Mucus cough in the mornings that won't go away!

[Chrish85]

I've had this for about a year now every morning without fail I'll have a coughing fit until I bring up some mucus from what feels like quite deep down.. sometimes it's tinged with blood (bright red) which I assume is just from how forceful the coughing can be

sometimes I'll also have the same cough after eating

I'm not sure whether it's a mucus drip, or some sort of reflux, or maybe even a dairy intolerance

I've also currently got a bit of a cold which has triggered a few new symptoms (couple of mouth ulcers, cotton mouth, sore throat) which has caused me to worry more than usual

I went to the doctors a few weeks ago (before I got the cold) and they looked in my mouth and felt my neck for lumps, had a listen to my lungs and said it didn't seem like anything serious

sent me for a chest x-ray which came back normal, also took some phlegm to test it for bacteria and that came back ok too.

I'm 33, overweight, don't smoke (never have), drink very little (1 beer every 2 weeks on average), I have a poor diet though

The cough does worry me as on some days it literally brings tears to my eyes and is so forceful it'll bring me to my knees in a coughing fit..

I find that the cough is normally triggered when I'm brushing my teeth so whether it's because I'm not breathing as normal because of the tooth brush..

I'm also a mouth breather (such a nice name!) primarily so wondering if that's playing a part.. would explain why it happens when I'm eating too

The coughing fit usually brings up some mucus and also triggers a lot more mucus to be present causing me to blow my nose as my nose will be pouring with mucus too at this point

Anyone else had anything similar and have any advice for me?

I've feared the worst (as you do!)

I'm going to focus on getting into shape and changing my diet to see if that helps

but would love to hear from other people who have had a similar experience??

[Will57]

Sorry I don't have answers but I'm in the same boat. I have COPD and now they found I've got pulmonary embolism. Hate mornings as all I do is cough and it's distressing. Just today I've put a sputum sample in so hopefully will get medication for it.

[HungryHufflepuff]

Unfortunately I don’t have any answers either but I can relate to the coughing when brushing teeth and to a lesser degree with eating. The worst is when brushing my teeth though, to the extent that I put off doing so, I wander around with my toothbrush psyching myself up for it, because at the same time I obsess about my dental hygiene. With the choking I get to the stage of having this never ending stuff that I’m trying to spit out.

What I can say though is, I am a mouth breather too, in fact i didn’t think I was able to breathe through my nose because I never did. But I got some amazing help right here on this forum and so much advice about breathing techniques, and I’m learning to breathe through my nose. It does take practise but the past few days, on several occasions, I’ve noticed my mouth is shut and I’m breathing through my nose! Sometimes I can’t remember what’s the correct way to breathe, someone said you remember it like, smell the roses, blow out the candles. Best memory aid ever. So, breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Hopefully some of this can help you a bit, but I wanted to share because it really has helped me so much.

[donut43]

Try an aquapella or flutterball to help loosen the mucus.

Dan

[joycen60]

I had a cough in the morning for many years before I went to the Doctors. My Doctor was excellent and sent me for a chest X Ray straight away as he suspected Bronchiectasis which he was able to confirm. Try going back to your doctor and ask him to do an X ray. Nothing much has changed for me as I still cough but at least I know what it is now and can manage it.

[Chrish85 in reply to joycen60]

They did do an x-ray already and didn't mention this, but does sound like it could be a potential!

was it just the mornings that you cough too? I assume from laying down all night and the mucus building up

[HungryHufflepuff in reply to Chrish85]

Do you sleep lying flat? I sleep sitting up, and have done for years. Just a few weeks ago I bought a wedge pillow but it doesn’t really make much difference other than not having a whole lot of pillows falling down. I just have one pillow under the wedge pillow and one on it.

I have to go for a chest X-ray 😕

[joycen60 in reply to Chrish85]

I also cough if I am in a room that it Air Conditioned and at other times but nothing like first thing in the morning which is due to the mucus getting stuck in the tubes..

[Lindy-loo1949 in reply to joycen60]

In order for the specialist to diagnose me with bronchiectasis, I had to have a CT scan. If you've been sick a lot as a child as I was, lots of pneumonia is asthma and then as a fool I smoked for 20 years... This was my result. Lots of coughing and you can hardly bring it up and the sputum is mostly thick with these long stringy hard bits of mucus. How lovely just imagine it in the theater of your mind. It's pretty gross but it is what it is! I would go back and insist on something being done. If nothing gets done I would see somebody else or ask to see a specialist that deals with pulmonary issues. Best to you I hope you find out what's going on.

[Shazrab]

I'm sorry to hear how your feeling as I know from experience it's miserable to be coughing I have copd asthma and blood clots in my lungs I take an infection about every month , when I was a lot younger than I am now I used to go about clearing my throat all the time thwn one day when I qas 14 I took a sever asthma attack ended up in hospital for days . I would advice you to go back to your gp and tell them it's making you miserable I really feel so sorry for you I feel like you do in the morning but I take inhaler and it breaks up the morning mucus as I call it after that I can breath easier . I can't tell you what's wrong with you but just wanted to give you some support , also I've handed in sputum samples in the past and they've came back ok but it turned out is need to go back to my go again a few days later and I would have infection that needed antibiotic and sometimes steroids too good luck I hope you find an answer to what's wrong with you I hope everyone is having an easy day best wishes 🌹🌹🌹