solstice

Hey,

This might be more allergy-related, but I've recently discovered other
people seem to have my particular and peculiar allergy/asthma-esque
affliction: this chronic cough that came on about 2 years ago and just waxes
and wanes but never really goes away. On the good days it just feels like a
bit of phlegm way deep in my throat, ignorable if I didn't think too hard
about it; on the bad days, I'm coughing up mucus all the time, and sometimes
also have that "plugged ear" feeling, like I've been descending in an
airplane. Also, once in a while, I feel like something "flies into my
throat" and starts itching like crazy, and I cough and cough until I get
some mucus production and it feels okay again.

My allergist thinks my lungs are clear, but I've never been able to go in
while I was severely symptomatic (scheduling and whatnot). She diagnosed me
with allergies to lots of pollen, mold, dust mites and cats. She put me on
lots of different medications, but they don't seem to do much. If anything,
I could've sworn I wasn't this dependent on medication until I started them.

Does anyone know what I'm talking about? And if so, did anything you try
actually help?

Thanks!

joy

Mold allergy. HMMMM.
Sure sounds like me. I personally found that long term antibiotics helped.
If you can, try and talk a doctor into prescribing antibiotics according to
the Dr Hahn method. For more information, visit.

http://www.asthmastory.com/

This seems to particularly apply if you are adult onset. There isn't any
reason to put up with this. I can tell you for a fact it only worsens with
time. Did you trial Singulair? That did help me before I did the antibiotic
treatment.

Joy

lagas

Dear Sol, your description typifies adult asthma onset exeptionally
well.
It would be most interesting if you might track back and carefully
look at your antibiotic useage for the past five years or so.
It very often happens that this exact kind of problem initialises in
the few months after their useage which has been well known for many
years, except it appears in the U.S.
If you can do a search on the latest research from Gary Hufnagle you
will find it most enlightening.(Michigan University)
I was warned about this problem in late 1969 after tewntysix years of
chronic problems and severe asthma which is a long story.
The specialist doctor which showed me how to overcome my problem, used
an entirely different approach, how would you like to go, drugs for
the rest of your life or natural applied intelligence. Well there is
only one choice as far as I was concerned and I have now been clear
for 34 years.
You are welcome to read my notes on the subject at
http://www.home.acenet.net.au/lagas there is more to this, not mentioned but
these routines commonly have remarkable effect especially in cases
like yours. This idea is based on a natural method of congestion
removal which is applied daily using a morning showering routine, (hot
/cold) it also involves natural ideas to assist sensitivity reduction,
which generally allows the allergy related problem to abate, except it
seems, in cases where the problem is "bug" caused. Chlamydia etc.
The major allergens need to be understood and removed, avoided or
respected with regard to their influence collectively.
There are no expenses, catches or obligations involved, but if you
receive benefit, it would be appreciated that you might help some
other poor sap further downstream.
Cheers, Merlin.

solstice

Yeah, tried Singulair -- but I swore it just made everything worse. My
doctor isn't even altogether sure it's allergy-related, and neither am I.
She put me on a short run of corticosteroids, which didn't seem to do much
good, so maybe it's something else. Anyway, I go back in on Monday.

Thanks for the link, I'll check it out. Have you by any chance tried allergy
shots? I'm considering those, too.

joy

I didn't test out as being allergic, although my ENT says clearly I am. No
positive test, no treatment. I would have been willing though to try allergy
shots.

I still have plenty of trouble with my nose after the antibiotic treatment.
I am not, however, constantly SOB if not on steroids and can now make it on
just albuterol.When I first became asthmatic, steroids didn't help me much
either but don't discount them in the future - a time may come when they
will help you. Have you tried tessalon pearls or a first generation
antihistamine (they make you sleepy, but seem to work better)? I still use a
second generation antihistamine. Doctor can't figure out why it helps me
since I am not supposed to be allergic.

Did your asthma start as an adult after a respiratory infection?

Joy

solstice

Well, I'm not even positive it's asthma, because my peak flow tests are
perfect and my lungs apparently sound clear, even when I feel like there's
mucus backed all the way down there (yuck!) But yeah, my allergies were
definitely adult-onset -- I got them my 2nd or 3rd year of college. I don't
remember having any respiratory infections, though. I've always been prone
to a cough in the late autumn, though. But it was the spring allergies that
showed up first. I grew up in San Diego, which has a desert climate, but
went to college in the Bay, so all the pollen in the spring was a big
change.

BTW, what are tessalon pearls?

joy

Tessalon treats coughing. I used them and they did work for a while. At the
end though, the only thing that worked was Codeine. Of course that isn't a
good solution because you want to sleep your life away.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/medmaster/a682640.html

Some people have a version of asthma called cough variant. Instead of
wheezing, they cough, and cough and cough. If however steroids and Singulair
don't help you, it is difficult to state with any certainty that is a good
diagnosis, because the "test" of cough variant is that asthma meds help
reduce or eliminate the coughing.

The fact that your peak flows are "normal" doesn't necessarily rule out
asthma. People with asthma can have perfectly normal peak flows between
attacks. Have you tried treating the allergy with a first generation
antihistamine like Benedryl? They have more side effects than second
generation, but they dry you up more. Sometimes just treating allergies or
trigger avoidance is found to be a necessary part of the solution of
reducing symptoms.

Joy

If the cough is a dry unproductive one. Tickling maybe....Atrovent
(ipratropium) a multi-dose inhaler used by a lot of us with emphysema
and other lung diseases.

I switched from Atrovent to Spiriva, it's sucessor, a new drug but
similar (tiotropium) that comes in powder form.

But I still keep an inhaler of Atrovent handy, specifically for dry
cough or for the reaction to an aspirated particle of food or
liquid.---Jack

BTW I'm real happy with the Spiriva.

alison chaiken

jackmallory@webtv.net writes:

Jack, are you implying that you prefer Spiriva? If so, why? Sorry if
you've answered this question before; I can't find a post in Google
Groups.

--
Alison Chaiken "From:" address above is valid.
(650) 236-2231 [daytime] http://www.wsrcc.com/alison/
Nil tibi scribo quidem, quod non prius ipse probassem. -- Heraclius

usenetlyn

Coming a bit late to this, but thought I'd respond since I have a lot
of experience with this. For some people, cough is the main symptom
of asthma. It is diagnosed as "cough-variant asthma" by some docs -
others don't recognize it exists. I developed it in the late 90's
after a near-drowning incident. It took the specialists 9 months to
cure me - I was bruised and had torn muscles from coughing. What
eventually broke the cycle (and I think I was on every asthma med on
the market) was nebulized lidocaine. I was prescribed 2 ml nebulized
4 times per day for about 4 weeks, the weaned off of it. The
treatment is horrendous - lidocaine numbs your mouth, lips and air
passages. It made me vomit. But in the end, I stopped coughing,
stopped getting irritation from coughing and broke the cycle. Now I'm
only on albuterol as needed, and don't need it often.

Anyway, HTH,
-L.