4 months ago I was sick (fever & mucus cough) and I continue to still cough & wheeze ever since. The doctor prescribed me an inhaler and some Azithromycin (Zithromax Z-Pak) and it didn't work. The inhaler seemed to just make things worst. Side Note: 9 years ago I had pneumonia. PS: I know this isn't the best place to ask WTF this is, but I would like to know if anyone has experienced this before or have some clue as to what it is..
The inhaler is a ProAir HFA and the cough is mostly wet, it varies. Sometimes I'm fine and other times I'm coughing until I throw up or come close to throwing up.
I tried yesterday, but I couldn't get in (too late apparently). Today or Monday I'll try another doctor, maybe get some X-rays.
The ProAir HFA might not be working depending on how you're taking it. Are you using a spacer (aerochamber) when you use the inhaler? ProAir is a short-acting bronchodilator, which might not be enough for your symptom control at this time. Check with your doctor, you might need some longer acting inhalors to control the symptoms to allow any possible inflammation to subside.
Yeah, I have the aerochamber on it (used as directed). Right after doing so the cough would seem to be worst for roughly 5-10 minutes..So after a couple of days I quit using it.
For chronic (chronic by definition meaning affecting long term) coughs, there are many possibilities. Obviously your doctor thinks is caused by asthma, an allergy etc, its possible the prescription was just a determination before taking more action. Apart from the absolute worst case scenario, another bad thing would be if it is tuberculosis which I believe have the symptoms you are describing :S. Its probably not that, but if they do happen to do a Mantoux test and its positive don't panic, since even in the US exposure rate is something like 10 percent. Dairy (particularly straight milk) can cause some people to produce extra phlegm, so if are a big dairy eater try changing the products you eat. Above all though, definitely see the doctor again, and if you aren't happy with the prognosis definitely get a second opinion. Good healthcare is nothing to sneeze at
Forget the doctor and go to the Hospital,explain to them that you want a second opinion from them,they have better technology at the hospital than at the doctors.
For the passed 24 hours I haven't drank any milk (just water) and I feel quite a bit better. No wheezing and no need to cough excessively, breathing is much clearer. So I guess this may be a factor...I typically drink a lot of milk (have been since a child) and recently (6 months ago) I switched from Skim to 1% & 2%. If this is as simple as a dairy issue than that's great..I hope it's the case..weird how drinking milk with slightly higher fat content would make such a drastic difference in health.. ~thanks PS: I still plan to go to the hospital on Monday to see if they turn up with something..hopefully I don't get worst.
Whooping caugh. My wife was just diagnosed with it. Exact same symptoms as you. The caugh can last up to 10 weeks after initial sickness is over. It may mean you need to get the shots again. We get them before we start school and they wear off for some adults. Just have the conversation about it with the doctor and see what they say. Apparently it's really hard to diagnose without sample tests of blood or mucus. This is why doctors generaly misdiagnose it as there are no symptoms directly related to whooping caugh until there is an attack. Maybe you could ask for a mucus test to be done. I can't hurt to ask, after all it is your health on the line. Look it up and see if what you have fits the description. Goolge will bring up alot of sites and they all seem to be pretty consistant info wise. You can even find sound clips of what the caugh sounds like. Mind you, most of the info relates to childeren as it's more common in infants.
This isn't caused by milk, milk just makes the symptoms worse. Once you get better (talk to a Dr), you can go back to milk.
Might be a mycoplasma infection (atypical pneumonia) - they can even self-heal but coughing may continue for weeks.
I tend to get mucus hang around for up to months after a standard illness. I think it's due to poor sinus drain.
Thats what I meant its not the cause of the coughing, but it can lead to making symptoms of other things worse. I didn't even consider whooping cough since its a common vaccine around the world... if it is, definitely DO NOT cough on any adult or especially babies/toddlers/young children that hasn't been vaccinated, its highly contagious. Some people don't believe in immunisation, but that's only because they haven't lived through measles, mumps, rubella, whooping cough, polio etc epidemics. Vaccinations are a very weak form of the infection (apart from new tech synthetic vaccines which aren't yet commonplace), so if there is any adverse reactions to immunisations (which can happen in rare instances), imagine what would happen if they were exposed to the real disease... If its a contagious infection causing it then deal with it straight away to save infecting others, and ifs a possible non-infectious cause I would suggest even more immediate action...
I went to another doctor and he concluded that I have asthma, he than prescribed me singulair & predinsone. Some X-Rays were done of my lungs at another clinic, I'll get the results sometime next week. It's only been a couple days taking the pills, but so far I have no wheezing or coughing. Hopefully I don't have asthma the rest of my life, I'd hate that.
Do you feel weak ? I have had a cough for about 3 weeks and am very tired and tightness in the chest. Dr. did an ekg and found that i have a bad valve and have to go find out Monday how bad. Whats your blood pressure ?