My elderly mother has copd is there anything she can do to stop the awful cough?

[whatsupdoc]

Once my mother starts coughing she cant stop.just i feel so helpless .snything she csn take to help?

[Azure_Sky]

All I can suggest is that she sees her doctor as soon as possible.

[bandit2]

I recommended this to another viewer as I have bruised and cracked ribs from coughing. I am shocked your dr. has not offered it. Both codeine and for those of us who have sensitivity to codeine hydrcodone is an option example- Hycodan or Nova Histex DH they are both a narcotic and maybe that is why it was not mentioned the Hycodan will suppress the cough, the Nova Histex helps for you to cough up phlegm if you need to but still keep your cough under control. I know how she feels, also if you have a diffuser put some eucalptus oil in it, it helps to calm your chest. I hope this helps.

[whatsupdoc]

thanks for replying.Im wondering if I should contact the doctor as soon as possible.the thing is ,is that whenever I have called the doctor or asked advice.They just say carry on using her nebulizer and that's that.they never offer support or look at this seriously. Also my mum had a stroke 4 years ago and she has lost use of her left side.She is very frail and find s it impossible to get out and about.So the doctor finds it annoying when they need to call out. over the last few months shes been in and out of hospital.Always going in with breathing problems.only to be sent home after a few days .Only to be rushed back in a day or 2 later.She has suffered with breathing problems for the last few years.only nothing was getting done. The doctors were dismissive of my numerous calls to them .only when I suggested an asthma pump did they give her one.relieved a little of her symptoms. only recently after the 4th time of going back into hospital that they then diagnosed copd.she had gone in to hospital with pneumonia. she was confused and was so very disorientated .however she has come home now and she has no energy which is expected,just now shes home I can honestly say that her tablets are the same .there are no inhalers or anything different for her to use to help with breathlessness or her cough.she said when she coughs she cant stop .they knew this in hospital too .its all nhs treatment she receiving and im not being ungrateful.just so worried.MY mums 80 years old has never ever had depression but now she has and its gripped her .IS it her age going against her being properly treated?ive called doctors and spoken to the hospital but everyone seems so vague.do you think I should get back in the phone and make some strong demands for her to have an easier time with copd?any more advice id be greatful for x

[dandysmum in reply to whatsupdoc]

Hi, so sorry about your mum and I have copd & asthma and cough a lot but you know that it's the excessive amount of mucus that causes the coughing . I am buying pills over the counter that are especially for the relief of the mucus and they do help. I know you may have different types of pills there since I live in Canada but you might enquire from the druggist to see if they have something. I wish you both more success than what you've been experiencing because so much coughing is very difficult to handle when there is no relief at all hence I understand her being depressed about it and it does hurt.. Perhaps she is in need of some oxygen at her age. Just a thought. Wishing you the best!

[WheezyAnne]

It sounds to me that your Mother should be under the Community Respiratory Team, who help people with chronic lung conditions such as COPD, Severe Asthma and Emphaseamia (can't spell ) and Bronchiectasis to live with and manage the condition to reduce the number of hospital admissions. They are Respiratory nurses who can come out to the home, or give advice over the phone. I assume it is the same in your area. Does she sleep propped up? Does she practice her breathing exercises? How much water does she drink? Coughing is the bodies way of clearing the phlegm/mucus from her lungs, which is a good thing generally. If the GP is not listening, have you spoken to the Asthma Nurse and Pharmacist? She needs to keep up her water intake, which can be a problem in elderly people. I am not keen on cold water in winter time so have boiled water instead. Sure ther will be other members along with more advice soon. Look after yourself.

[Hidden]

i'm so sorry that your Mum is having such a rotten time with quite frankly, a disgraceful lack of care from her doctor. It sounds as though she has not actually been to a consultant who can diagnose her properly and tell her GP how to treat her. Hospital admissions only address the immediate emergency and the aim is to get the patient home as soon as possible. Your Mum needs a long term management plan to ease her symptoms and manage her multiple problems. Only a consultant can do that. Go to her GP with her and insist on a referral to a good consultant. Do not take no for an answer. Also, bear in mind that your Mother is suffering unnecessarily because her GP is too complacent to treat her seriously. There is a complaints procedure for this. Do not be afraid to use it.

Good luck, I hope that you get some help for your Mum and support for you soon.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Great reply SS. I completely agree that she needs urgent referral to a consultant or more than 1 for her heart and copd. Don't be put off and demand it as it's your right to ask for a second opinion and the doctor can't refuse it. She also ought to have a care plan in place.

Also look up the NICE guidelines as these are very informative. Let us know how you get on. x

[katieoxo60]

Hello whatsupdoc, so sorry to hear you are trying your best to cope with your mums illness and feeling fobbed off. Sadly these situations are becoming more frequent with elderly. However it is not supposedly due to age it is due to trying to get more value for money in the NHS. Heres a tip, my sister went to see my late mums doctor on the grounds that she was getting stressed with the situation they then started to be more open with my sister and she was able to cope easier with mums failing health due to age. My mum was 97 however. If your mum takes certain drugs for the heart it can cause persistant cough, but the doctor could prescribe a drug for this symptom to make life more comfortable for her and less worry for you.I have a constant cough myself I am prescribed ventolin but it does not work fully and heart tablets of certain type make it more persistant, I speak from experience. Warm frequent drinks help but I would think that would be a problem for your mum due to the stroke damage. You should be receiving help with the medical care from a community matron team also. Request a community care assessment think it has to be via the GP or practice nurse, these days or contact NHS healthwatch on line they also have a phone contact available details on their web page.Hope the info helps and every best wish with getting it sorted out to ease your mind. BLF help line nurses can advise you too, as it is a lung condition.

[M67W77]

I've got a dreadful cough too. I take carbocisteine capsules which are supposed to make the phlegm easier to cough up. Also montelukast 1 tablet a day. I've got ventolin through my nebuliser also sterile water through the nebuliser which seems to help my lungs. I find too much ventolin increases my heart rate but the sterile water is ok. I suck peppermint sweets a lot as I get a real dry mouth. It's important to drink a lot and I always have a bottle of water beside me. I'm 78. The cold weather always makes me cough. It's something we have to cope with but do ask to see the respiratory nurse at your GP,s surgery. I have found the nurse very helpful. I do wish you well.

[Dragonmum]

Sounds like a very unsatisfactory G.P; her age does not affect her entitlement to the best possible care. You sound like a very sweet person, which is nice - but my advice would be to insist that your Mum be properly assessed; a persistent cough can mean many different things. Just keep making a lot of noise until your Mum gets proper treatment, at her age she's probably paid her whack into the NHS since the dawn of time and she's entitled to proper care - we all are, it is not a charity - we've paid for it.

[tomhatha]

I had that too couldn't stop so I started to sing for about an hour a day and although I still get it a bit at night most of the day I'm a LOT better It may sound daft and she might get breathless at first but the breathing improves and the cough gets less and less good luck Tom

[M67W77]

Like the idea of singing. It helps with breathing. Our local breathe easy group has a singing session for 20 minutes before every meeting. It is well attended .

[whatsupdoc]

Thanks to everyone for replying your all great and so helpful.its good to talk and i so worry about my mother.ive got my own family to and and my mum is quite frail and i dont want to admit it.just sometimes i feel overwhelmed.its like this copd is unpredictable x x

[Eileen_donaghy in reply to whatsupdoc]

Hi. Sorry to hear about your mum I've had a cough all my life and as I've got older it got worse. A few years ago my doc thought I might have asthma and respiratory at hospital gave me inhalers. I've ended up withcarbocisteine and montelucast as well After a really bad year of constant chest infections my doc sent me for a scan thru respiratory. They now say I have Bronchiectasis I always felt the asthma diagnosis wasn't right I'm on a trial 250mg Azithromicin but that's not helping as I'm still having constant coughing. I can sympathise with your mum and of course her stroke will cause a weakness which in turn means she can't cough up her phlegm Maybe a nebuliser would help My doc at respiratory is lovely and if I've heard of something that may help me he is perfectly happy to prescribe it to see how i get on Def push to get help for Mum. X. X

[mte99a]

I couldn't even go out anywhere because of the coughing. In my case, , it was caused byyexcessmukcos. The inhalers can cause yeast infection, which makes the coughing worse. I discovered through a whole lot of online research and self-testing that a half half solution of raw apple cider vinegar and regular tapwater (use whatever water you want) in a spray bottle, and a couple of squirts after I used a bronchodialator or anytime Ifelt a mucus buildup or cough showing up, that usually brough the pH balance back to normal and not only was the immediate mucus brough up and there no cough, but also it helps to keep the common cold away. The best information I got was from a cite called earthclinic.com I hope you find this helps some, if you use it.

[garshe]

Ask your Doctor for Mucodyne. This breaks up the phlegm or mucas. I gave up smoking 9 yrs ago. I have never had a cough since. Hopefully your Mum will get the up she needs.. Sheila x