Could this be whooping cough?

[thedendrochronologist]

I started feeling tired Wednesday and a minor cough I thought was hayfever.

Thursday felt like cold coming on but ok to work.

Friday sever sore through and earache. Came home from work and went to bed.

Saturday in bed all day, severe cough and lethargic fell unwell

I've been the same since and cough getting worse not better. Terrible rattly cough, sore chest and lethargic. I'm just in bed.

Did a Covid test and it was negative (but it was also expired in dec)

Could it be whooping cough?

In my experience (of having whooping cough) it's a very distinct cough - you keep coughing and coughing, can't catch your breath, and it often ends in being sick.

Rattly cough sounds more like a virus that's gone to your chest. Maybe Covid if the test is expired, I don't know if they actually stop working.

@SnapdragonToadflax thanks

That's what my mum said too. I've been sick only once.

I had a bad dose of Covid in feb 2021 and was off for three weeks. And to be honest I feel the same as I did then!

In the end I need antibiotics as I had a post viral infection

Anyway- I'm uncertain as to why it's this bad despite a triple vax .

Nurse practitioner ringing me in next 24 hours.

There is a 100 day cough going around. I had it last week. It's better now but not gone

I google 100 day cough and found out it is whooping cough!

Feel guilty for being off work 😭

You (ime) whoop with whooping cough, like a seal. I’ve had it twice. Distinctive whoop both times

Whooping cough is indeed also known as the 100 day cough, because it lasts fuuuuucking ages. I was prone to whoopy coughing fits for a good year afterwards, and I had it as a teen.

Are you making a whooping sound when you breathe air back in? It's really distinctive, as the other poster said. You can hear examples on Youtube.

Being triple vaxed doesn't mean you won't get ill, it just lessens the chances of you dying, because your immune system has already encountered the virus and learned how to deal with it in a safe way. I've had Covid three times since being vaccinated - twice felt really rough for a week, once it was barely a cold. How badly it affects you depends on so many things - the variant, your previous exposure, your own well-being at the time you're infected, how much virus you're exposed to (i.e. snogging someone who's getting ill vs. standing next to them in a queue). This is the same for all viruses, not just Covid.

You can get Covid tests on Amazon if you're really desperate to know. Hopefully someone will be able to listen to your chest and decide whether you need antibiotics, if it's turned into a chest infection.

Like PPs said - you can hear a distinctive whoop with whooping cough.

Quite apart from WH, and Covid, there's also a fairly nasty flu type virus doing the rounds at the moment - starts in the face, moves to the chest, takes about a month to shift and it feels like it's on the way out then makes a resurgence. I know at least four people who have had it.

I think you'd recognise whooping cough, if you had it, as being very different. It's really scary, you feel as if you can't take in any breath and you make this whooping sound trying to force air into your lungs. I was about 16 when I had it, and that was bad enough, must be terrifying if you're a small child. And you cough for MONTHS afterwards too!

I had it when I was young but the whoop was very mild in sound as I had been vaccinated. So no where near as severe as it could have been but I was coughing until vomited for weeks. Dd had a cough for a a couple of weeks a month or so back but that was quite a rattly cough, she wasn't struggling to breathe like with whooping cough.

Thanks we everyone and especially @snapdragon all those things I'd not considered so I appreciate your time.

@LBOCS2 it could well be that.

I'm sat up in bed on my phone/ Netflix/ or napping. I feel pretty crap but not a deaths door.

It's more barky rattly cough and a sore chest.

I'm just frustrated I haven't really improved.

Only time will tell. I suspect the NP will ask me to give it another 7 days.

If you think it is whooping cough then you need antibiotics (helps stop the spread) and I think it is reportable to public health. You need to make an appt with your GP

I've been wondering exactly the same thing about what I'm suffering from.
Started about a fortnight a go and I had to go to bed for the best part of a week, which is not like me at all. Felt so awful I was convinced it was covid but the test was negative .

It's the cough though. It's just horrendous. And not going anywhere.

Although I'm up and about now if I do too much my lungs and chest just ache and the cough gets worse.

I thought it was possibly 100 day cough - which surprised me when I googled it and found that was whooping cough. But I've decided its a chest infection/viral infection.
Ive found taking ibuprofen and trying to get plenty of sleep and not doing too much physically helping. And drinking lots of water.

It’s doing the rounds where I live, so quite possible. It’s exhausting though, as the cough just won’t chuffing go away when you have it.

Yes I had this recently and still not 100%. Apart from other symptoms I had constant severe coughing fits to the point where I was sick even if I'd just drunk sips of water. Mucus at the back of the throat, unable to get breaths in between bouts of coughing, big wheeze (whoop) in for the next breath, etc. Exhausting. I found avoiding anything dairy and gargling with warm salt water helped, so I could sleep.

Hope you get better soon. 🌹

BTW the NHS website advises whooping cough is on the rise

www.gov.uk/government/news/whooping-cough-infections-rise
www.gov.uk/government/news/whooping-cough-infections-rise#:~:text=New%20data%20published%20today%20by,of%20last%20year%20(2023).

I read other countries, including USA, are also seeing a rise. 🌹

I've got the same op. Really sore throat for 10 days now, bad chest, cough just not shifting. Was also googling the 100 day cough but think it's a virus that is sticking annoyingly. Usually I bounce back from these things but since I had covid early 2021 (pre vaccination) I seem to get these things much worse.

I've had this for around 6 weeks now. Had antibiotics and now taking antihistamines and steroid spray. Practice nurse ( appointment for something unrelated ) advised that this is doing the rounds at the moment and it could take several months to clear and to carry on with current treatment. I've also added nasal lavage on GPs suggestion

I think I have whooping cough. Awful cough that won't stop, especially at night. Mucus and being sick. Have been prescribed some antibiotics and to get back in touch with the GP in a week.

I have whooping cough but didn't have the big whoop, more like multiple small gasps. There are youtubes with the sounds in adults. Basically the cough is so strong all the air is squeezed out of your lungs and you're gasping for breath. You can't control or supress it. So strong you may not be in control of your bladder. Retching/vomiting after. You cough up mucus but it's clear or white, not like infected mucus. Takes a few moments to recover from a coughing fit and be able to speak/breathe properly. They can do a blood test/ swab to confirm.

You need a particular antibiotic for whooping cough so if you think you have it and you're taking antibiotics make sure it's the right ones.

Whereabouts are you OP? I've been talking to the UKHSA about this and there are confirmed cases local to us (West Midlands) but there is also a horrible viral infection that presents with all the same symptoms. The distinctive whooping sound as you try to catch your breath whilst coughing is a strong indicator it's WC not a virus. But cases will only be confirmed if they're swabbed and reported to the UKHSA I believe.

DH had an appalling cough which seemed like covid but tested negative (he did many many tests as he's a hypochondriac. Not expired...)

After about three weeks it changed to more of a whoop cough but he'd had it too long to get tested or antibiotics so just toughed it out at that point. We will probably never find out if it was WC or not. It's gradually decreased in severity but he still does it occasionally months later. So I'd say you can't rule it out yet.

Good news is I am Feeling better. This is day 7.

I'm still ill but am up showered and out of bed. Hurrah!

Still awaiting call from the GP though.

I spoke to soon woke up feeling dreadful again

Still waiting for GP Callback.

I do think it's a virus not whooping cough

But it not a cold. Day 8 now

Sorry to all those suffering too.

There is a horrible cough going around at the moment. My youngest has it. But it's not whooping cough. Whooping cough is very distinctive. If you have had dc (I'm just assuming here) anytime in the last 10 years, you would have received the whooping cough jab during pregnancy (unless you declined it), so very unlikely you would be non-immune. I suspect it's just the horrible cough.