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Post by missysauter on Feb 2, 2015 18:48:43 GMT
I came home with a little cold starting on November 16 after DH and I got back from a week long cruise. DH had a sore throat that lasted 3 days and then he was over it.
Mine got progressively worse. I never ran fever but I had a HORRIBLE deep cough. I would cough so hard that my ribs hurt or I would throw up. I went to the doctor and was placed on antibiotics and was so close to being well, when it made a second pass around at me. DS caught it. We got my parents sick too.
I'm now two and a half months out and I still have the cough. DH texts me the other day to look up "Christmas Tree Syndrome" which is apparently when someone is allergic to their live Christmas tree. My symptoms getting worse definiately coincide with the tree coming in the house. But the tree has been gone for weeks, but the cough is not.
I promised I would call my GP to set up an appointment but DH would prefer that I go straight to a pulmonologist for fear that I have mold or something in my lungs. I think that is a bit extreme.
Has anyone dealt with anything like this? The cough is about to make me crazed!! Thanks.
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smartypants71
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,720
Location: Houston, TX
Jun 25, 2014 22:47:49 GMT
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Post by smartypants71 on Feb 2, 2015 18:56:52 GMT
Could it be allergies? I have had a lingering cough since I got back from Christmas holidays in the mountains. I got a serious infection that returned twice. I'm over all that now, but my cough is still there although mostly in the mornings. I'm taking a daily dose of Zyrtec to combat the super high cedar pollen, and my cough is gradually lessening. I'm so ready to be over it!
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Jun 14, 2024 11:58:50 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2015 19:00:46 GMT
I don't know anything other than we stopped having live Christmas trees years and years ago and it was the best thing we ever did. We all felt ill, got stuffed up, sneezed etc. I hate the smell of pine trees (I live in a heavily wooded area and have the tallest Douglas fir tree in the area about 10 feet away from me right now). Could that be it? Maybe.
I developed asthma when I was about 32 or so. I spent New Year's in a very cold prairie environment and I couldn't breathe and that triggered it. I coughed so hard I broke a rib. (Yeah that was not fun). I would definitely go see your doctor right away. You may need a) different antibiotics, b) inhalers, c) to see a pulmonologist d) other. Just go get seen again and I hope you feel better soon!
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Post by anonrefugee on Feb 2, 2015 19:04:02 GMT
Do you have "gunk"? It's a long time to have a cough, don't play "diagnosis me" with it! Glad you're going to doctor again, I'd go to specialist too. But that's because I had a family member stay too long with her GP when she should not have. Not trying to be scary, you know better than most it's best to get facts early.
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Post by Merge on Feb 2, 2015 19:16:54 GMT
Whooping cough?
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Post by hop2 on Feb 2, 2015 19:24:41 GMT
Asthma? People who have undiagnosed non wheezing irritant induced asthma can cough for months thru the winter after a 'cold' and it would go hand in hand with your Christmas tree syndrome.
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KimB
Junior Member
Posts: 94
Sept 23, 2014 1:40:17 GMT
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Post by KimB on Feb 2, 2015 19:25:45 GMT
Did your GP request a chest x-ray?
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Post by missysauter on Feb 2, 2015 19:30:52 GMT
Did your GP request a chest x-ray? No. Just gave me antibiotics. DH is not a fan of my GP.
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Post by hop2 on Feb 2, 2015 19:33:38 GMT
Oh, also it isn't just you this year, according to our pediatrician's office the bug that went around this year here had a nasty long deep cough. They saw it a lot this year, they were sure it was not whooping cough, though that is also making the rounds this year. DS had it for 5 weeks and 3 doctor visits, nothing in his lungs to even indicate bronchitis much less pneumonia. Finally they prescribed an antibiotic and he did get better with that.
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Post by jesq on Feb 2, 2015 19:35:55 GMT
Asthma? People who have undiagnosed non wheezing irritant induced asthma can cough for months thru the winter after a 'cold' and it would go hand in hand with your Christmas tree syndrome. This sounds exactly like what I have been experiencing for years. I have been prescribed different inhalers in the past, but never needed them other than to get past the lingering cough I would have after a cold. For the first time this year, I developed the cough without a preceding cold. My doctor said it was asthma and put me on Advair in addition to an Albuterol inhaler. After a week, the cough is finally getting better, although allergies can still trigger it.
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Post by bc2ca on Feb 2, 2015 19:36:05 GMT
Do you have post-nasal drip? I had a sinus infection a few years ago that took 3 months to clear up. Two rounds of anitbiotics and daily Neti pot rinses finally did the trick. I didn't have the typical sinus pressure & headaches with this one, just a cough that would not go away.
DD's lingering cough turned out to be walking pneumonia, so definitely go to the doctor again.
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Post by foolana on Feb 2, 2015 19:37:14 GMT
Please go to the GP. You could have developed reactive asthma from your original chest cold. He/she will give you meds and probably an inhaler to help the symptoms. Best of luck to you and please let us know how you're doing.
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M in Carolina
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,128
Jun 29, 2014 12:11:41 GMT
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Post by M in Carolina on Feb 2, 2015 19:48:48 GMT
I definitely think you should see someone ASAP. I let a cold/cough go too long and was vomiting from the coughing fits. It turned out I had bronchitis which took an incredibly long time to heal.
I think my MIL and dh caught the cold that you have last Christmas. My MIL has never been the same. She has COPD--her father died of Black Lung, and she spent the first 10 years of her life living right by the coal mine in a house heated by coal. She's had a lot of lung problems.
Dh caught bronchitis and then walking pneumonia. It took 8 months to clear up. I didn't get the cough part bad, but that nasty bug affected my heart so badly that I couldn't walk 10 feet away to the bathroom without gasping for air and feeling like I ran a marathon. My blood oxygen was always normal, and I felt fine when I was sitting down. Dh would bring food and drinks upstairs for me during the day so I didn't have to walk up and down the stairs.
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Post by khaleesi on Feb 2, 2015 20:02:50 GMT
What you are describing sounds like what I had several years ago. Make sure that you are sent for a chest x-ray and if you have not been given an inhaler yet, they should. Have you been tested for whooping cough?
Is your cough still deep and productive or is it just the annoying there's something in my throat non-productive one? If it is the latter, you may want to look into something that can tame it so you can get some rest and not cough constantly. I was finally told mine was viral, given an inhaler and cough syrup with codeine for nighttime and just had to deal. It was right around that time that I did start taking Zyrtec every day instead of just during the late spring and summer months. It took another month or two but it did go away. I do think taking an allergy med daily did help. It took time to build up in my system but helped.
Good luck. I can definitely relate. I was surprised I didn't break a rib or pull some muscle with how hard and long I would cough, or that I didn't trip and fall when I would run to the restroom to vomit because I had coughed so hard.
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Post by melanell on Feb 2, 2015 20:08:34 GMT
I'd certainly think about finding a GP you like and seeing them. But I do just want to say that sometimes coughs just hang in there like little nasty bitches and don't let go, too. Everyone in our family became sick at some point during December, and all of us experienced a cough. DH & DS #1 got better & there coughs went away. My cough is still making itself heard, and to a certain degree, DS #2's is still hanging in there, too. I did not go back tot he doctor, because for me, this is not something new. Lingering coughs have always been one of my winter quirks, made worse if I'm tired, and since a cough can keep you up at night, that can be quite the vicious circle. My mother also has always referred to her "tired coughs", because even with no other symptoms, if she gets overtired, a cough appears. For DS #2, we did bring him back to a doctor, and they found nothing wrong, but just said it was a lingering cough. For him a humidifier is a huge help. As long as we keep running it at night the cough pretty much disappears for him. But if we try to go a few nights without it, the cough comes back. So the dry winter air obviously is an issue for him. Good luck with your cough, and hopefully with finding a doctor that you like better than your current one.
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Post by crimsoncat05 on Feb 2, 2015 20:15:20 GMT
my brother had a really bad cough they thought was bronchitis, but by the end (three months of treatment after treatment), he thinks he actually had undiagnosed whooping cough. I would definitely go to the doctor!!!
(actually, I personally would have gone to the doctor long before now, but that's just me.)
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Post by missysauter on Feb 2, 2015 20:21:25 GMT
The cough I have is dry and unproductive. Once I get going, I just can't get it calmed down.
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MaryMary
Pearl Clutcher
Lazy
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Jun 25, 2014 21:56:13 GMT
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Post by MaryMary on Feb 2, 2015 20:35:52 GMT
I agree that it could be asthma. I get a dry, never ending cough every winter after getting a cold. I googled this year to see what it might be and every list had asthma on it, so I grabbed my kid's inhaler, took a puff... And the coughing stopped.
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Post by melanell on Feb 2, 2015 21:22:34 GMT
The cough I have is dry and unproductive. Once I get going, I just can't get it calmed down. Yep, this is like mine. It's so annoying. (Now, when I had the virus that everyone else had, my cough was productive, but once the virus let up, i moved into this annoying cough, instead.) I've been using Fisherman's Friends lozenges, as they are the only thing that makes it stop. I am asthmatic, so I am already taking asthma medication, including inhalers. But for my cough, they don't help. My doctor (And actually DS's too) both made a point of pushing liquids, and I know that is a problem area for me. In the summer I can suck down water like a crazy woman, but in the winter, if I'm not focused on drinking, I can sit down to dinner and realize that I haven't had a thing to drink since breakfast. So I'm trying to remind myself to drink, drink, drink.
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Post by bianca42 on Feb 2, 2015 21:27:48 GMT
The cough I have is dry and unproductive. Once I get going, I just can't get it calmed down. That sounds more and more like the allergy induced asthmatic cough I started with last spring.
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Feb 2, 2015 21:38:13 GMT
Did your GP request a chest x-ray? No. Just gave me antibiotics. DH is not a fan of my GP. In this case, I'd listen to your DH. It's not like he's telling you to shake it off, he wants you to see a specialist. And I agree with him. That's too long to be sick.
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gsquaredmom
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,083
Jun 26, 2014 17:43:22 GMT
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Post by gsquaredmom on Feb 2, 2015 21:45:03 GMT
Not a doctor but
Sinus infection
Mycoplasma
Pertussis
Asthma
Allergies
Bronchitis
Or
You need more time.
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likescarrots
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,879
Aug 16, 2014 17:52:53 GMT
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Post by likescarrots on Feb 2, 2015 21:49:10 GMT
The cough I have is dry and unproductive. Once I get going, I just can't get it calmed down. My husband had this for over a month last year. The dr. told him it was most likely a virus with a lingering cough, and to just wait it out, but he did give him prescription guaifenesin with codeine, and benzonatate, which ended up clearing him up. A while later my boss got a cough similar, and she spent MONTHS going to drs, with tons of tests, xrays, mri, etc.. and they found nothing. I suggested maybe she ask her dr. to try the benzonatate as it helped my husband, and in a week or so her cough had also cleared up.
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Post by kristalina on Feb 2, 2015 21:56:22 GMT
My dh had a persistant, dry cough that was a side-effect of his blood pressure medication. Did you start any new meds recently?
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Jun 14, 2024 11:58:50 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2015 22:00:46 GMT
I agree you need to see your Dr. (or a different one) again. Your story sounds similiar to my dh's experience starting this fall.
He got a cold and went to the Dr. 3 times and took a z pack and a medrol dose pack with no improvement. He finally got a diagnosis of COPD.
When we told our dd, our sil recommended this: N-Acetal Cysteine or NAC.
We immediately went to a health food store and got some. It helped him almost immediately. He is still taking it and his cough and many other symptoms are gone.
Google it...I can't copy and paste on this device.
Our sil said he takes it when he gets a cold. He said if he gets a cold and doesn't have any, he will get up out of bed and go get some. I have not tried it...haven't had a cold since we found it.
(I am not saying I think you have COPD.)
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Post by annaintx on Feb 2, 2015 22:04:02 GMT
The cough I have is dry and unproductive. Once I get going, I just can't get it calmed down. That's asthma. I have it, too. I can cough so hard I throw up. I usually get on steroids for a week, a steroid inhaler, and an albuterol inhaler. Get to a doc, sounds like you need a new GP. Good luck!
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Post by anonrefugee on Feb 3, 2015 1:06:54 GMT
Please just make the appointment, and we'll hope it's as simple as one of these.
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Sue
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,234
Location: SE of Portland, Oregon
Jun 26, 2014 18:42:33 GMT
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Post by Sue on Feb 3, 2015 1:13:02 GMT
My dh had a persistant, dry cough that was a side-effect of his blood pressure medication. Did you start any new meds recently? Both my daughter and my husband had this same allergy from their blood pressure meds. Sometimes the coughing was so bad they nearly vomited. And then on the same day they might go several hours without coughing. Both changed medications and have no more problems.
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momto4kiddos
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,153
Jun 26, 2014 11:45:15 GMT
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Post by momto4kiddos on Feb 3, 2015 1:19:24 GMT
Sounds like plenty of good suggestions. Just an off the wall thought...do you have a bag in your vacuum. If so hope you changed it after vacuuming up pine needles.
Even people without asthma can need an inhaler to clear up lingering coughs/symptoms. My dd had bronchitis one year and they prescribed one because she was so bad. Same with my mom.
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TankTop
Pearl Clutcher
Refupea #1,871
Posts: 4,789
Location: On the couch...
Jun 28, 2014 1:52:46 GMT
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Post by TankTop on Feb 3, 2015 1:32:52 GMT
Is your cough worse at a certain time of day?
I am thinking asthma as well. My ds developed it two years ago. It is only an issue in the cold months.
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