Three years ago I developed a chest infection while working in a furniture shop .I was really unwell and was rushed to hospital a couple of times with an attack . I had my chest x- rayed which always came up clear . I was put on steroids and antibiotics . The steroids worked for awhile but antibiotics did nothing . I have been going back and fore to the doctors for last three years with same chesty cough and earlier this year had Pnumonia which triggerd a few scary attacks resulting in ambulance trips to A&E .
I am so fed up of this cough . It's not an infection as it's clear mucus I cough up and so I hope someone here can help . I have allergies too but never been tested .I also have exceama . I wonder if all this was triggered by something in sofa warehouse I worked in . I was in Austraila for three weeks recently and all my symptoms all but disappeared . Hardly used my inhalers and cough almost went lol .A week back in home and I got sore throat from kids I work with as a nanny and cough is back full force . Again mucus clear . π»πΊπ
Please help it's driving me nuts . Asthma not great just now either .But I put that down to warm weather .
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2412
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There is probably something at work which is irritating your airways; I'm always worse when I've been to work as compared to sticking at home.
A lot of furnitures and carpets contain chemicals which don't help asthmatics in the slightest. It could also be the cleaning products used by the cleaners or the care products for the furnitures themselves, the perfumes worn by fellow staff members and customers; the list is endless.
I would ask to be referred to a respiratory consultant for a definitive diagnosis and for allergy testing to see if they can find what it is that is causing you to react.
Thanks for your reply . I gave up working there three years ago because my health . I have just never been able to rid myself of the chesty cough I picked up while working there .Its exactly the same three years on with no improvement apart when I was in Oz I'm now working as a nanny and spend most of my time outdoors with children .
I have asked many times to be referred to respiratory consultant only to be told it must be my ashma or a chest infection .
Will go back again and ask again . It's getting me down πππΊπ»
Have they ever tried you on Codeine Linctus? Its a liquid form which is supposed to help with irritant coughs, it has helped me a little bit though I still do cough.
Are you seen by the Asthma Nurse at all? I hope they listen to you this time.
If you improved while in Australia was there a large difference in climate. Humidity can make a large difference in your symptoms.
It was not really any different from being at home . It was quite cool and had temps as low as minus 2 . Didn't do anything different so I don't know .
Insist on seeing a consultant. If you don't fight for yourself, no-one will fight for you, unless you have a mum able to wage war for you. If you have to make a nuisance of yourself, then do it. You don't deserve to be fobbed off like this.
Thanks for the reply . My partner is coming with me next week . He's had enough seeing me like this . I wouldn't let him come in the past but I'm so fed up and desperate now .
Our docs aren't the best . I once went to surgery to pick up prescription .But with rushing to get there before it shut I started to have an asthma attack . He said I was fine .I could hardly talk . I asked him for an inhaler . Instead of giving me nebs he sent me to chemist with prescription which was shut . He just wanted to get home and not help me . I ended up being rushed to hospital very ill . The A& E staff were lovely and very shocked at the way I'd been treated .
You really should ask to see a respiratory consultant no demand. This has been going on a long time. Consultants can ask for different tests and scans to be done such as CT, MRI and different blood tests ( mad I knowing would be so much better if the Doc could order them and send them on so that they were waiting for you when you saw the consultant). My consultant at Manchester is trying to get this changed in fact last time I saw him he was writing about it. I hope you get to see a consultant soon.
Hello 2412 Like you, I've had asthma all my life. Like you I've had pneumonia. Sounds like you live in a climate not good for asthma. My asthma was bad when I lived in an urban air polluted valley. I moved to a rural mountainous area and breathed better. Getting rid of a cat helped too. I began doing deep breathing exercises(PeacefulWarrior.com.) Please check with your doctor before doing deep breathing exercises. My diet changed- no more dairy, lots of fruits and veggies- apples, beets, carrots, spinach to name a few. I get more sleep now. I now live in a smoke free environment. All of this helped me. I wrote a book about all this- "Running with Asthma: An Asthmatic Runner's Memoir," available on amazon.com.
Thanks for the reply .Reading all the posts I am beginning to think this cough maybe allergie related . My diet is quiet healthy .No junk just food all cooked from scratch .No frying and all lean meat and loads of fresh fish . I love fruit and veg .I grow a lot of my own veg . So going to take a closer look at diet ππ.I have never smoked and have lived in the country all my life . I live in the Highlands of Scotland so air quality excellent . I have no cats at the moment but have two dogs .I know animals don't affect my ashma because I've had loads of animals all of my life . I was tested for cat and dog allergies . But need to be tested for other stuff I think .May have food intolerance as I have IBS which when bad seems to set off chain reaction of symptoms .
My job keeps me active (nanny to three children ).Im an outdoor person so take children out on long walks everyday . Also love walking and cycling . Just bought a road bike and have a mountain bike which I've not been on a while because of chest .I play the bagpipes but have not been fit enough to blow them since getting this cough . Trying to get fit again .Really pushing myself . I've never been one for sitting at peace . Love being active .Living where I do there so much country to be out in .
I aim to be steroid free in three months and using my inhalers as little as I was three years ago .
Looking forward to feeling well again . πππ»ππΊ
Thank you for your reply. Maybe a steroid inhaler would help you. You could talk to your doctor about it. I use the Advair Diskus fluticasone propionate 250 mcg/salmeterol 50 mcg inhaler in the morning and again before bed. It helps and I have suffered no side effects. I also take my albuterol sulfate inhaler 90 mcg per actuation Proair HFA, two puffs right before I go running. I also take a 10 mg pill of ic monelukast before bed.
All this medication has helped me run 5k races asthma free.
you need a consultant get him to see are your lungs scarred ordinary ex rays not worth a crap wont tell you need a ct scan and camera down your lungs damp climate kills us this part of the world
Hi, I just came across your post and would love to know if you ever got to see a consultant, had a CT scan and full allergy testing. I had been like you for 3 years, 4 or 5 times pneumonia, incessant chest infections & antibiotics until my immune system must have been non-existent. Finally got a referral in SW London, full lung function tests, full allergy tests (severe allergy to mould and mild allergy to aspergillus) and CT scan. Diagnosis: uncontrolled asthma and Small Airways Disease. I joined this forum 11 years ago and learnt so much from helpful members to claw my health back with v healthy diet, high strength manuka honey, tonics, vitamins and minerals to keep strong immune system. I firmly believe most GPs know little about aspergillus, young asthmatic children can pick it up from autumn leaves, gardens, farmyards. We can all pick it up however, it only causes aspergillosis (ABPA) if there's an allergy &/or people are: uncontrolled asthmatics, cystic fibrosis patients, and immunocompromised patients.
Anyway, I do hope you're well now 2412, best wishes Peege
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