A couple of months back I posted about spasm coughing and some of you were kind enough to make suggestions about and send good wishes.
Well I think I have the solution to why it happens. Ive not had this coughing at all, all the time Ive been living at my sister's house in London with my daughter. She has done all the cooking and shopping - there's never any cheese in the house and I never had these spasms once. Then yesterday back home I ate a chunk of stilton, didnt think any more about it, but today I started spasming, coughing up stuff from my throat, and am still doing so about 8 hours later.
I thought I should let you know in case eating cheese affects anyone here on the forum in a similar way - my respiratory nurse has said in the past that dairy can be the devil for people with lung conditions. I had already suspected cheese was the culprit but didnt want to believe it as I love cheese so much but yesterday's cheese consumption has acted as a good test since I hadn't eaten any or so long. I am annoyed with myself as I had an important dental appointment today to start working on a new crown to cover the black stump which makes me look bit like a haggard old witch (!) - self sabotage but having not had cheese or the spasms for so long, I had simply forgotten it was a possibility.
Ive read about problems with dairy in the past and there has been research which has debunked dairy causing problems in the lungs themselves. But same research has also said that it can definitely cause more mucus in the throat.
Anyway it's worth having a horrid day with relentless coughing and gobbing up (sorry!) just to prove the point. No more yummy cheese for me!
Hope everyone is as well as possible and having a good evening xx
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Certainly something to watch out for. I very rarely have cheese but I do find that eating apples makes me cough a lot, no idea why so I just have one occasionally. Sorry you are having to cut out something you love. xx
Hello Jean, it’s so good to see you on the forum but sorry to hear you have had to give up eating cheese. It’s interesting to note what can cause problems though I must say. I’ve given up alcohol because of Afib and I don’t really miss it. The last alcoholic drink I had was 13/10/21 and had a terrible AF attack so never again. Wishing you well as always. Take care dear friend. Xxx❤️💜💕🤗
Aw- thanks Carole. (Is there an e at the end?!) Lovely to hear from you and yes, I think once you know something is contributing to your feeling dreadful and frightened, it's actually easy to give it up. Love to you and Pete xxxx
You’ve got it right Jean, definitely an e at the end. Thank you for that. I totally agree, very easy to give up something that’s not doing your health any good. Love to you and Rita. Xxx💜😘
Stilton is a particularly strong cheese Jean in that it is still fermenting,could you not eperiment with a milder less active cheese just with a glimmer of hope that your pleasure could be continued.Thankfully cheese doesn't have any effect on me otherwise i would be dead by now through starvation as it is one of the very few foods i can still eat.
Interesting - I didnt know stilton was still fermenting when you buy it. I think from memory that brie is better which i put down to it being fattier. I think lactose and casein etc are in the protein part of the cheese. If I find others better I'll report back. Hope you're in good nick Mike, and Scruffs xxx
Here's hoping you can still find a cheese you can tolerate?Maybe I am confusing Stilton with Camembert which seems to be still fermenting as it ages and becomes runny and very pungent?
Omg! I love camembert. And brie. I think you were probably right re the stilton. Cheddar brings on the coughing too Ive noticed in the past. We'll see. If I get any insights I'll report back. 🐱🐱🐱
That’s a shame about the cheese but really interesting. It’s how I found out that milk upsets my stomach - a week in Cyprus with such yummy breakfasts that cereal and milk was never a contender. Then home to weetabix and milk and nausea till lunchtime. The penny dropped. Soya “milk” for me now.
OK'ish as hubby and I say but not as good as I'd like to be Jean. Hope you are doing well now that you have found the culprit for your coughing spasms. xx
I am good generally, thanks for asking. However I fractured my ankle last friday so wont be back to normal for 3-5 weeks. But there are worse things. I do a lot of exercise which keeps me going, and need it as Im late stage 3 copd. So my first thought on the floor, after taking a corner too quickly, was how will I exercise now? But Ive found some good chair based workouts so crossing fingers. Things can change in a split second, can't they?!
Hi Jean, great to 'see' you, I wondered if you'd ever got to the bottom of the wretched cough. How weird that it's cheese though, all my life until recently I could never eat any blue cheese of in fact any fungi, my stomach would swell enormously & I'd feel awful. Fine now I'm aged & so pleased I can eat stinky runny ones. I now wonder if antihistamines would have worked. Love from me 🙂
I tried antihistamines and no luck. Your stomach swelling sounds awful. Our farmers' market does a brie which is almost running out the room - fantastic. Lots of love P xx
Hi Jean so nice to hear from you. Sorry you have had to give up cheese, I'm lucky it's the one food I hate. At least you know what caused the coughing fits, it's certainly gave me something to think about. Please let us know how things go. Have a really lovely day and take care 😊 Bernadette and Jack 🐕 xxxxxxx
Could that be reflux Alice? I take lansoprazole which works for me. I dont eat chocolate though due to being pre-diabetic and not wanting to progress, so no sugar. In general my health has benefited.
My late former husband Bob had real problems with cows milk and its products. Once he was stabilised by two weeks' abstinence, he could eat goats or sheep milk and their products. He swelled up like a football around the waist and became seriously breathless, needing hospitalisation. He also had to avoid bleached wheat flour.
Wow, that sounds awful Ergendl. When I was much younger I was recommended goats milk for the asthma I had. I think it did produce less mucus. I used to eat St Helens goats yoghurt until recently, a couple of years ago, I read that the goats at their farms were being treated appalling so I stopped. Sainsburys stopped stocking it too. Maybe that treatment has improved now but Ive not heard anything.
I can sympathise Jean as I love cheese too, all kinds of cheese . Is it just the stilton or all cheese? I suppose its a small price to pay to get rid of the cough. Fingers crossed all goes well with your dental appointment x
I had to cancel the dental appointment - second time that's happened at short notice, they must be fed up of me. Hopefully now it wont happen again. I'll be trying brie in tiny amounts to see if it's ok - I dont think its so bad. Hope you're doing well
I was wondering how you were O2 as I haven't seen you for ages. I am glad you got to the bottom of your cough. I do agree with Skis though it could be the type you ate so maybe try a mild one?
I have posted on here before about one of my sisters with no lung problems who had a bad dry cough for years. She cut out all dairy food the introduced them one by one. She found she was intolerant of cows milk and ice cream, but thankfully not cheese.
Since cutting these out of her diet her cough went completely. Hope your dental appointment doesn't hurt too much! Take care and stay safe. xx
Hey Bev, yep I'll be trying others. In fact the first night I had a little stilton I didnt cough. I think it builds up in the body and I get the spasm when it reaches a tipping point.
Interesting that cutting out cheese stopped your sister's DRY cough. Unusual but then everyone's different as we know. I had to cancel and am rebooking dental appointment
No Jean she was fine with cheese. It was just cows milk and ice cream. She loves cheese but not Stilton!
I am ok thanks chuck. Still bearing up under the strain. I am feeling under pressure to give up smoking again so I can afford some treatment for my back as I keep getting sciatica and the doctors and NHS physio are pretty useless. I am currently trying to ward off another spell of it now am praying it works.
I hope you are well now that you have got rid of your horrid spasms. Take care my friend and stay as well as possible.
Oh not good having to put off your dental treatment as it gives you more time to think about it. Hope it's not too painful. Bev xx
That’s interesting, don’t think cheese makes me cough, but will definitely keep in mind. I cough lot because of PCD including bronchiectasis and partly collapsed lung, and when I can’t stop eat dry ginger biscuit, one usually works. Best regards Jean x
That's tough, Jean, but good news you have found the reason for your persistent cough, that in itself makes it worthwhile. Maybe as Skis says, milder cheese? Take care xxx
I have some Alberta - peanut butter (which helps keep weight on) and hummus. I often have a packet of smoked salmon on the go. Salty things work for me. Hope you're good Alberta
I'm pretty good today, thank you, after a bad day yesterday .Filled in a questionnaire from Test and Trace very stroppily, which made me feel better. They pestered me when I was really ill, which I thought was most unreasonable. I don't suppose they will take any notice. I love hummus too, but peanut butter not allowed in this house, because daughter is allergic to it. We have had to learn 'I am allergic to peanuts' in Arabic, Dutch, French and Italian. 😂😂
Not too scary, now that daughter knows what to look out for and doesn't order veggie dishes without making sure there are no nuts in them. Other people are much worse off.
hope you are keeping well and a very happy New Year to you and your family. I have bad problems with choking and coughing throwing up mucus and I stopped eating cheese some time ago but no real improvement for me unfortunately.
Oh I am SO sorry you have choking/coughing problems Tom. I know how awful this is and sorry that stopping cheese didnt work. I wonder if any other food could be the culprit? Happy new year to you and yours too
Just a word about my darling husband, he's in mourning!! The GP phoned a couple of weeks ago after blood tests in which I'd asked the nurse to include his prostate levels. Firstly the receptionist phoned on the Friday afternoon to say doctor would phone on Monday, I was sick with worry all weekend thinking it was bad news and he had prostate cancer! Anyway she just wanted him to start Statins as his level was 11.something. He's muttering that he's not taking Statins, he's got Parkinsons which has affected both his speach and mobility so I was speaking for him and the phone was on speaker. She said that if he wouldn't take Statins then he'd have to give up cheese, what a catastrophe, anyway after much thought he's decided to try the tablets and can hopefully continue to eat his beloved cheese.
I hope that works out for him GG. My cholesterol is high, but its the good one which is high and my ratio is good so for now Ive refused statins. We all have to make our own decisions based on what we can endure. May your husband continue enjoying his cheese !
I'm glad your husband decided on the statins Glasgow girl. My lovely sister recently had a massive stroke and is paralysed on left side. She had been prescribed statins but didn't take them - because she never liked taking any medication. It's pretty awful, she was slim, very creative, busy and never stopped until the moment it happened. I too have hereditary high bad cholesterol (but reasonably good cholesterol) diagnosed in my early 50s as 8.3 so take the statins, I also take plant stanols, eliminated fat long ago just a couple of ounces of cheese every so often. My husband had prostate cancer too, refused medical help so it metastased to his bones. The treatment is so much better now. My boss was diagnosed with it last September, he was given the opportunity to do a trial treatment of heavy-duty chemo for a week only instead of spreading it out which he did. His PSA is now normal with no sign of the cancer.
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