to feel a bit (ok, VERY) sorry for myself?

[MerryChrisMiSantapologist]

I have had a terrible cough for going onto three weeks now. At first my Dr. thought it was bronchitis and treated for same, but as time drags on with no improvement, and due to the nature of the cough, he's now said it appears to be whooping cough/pertussis. I can't sleep for more than a couple hours, none of the cough medicines (prescription or not) work worth a damn except for Hall's lozenges AND WE'RE OUT, and I'm well tired of needing to wear pads because I cough myself into leakage. The worst part is there's nothing more to DO but wait it out; I'll have more lozenges tmrw and there's one cough preparation we haven't tried but I'll have to go out in COLD weather (high tomorrow is going to be about 8* F...not sure what that is in C other than BRRR) and wait at the Dr. office first. In the meantime, I'm self-exiling from the bedroom so DH (who doesn't have to work but still needs sleep) isn't woken up all the time; when he gets up in a few hours I'll go in and lie down.

Short version: waaah, I have the cough and am keeping vampire hours because of it, but mostly waaah I have the cough. Plus, all this barking I'm doing, my dogs are beginning to be a) concerned and b) somewhat confused as if I'm trying to speak their language but producing gibberish.

Heavens that's minus 13 Celsius! Do not go out in that with pertussis, you'll get galloping pneumonia!!!
You poor thing, I'm so sorry; you're ill, tired and miserable. I bet your tummy muscles are aching with all the coughing. In a day or two I'm sure you'll be on the mend. Sending you good wishes

having had whooping cough twice and currently coughing in the same vein again you have my deepest sympathy as it is awful and doesn't respond to treatment unless diagnosed within the first 7 days and considering Gp's refuse (quite rightly normally) to see people til they have been coughing a lot longer it never gets the correct treatment.

try warm lemonade with coder vinegar and gargle. it tastes disgusting but works wonders at relieving the sore throat and coughing. otherwise lots of hot steamy rooms

I had whopping cough as an adult, it's awful but sadly you just have to wait it out.

Have a very un-MN hug. Sounds awful, poor you.YANBU.

Ah I am so sorry - last year I had that virus thing nicknamed the hundred day cough so I really do sympathise. You are right - nothing to do but wait it out esp as all cough medicines are snake oil. They simply don't work and are not worth wasting money on. Better off with a spoon of warmed honey really! Good luck and I hope you are on the mend soon

Well, the fortunate thing is that right when I first got sick I was given antibiotics which means there's an excellent chance I did NOT pass this on to my 3YO nephew who visited the weekend after Christmas. I'd feel terrible if that happened!

But I am just, UGH, because this is the second time I've had it - the first time was when pg with DD15 and to be frank I'm surprised the amount of cough medicine they gave me for so long didn't have a bad effect on the pregnancy. It was far, far worse than this go-round, I did the cracking-ribs thing that time plus the wee and throwing up. So all in all it could be worse but still, glad IANBU for being all mopey. I'm in the US so it's a bit after 4am; I want to sleep!

I wish I didn't have to go out in the cold (-13 sounds even worse than 8!!) but Dr. won't be able to prescribe this particular cough syrup without seeing me. I'll wear a nice thick scarf over my nose and mouth to at least block some of the cold air.