Garga Posted August 17, 2014 Share Posted August 17, 2014 Can we talk about coughs? Every year in the fall/winter, my husband and son start in on the coughs. These coughs will last for weeks. Like 4-5 weeks. DH has broken a rib at least once from the force of these coughs. It starts with ds11 and dh. They each have very mild asthma, so perhaps that's why it always seems to start with them. After a few weeks of them coughing, my other son and I will often get the coughs. These are terrible coughs. Like, coughing every 10 seconds. Nothing gets done. We just hack and hack and hack away. The first few weeks I listen to their coughing and the noise is deafening and annoying. I feel guilty for being annoyed, because I know they can't help all the noise, relieved when they leave the house, for the blessed silence, and dread, because I know it's coming for me next. A couple of years in the past, it's progressed into pneumonia for my son. When I get the cough, I can hear a wheezy, rattling noise in my lungs. Actually, if you stand a few feet from me, you can hear it, too. It's terrible. And let's not even talk about the torture of trying to sleep with this. Sure, the doctor gives us meds, but they sometimes seem to lessen the cough a little and sometimes don't seem to touch it at all. They never know if it's viral or bacterial or whatever and just give out the meds. Is there anything we can do to prevent this from happening this year? I wondering if at the very first tiny sign of the smallest cough ever, if we should quickly guzzle as much expectorant as is allowed per the side of the bottle? Is there some sort of food we should eat? Some sort of...oh I don't even know. My only plan is to immediately get a powerful expectorant and hope that the cough doesn't get a stranglehold on us. Has anyone ever beat a bad cough? Stopped it before it got bad? Please help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted August 17, 2014 Author Share Posted August 17, 2014 Oh, and we have access to inhalers, because of the asthma. So, I was thinking: powerful expectorant and inhaler every few hours at the slightest hint of a cough. Is that crazy? Or smart? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted August 17, 2014 Share Posted August 17, 2014 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted August 17, 2014 Share Posted August 17, 2014 Sounds like allergies and cough variant asthma... Are they already on daily allergy and asthma meds (nasal spray, antihistamine, inhaled corticosteroid)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted August 17, 2014 Author Share Posted August 17, 2014 DH takes nasalcrom every day, but ds doesn't. If ds isn't coughing in the winter, then he has no other symptoms. DH does get allergy symptoms, hence the nasalcrom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted August 17, 2014 Author Share Posted August 17, 2014 If the coughs are originating from the lungs, then that would be an asthma issue. I would see a specialist about inhaled steroids used daily throughout the season or year. And yes, inhaled albuterol every four hours at the first sign of a cold. If the coughs are the result of sinus drainage, then that would be another area to address. I would look into immune boosting supplements as well (with careful research) Excellent advice all around. I can't recall whether the coughs just started on their own or came after sinus drainage. It *feels* like BAM they just arrive, but I may not have been paying attention. I never, ever had coughs as a kid, and all these coughs the past 4 years is driving me nuts. And I would rather go to the doctor armed with some ideas since my doctor isn't all that great with preventative. She just wants to wait for a cough and give us an rx. But she's not the one with a cough in the house for 2 or 3 months (by the time it goes thru us all.) I think the cough starts small enough, and then infections or something sets in (like the pneumonia) so I'm hoping to prevent it this year. The more you guys ask me things the more I can piece together what's going on and what to do. Thanks for replying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbutton Posted August 17, 2014 Share Posted August 17, 2014 If the coughs are originating from the lungs, then that would be an asthma issue. I would see a specialist about inhaled steroids used daily throughout the season or year. And yes, inhaled albuterol every four hours at the first sign of a cold. If the coughs are the result of sinus drainage, then that would be another area to address. I would look into immune boosting supplements as well (with careful research) Agreed. Some kinds of asthma is more prone to coughing vs. wheezing, and it can mean keeping on top of something that seems relatively minor. You also want to bring down inflammation of any kind in the body. So, sometimes the problem is mucous (from allergies, drainage from colds, etc.) and sometimes it's inflammation. Sometimes one leads to the other, so you need strategies to get to the root of the problem and to treat symptoms. Sometimes adding Mucinex (with or without a decongestant) can help with coughs/asthma. A doctor could help you troubleshoot. Mucinex helps me prevent episodes of asthmatic bronchitis. Some supplements I've found helpful (get really high quality ones from a health food store or online)...fish oil (in the long-term, check on max doses), zinc, vitamin C, probiotic. Eating a really high quality diet helps more than you'd think. My asthma is better and my kids never get colds now, and the biggest changes are cleaner diet (and it was already pretty good) and adding good vitamins/fish oil. Indoor and outdoor air quality change throughout the year. Some people are triggered by damp, cool air, cold air, etc. Indoor allergens are often worse in cooler months. So, you might want to have allergies checked and take some precautions against dust mites. Look up potential allergy triggers and targeted solutions. If really cold air is a trigger, for instance, wearing a scarf over the mouth (or even a mask) can help warm up the air before it hits the lungs. You can google older threads for ideas about supplements, super foods, and allergen-proofing your home. If your family doc is not educating you thoroughly about asthma (and many are not up-to-date), then you need to see a pulmonologist. If allergies are involved, some allergists are exceptionally good at managing asthma as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PinkyandtheBrains. Posted August 17, 2014 Share Posted August 17, 2014 Does your air vent system need cleaned out? Replace filters often, add air filters, make sure humidity is kept at a healthy level. Keep on top of daily asthma meds before the symptoms start. I recommend talking to a doctor ahead of time if you don't already have daily meds for this. It helps to be proactive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbutton Posted August 17, 2014 Share Posted August 17, 2014 My post crossed with the others time-wise. I would definitely look into the allergy angle more. Sometimes people add allergies over time that they didn't have before, and they can develop suddenly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted August 17, 2014 Share Posted August 17, 2014 Nasal rom doesn't sound like enough. Does the coughing coincide with ragweed season or with leaves being on the ground and stop once you have several very hard freezes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
73349 Posted August 17, 2014 Share Posted August 17, 2014 I think you may need to visit a specialist or a new family doctor, with whom you can review the serious problems you've had the past few years. At the least, if you're not entirely better by the last day of antibiotics, you'll want to make another appointment as soon as possible. Meanshile, fresh air, orange juice, and chicken soup, and perhaps disposable hand towels and bathroom cups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Princess Ariel Posted August 17, 2014 Share Posted August 17, 2014 I can sympathize with you! I am the queen of coughing, have thrown out my back from intense coughing, and it used to be regularly every fall and spring. However, I have found that staying off of dairy foods can make a huge difference for me. And if I really want to get serious, leaving out sugar and grains makes a noticible difference as well. I wish you well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in TN Posted August 17, 2014 Share Posted August 17, 2014 When ds was younger (7-8 years old), he spent 2 fall/winters coughing - as soon as daytime temps averaged in the 50's. It was funny because one fall he had started his coughing and we went to FL for a week. No coughing. Came back, constant coughing. Drove us nuts. We discovered it was milk with some weird connection to the temperature. Before the 2 years of coughing he always drank rice milk, but during the 2 coughing years, we were drinking raw milk. When he stopped drinking cows milk, the coughing stopped and has never returned. ETA: ds's pediatrician insisted that it was all in his head and he was *making* himself cough due to nervousness or ADD or something. She insisted that there is NO allergy that can make you cough like that, and "prescribed" him a fake inhaler. Dingbat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 I have this, and it's asthma. I control the things that lead up to it. When I'm allergic I take allegra. When I get a cold, I hit it with sublingual zinc every two hours for about two days to lessen the length of it, and I take sudafed as a regimen--the real, behind the counter sudafed is the only thing that works for this for me. I also use cough syrup with expectorant, OTC, again as a regimen, whenever I feel like coughing. When I get reflux I drink ginger steepings and take prilosec. Because of all of this, I rarely get asthma anymore. If I ever get to the point where I can't control the coughing, I take inhaled steroids religiously, and if that doesn't work I go to the doctor for steroid tablets--this is very rare, maybe twice in the last 4 years, once of these two times being when I got stuck out of town without access to some of the preventative meds in time. Managing things this way has vastly improved my quality of life. Additionally, I was coughing so hard and so much before I started all of this that I landed in the ER a couple of time, and also started down a path to serious lung damage, that thankfully I am no longer on. It would be horrible to get COPD without even smoking, but that can actually happen. Ugh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenn- Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 I agree that it sounds like it might be allergy/asthma related. Most people associate spring with allergy season, but there is another one that is just as bad for some people in the fall. I have one son that is miserable in the spring but fine in the fall and one that is miserable both times of the year. It really sounds like uncontrolled cough variant asthma though, and I would start with a specialist for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 Agreeing w/cough variant asthma. Ds has this--it's been under control for years, though. (Asthma never goes away, but can become asymptomatic, as you know.) I'd start tracking your peak flows with a meter--everyone in the family do it. A good asthma specialist can tell you at what point a breathing treatment series would be indicated. The more info you have, the better! Hugs--must be hard! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 Have you tried vitamin D? Seriously, it has reduced the amount of illness around here significantly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 I always intend to dose us heavily with vitamin D, cod liver oil, and probiotics. I just tend to forget. One of my littles gets albuterol at the first sign of cough, or it gets very bad. Another one of my boys gets the constant throat clearing cough, which our doc says is from postnatal drip. It goes away if we start using a steroid nasal spray for him (Flonase/Fluticasone). Also, we liked the allergist group we saw for the son with the steroid nasal spray very much and would happily recommend them to you. They're close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippen Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 I always intend to dose us heavily with vitamin D, cod liver oil, and probiotics. I just tend to forget. One of my littles gets albuterol at the first sign of cough, or it gets very bad. Another one of my boys gets the constant throat clearing cough, which our doc says is from postnatal drip. It goes away if we start using a steroid nasal spray for him (Flonase/Fluticasone). Also, we liked the allergist group we saw for the son with the steroid nasal spray very much and would happily recommend them to you. They're close. I myself start Albuterol at the first sign of a cold, and if the cold is bad I'll also start with inhaled steroids. I get better results by using a a nebulizer than inhaler. Severe, painful coughing needs more than OTC cough expectorant. When my coughing gets really bad my doctor prescribes cough syrup with codiene. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted August 18, 2014 Author Share Posted August 18, 2014 Wow. Thank you guys. There is a lot to think about. It could be so many things. I'm going to study all the answers and try to figure out what it could be. My son drinks a TON of milk and is a terribly picky eater. So, diet could be at play in this as well as temperature and allergies. Thank you to everyone who replied. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 Agreeing with others....Cough variant asthma or Allergic cough. My gut says allergic cough based on your description. (I have one kid with cough variant asthma every August and one kid with Allergic cough three-quarters of the year. If you live in a state with a cooler fall, I would expect it to be a mold allergy. as the leaves start hitting the ground and plants start dying. If you live in a warmer area, you may want to look at what pollinates at that time of year near you. If you live in a area with wood burning fireplaces, that can be a huge irritant to those with asthma. Or if you live in a area with seasonal crop burning, hay mowing, large crop harvesting, or many other things that affect the air quality in your area...you could be fighting something on a larger scale that may be somewhat controllable by limiting exposure and using some indoor filters for a few months of the year. Call the doctor and find out how they would like to treat it. Wait for it to start and then come in.....or just start the meds as soon as fall starts and try to prevent it from happening at all. I would expect the doctor to have them take an allergy pill like Allegra or Zyrtec daily. Then add a steroid inhaler like Qvar or Flovent daily to keep the inflammation down. If there is post nasal drip running down their throat, then a decongestant can hep immensely, but you want the pseudoephedrine from the pharmacy, not phenylephrine which is on the regular grocery aisle. I would not use OTC things prophylacticly like expectorants or suppressants. I would get them both into a pulminologist to get a good diagnosis and start treating it appropriately before it hits. If you can see a pulminologist, try an asthma/allergy doc. Primary care doctors can treat the situaion, but don't usually have the right equipment to gauge breathing like either of the other doctors will. You want a doctor who can do a spirometry test on them to test lung function both before and after medication. The other advantage to seeing as specialist, is that they will know what irritants are in the air at that time in your area, and can give you ideas on how to avoid them. Good luck! I am happy you are getting ahead of this, this year. Maybe you can get it under control before it even starts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.