hi , my DaD , who has Stage 4, has been ccughing quite a bit in the last couple of days.
He had a pleural water removal a couple of weeks ago and worried this may be building again.
Anything you've all found that may alleviate some of the coughing symptoms , that i know he finds really frustrating ...?
Thank you all so much
for us it was a sign the pleural effusion was back however coughing is a sign of lung cancer of course.
They let it get so bad my mum was being sick all the time and couldn’t eat so I would really push to get it ultra sound / x rayed again to check asap. Has he got an appointment at the pleural clinic made after he was drained?
Thanks Sharkey. Yep, CT scan to come this week, thanks for the reminder how important this is. Plueral wise, we'll find out more from the scan i would guess? He's eating ok now that he' out of the hospital and the (in my view) poor food that gets served there.
Hi Vip1
Sorry to hear your dad has lung cancer and his cough is being troublesome. It could be a symptom of his lung cancer or there may be a build up of fluid in his lung. It would merit a medical assessment, he can either contact his lung cancer nurse specialist, oncologist or GP to be reassessed.
If your Dad has any sputum, that is yellow, green or tinged with blood to let the doctors know, as this may indicate an infection.
This link will take you directly to our booklet on 'Managing lung cancer symptoms':
roycastle.org/app/uploads/2...
Hope he feels better soon and if If there is anything else you would like to discuss, you can email ask the nurse at lungcancerhelp@roycastle.org or call our free phone nurse led helpline number on 0800 358 7200 Monday to Thursday 0900-1700 and Friday 0900-1600
Kind regards
The Roy Castle Support Team
Thank you very much for your advice
sorry to read of your dad's coughing - not all coughing is cancer related even in those with a lung cancer diagnosis - I've had some shocking coughs with nasty chest infections much worse than any symptoms I had for my lung cancer diagnosis in January 2011. Most have responded eventually with targeted treatments sometimes inhalers, nebulisers, steroids and IV or oral antibiotics.
Over the years I've found inhaling over steam, drinking plenty of hot drinks and sucking on Halls soother type sweets have relieved the cough and sleeping propped up with pillows does alleviate any phlegm settling on my chest for a better night's sleep.
hope this helps and he's soon relieved a bit of his coughing bouts.
Thanks so much Janette for your practical tips.
Trying a few of these now and the cough seems be moving a tad in the right sort of direction.
In terms of inhalers and nebulisers, any in particular that you would recommend?
(Recognising naturally that what works for one person may not work for another ..)
Glad if it's helping even a little at a time is progress.... I'm often given a nebuliser in hospital and usually given two different treatments in it - salbutamol and another agent - can't remember which it is and as I improve, they then add regular saline nebulisers to help flush out the airways although they do dry everything out.... regarding inhalers, I was always given two - a blue reliever (salbutamol) and a brown one (becotide) as I'd had childhood/early adult asthma. however I didn't like taking the reliever as it made me cough so just carried the blue one everywhere but my respiratory consultant (after my lung cancer diagnosis) prescribed symbicort (it comes in different doses) and I take that every morning. however at different times in hospital they've changed that one for others including Seebri (which was good but intended for COPD), a large grey and green one - can't remember its name and the more recent change in January 2019 was Fostair. I was really poorly during that hospital stay with RSV and even months later I could barely walk without being out of breath - couldn't even get to a bathroom without being breathless then started to have heart rhythm/beat issues and eventually thought back that the main change apart from the infection had been the inhaler. Told my GP I was going to stop it as it was a preventer for a condition (asthma) that it's been clinically proven I don't have (Twice in recent years) and I thought was making me worse. I stopped it for 2 weeks until I was due to see my respiratory consultant and asked him to change it back to symbicort - the leaflet with the Fostair and online reviews all commented on heart issues. He explained when inhalers are tested for license, they're not on people who've had half their lung removed hence me having a different reaction. I've been back on symbicort every morning since and only use the ventolin (salbutamol) when I have a cold/chest infection/wheezing which thankfully is rare these days.
There are so many different ones - some you have to suck hard, others you press and they release a pressurised dose, so a lot is also up to the ease of use for the individual but do discuss what options there might be with a respiratory nurse or consultant if you have access to them. good luck.
Thanks Janette for the above. We've just a nebulliser for Dad. Early days, but feeling optimistic on that.
Like the idea of symbicort for my father ; get really confused by as to who (oncologist or respiratory consultant) should be recommnending though? Or, as i'm increasingly getting the impression, it's about taking ownership and telling the busy-consultants what you want.. maybe just our experience of the NHS. Whinge over!
Your experience with the inhaler and the different drugs sounds horrible. Well done for sticking at it and getting them to change their minds and actually listen to you. Very inspiring.
Wondering if for my Dad we ask for the inhaler too (and use symbicort ) or stick to the nebulliser and again use something like symbicort in that .
At the mo, we're just using saline in the nebulliser . Thank-you again.
inhalers have different purposes - Symbicort is designed as a preventer with different doses of the agent 100, 200, 400 and maybe others dependent on the severity. Historically there was a blue inhaler (Ventolin) to relieve symptoms instantly or almost and a brown one to take all the time very day irrespective whether somebody had symptoms or not but the majority of patients didn't take the brown one, and the blue one isn't designed to be used all the time as whatever the cause the inhaler should be treating needs to be better controlled. Nebulisers are usually used when there are worsening of symptoms to quite high levels (called exacerbations) and then the drug (whichever ones are used) can access the airways really quickly over a sustained period to dispense the drug. Many inhalers are designed to be pumped into a spacer device for better reach into the lungs than taking them straight into the mouth. However there is currently a push on to move patients off those that have cylinders (CFC gases or alternatives) and onto dry powder inhalers like Symbicort after years of trying to work patients the other day. The actions to use the inhalers are quite different and it's important to be regularly checked on their use .
Oncologists specialise in cancer - detection, treatment whereas the respiratory consultant (sometimes known as a chest physician or in other countries, a pulmonologist) works much more with several conditions (unlike the oncologist who deals with cancer even if it affects different organs) and can deal with medications that relieve the symptoms of those, tests/examinations to detect/diagnosis and therapies like physiotherapy/rehabilitation to improve any mechanical aspect of the lungs/airways.
The dose received via a nebuliser is much stronger than inhalers - each time I'm hospitalised with infections, I'm weaned off the nebuliser onto inhalers for at least 24 hours before discharge. There are side effects to the nebuliser - can cause shakiness, racing heart, and therefore not meant for permanent/continual use but for when whatever has been prescribed isn't enough for whatever the reason may be. Usually when people have a respiratory condition if it's bad they are referred to a specialist respiratory nurse at a GP practice who specialises in airways conditions or a consultant in a hospital. It's quite common for those with lung cancer to also have existing conditions that need managing to prevent them worsening or for some the symptoms are part of their new experience so need managing by the specialist for respiratory. hope this helps.
by the way, none of know these things (unless people work in the system) I had for several years at the time of my diagnosis and it was all completely new to me - we don't have to become experts - we're trying to deal with the condition or support somebody with it - and the science is so fast moving, it's frequently over my head - I'd always encourage people to ask questions of their own clinical team. It shows you're interested in learning more and being a part of any decision making or feeling a little more empowered maybe and also helps them develop their patient/consultant communication skills. good luck. roycastle.org/about-lung-ca...
I just stopped my double dose inhaler (salbutuand/ ipratropium) after 4 days. My cough got worse and tonight I literally thought I was gasping for my last breath it was that bad. I am going back just to the salbutamol.
Thanks 44890; my Dad has just got a nebulliser. Not really recommended by anyone except on here ! (and then Mcmillan nurses when you ask more direct questions: btw, they are a complete godsend).
Hoping things are now going much better on the single dose?
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