couldn’t even breath when I was sitting down let alone exerting myself), he listened to my lungs, said they were just fine, gave my Advair. Which made me feel a little better but not much.
Then I went to a GOOD doctor who diagnosed chronic sinus infection in about five minutes and now I’m on the mend.
Did you go to a GP or an allergist? Go to an allergist, they know the upper respitory system even if it’s not allergy.
And yes, if it’s comsumption you have to sing between coughs.
Yup, we’ve got that particular virus (or its twin brother) here, too. My husband (who has asthma and respiratory allergies) has been hacking for about two months now. I got the bug, too, but I was able to shake it off pretty quickly. I don’t know if the difference is his compromised respiratory system or the cod liver oil pills I take every day to compensate for living where the sun don’t shine. Long story short, I say add some cod liver pills to your regime. It won’t hurt, and it might help.
merrily mentioned humidifying. I’ll second that, and more.
Do the drugs, definitely. But just to help the symptoms try hard core steaming: run a hot shower for a loooooong time, let the bathroom steam up until the ceiling is dripping and you’re sure the paint will strip off the walls. Breathe it all in. Repeat. Seriously.
I’m a singer and have tried all sorts of tricks to soothe respiratory symptoms. During a bout of bronchitis a couple of years ago, I was desperate for the cough to stop, my ribs ached, I couldn’t sleep, I was almost throwing up with the intensity of the cough. Did the super steam on and off all night, an hour here, an hour there, and felt immensely better in the morning.
It’s worth a shot.
p.s. You don’t have to stand in the shower and get all wrinkly. I perched on the side of the tub and inhaled from there.
p.p.s. Boiling water in a pan does work, but I liked this better because I could read while steaming for about an hour. And, yes, the book got wrinkly. Worth it.
Geez…I’m a middle-aged smoker and I haven’t been sick in ages! I hope this thing doesn’t make its way to Chicago and ruin my record! I’m at well over a decade of perfect health.
I get allergies and with my asthma, I get that cough a lot. Has your physician ruled out asthma? If it is that damn “throat-tickles-cough-spasm-cough-COUGH-killmenow-COUGH”, I get relief from hot stuff. Cinnamon Altoids, wasabi peas, that hot spicy snack food from India (channa-chur?) and Tex-Mex jalapenoey goodness. The chemical heat is a counterirritant for me. Try them one at a time. In moderation. Good luck (a happy thought: you probably don’t have to worry that parrots will hear you and learn the new cool call).
rivulus is right. Stop the fan in the bathroom and run the shower as hot as it will get. Without getting in the shower, try to get your face in the thickest part of the steam and breathe it in as deep as you can get it down into your lungs. At first you may notice nothing at all, but after a few minutes you’ll begin to cough up crud that you didn’t know could exist down there. Keep this up until you can’t take it anymore. Afterwards, the coughing eases away to the point where you can get a few hours of sleep. An unlooked for benefit is a lovely steam facial!
I hope you feel better soon, Eve. A wracking, lingering cough is nasty.
I was about to go wash my hair anyway, so now I will make it a very long hot shower, with lots of breathing.
(That sounded naughtier than I intended)
This damn cough really is annoying the hell out of me (and everyone around me). My throat, my eyes, my head, my ribs, all hurt from being doubled over hacking like the last days of Humphrey Bogart.
Have you forgotten the ancient wisdom of our people?
Chicken soup!
In the unlikely event that does not work, you can move on to garlic soup.
Stayed home today after another sleepless night, went to the ShopRite and, at the nicd pharmacist’s recommndation, got a Vick’s Vaporizer for my cat to drink out of. Sat up all night coughing, clutching a heating pad and listening to the same four stories on the all-news radio (flipped-over car on the Jersey Turnpike, kids frisked for cell phones at schools, construction at the WTC, and baby squashed flat by television in Brooklyn).
. . . and that’s the news . . .
I don’t know what’s going around but I’ve had ‘bronchitis’ going on about two weeks now.
The doc-in-a-box prescribed me some Amoxicillin (sp? antibiotics), some expectorant, a night time cough suppressant and eye drops for dual eye infections.
My husband had similar symptoms, went to his doctor, had chest x-rays and was told ‘bad cold’, but he too get antibiotics and something for his cough.
I ended up having to call my doctor back and beg for something else after taking the Amoxicillin for over a week with no improvement. I’m not sure what I’m taking now but it leaves a nasty metallic taste in my mouth, which I remember from other antibiotics when I’ve had bronchitis before, so that probably means its working.
That or I’m dying.
I’ll let you know how that works out. 
Hope you get better soon.
I say again…it might not be your lungs. Even if it feels like. It’ll suprise you. It surprised me. Get thee to an allergist.
(I’ll give you the number of mine…my saviour…if you don’t mind going to New Jersey)
I dunno . . . if it were allergies, wouldn’t it get better or worse when I was at home or work? It’s pretty much the same damn thing no matter where I am or what I’m near.
Back at work today, I got a couple hours’ sleep, with the vaporizer making comforting gurgling noises next to the bed. I lay there thinking, “At least I’m not in a flipped-over car on the Jersey Turnpike, or squashed flat by a television.”
I started a “chain bark” on the subway this morning! I coughed, and one by one, everyone else on the car started coughing as well.
That’s the spirit, girl!
Reminds me of something my mother used to tell me. She said if I wanted to see if a boy had noticed me, I should yawn. If the boy was watching, likely, he’d begin to yawn, too.
Never knew it worked with coughing, but be flattered that everyone on that car wanted you!
I had something similar a few weeks ago. It took an injection of Celestone, an Albuterol inhaler (which I believe is generally considered asthma medication), and some lovely lovely (though highly sedating) stuff called Prometh VC to control the cough while the previous two treatments took hold. I had to take fractions of the dose of the Prometh VC during the day or I couldn’t function at work, but it controlled the cough.
Prometh VC, hmmmm? Sounds innnnteresting, maybe I’ll ask my doctor. I’m already on the albuterol inhaler (it is for asthma, it opens the bronchial tubes), antibiotics, Mucinex DM and antihistamine. Plus the gurgling vaporizer and as many Lifesavers (tropical flavor) as I can cram into my mouth.
<a href=“http://www.drugdigest.org/DD/DVH/Uses/0,3915,6223|Pherazine+VC,00.html”>Prometh VC</a>
I had the plain, but it apparently also comes with codeine. By the time I saw the doctor, I hadn’t slept more than three and a half hours at a stretch for about five days. I took a full dose of this and slept ten hours. I nearly sent my doctor flowers the next day. But it’s very strong stuff.
Something else that can cause a persistent, nagging cough is acid reflux, so if anyone notices their not-going-away cough is worse after eating, consider asking your doctor about GERD.