To want her to shut the fuck up?

[Helpmeoutpleasee]

Annoying housemate has a cough which she won't go to doctors for. She has been off work for a week (this is a separate issue - she is constantly off work...) and splutters/coughs loudly and everywhere, not covering her mouth. It's driving me up the wall

[BonfiresOfInsanity]

About two years ago I had a cough for 10 weeks (the advice at the time was not to go unless 8 weeks had passed). I actually went for something else but coughed while there at which point the Dr said 'ooh you'll be back to see me about that cough next'. I told him that I'd already had it for 10 weeks and I was dismissed with 'well if it's still there in 2 weeks come back'. Anyway, a week later it was so bad that everyone in work hated me told me to go back. I went back and had such a bad infection that it took too courses of antibiotics to clear it and I was on an inhaler for a couple of months.

[BaDumShh]

YABU. I had a 3-4 month long cough last year that was hell on earth. Doctors wouldn’t do anything and it was a case of waiting it out. Like a PP, I pulled muscles in my chest and back and gave myself migraines from coughing so much. It was an awful few months.

If anyone had told me to shut the fuck up, I’d have punched them in the tit.

[Lovemusic33]

The joys of having to share your space with other people. It would annoy me too, I was in a cafe the other day and this woman kept coughing, she went to sit outside but I could still hear her from inside and it drove me nuts. Sadly there's not much you can do and not much she can do other than put her hand over her mouth. I hope for your sake she gets better soon.

[BeyondThePage]

You should see a doctor if a cough has lasted more than 3 weeks. And you should not "calm" a productive cough (we cough for a reason!), but should take something to thin the cack coming up.

[hmcAsWas]

She should cover her mouth, but in all other respects you should suck it up and stop moaning. I doubt that she actually enjoys coughing!

[user94567433]

Dismissive GPs can cause huge problems for getting a diagnosis with the kind of person who doesn't like 'causing a fuss'

Absolutely.

I know the first port of call is to try a cough mixture. My GP did this and I duly went away and used it, to no avail. The thing is, I hadn't seen a doctor in 15 years. Did they not think I'd had a few coughs and colds during that time and hadn't bothered them with it? Heck, I'd even had the flu and hadn't gone near the GP. I went with the cough because I knew if was "different" and something was amiss.

When I worked for the NHS in Records, I remember processing a letter that came from a GP worried about an older patient (that they may have cancer - nothing to do with coughing this time). He stated in his letter that because the patient came to see him about once every 20 years, he was taking his complaint very seriously indeed.

[OnionKnight]

She has type 1 diabetes so she's used to doctors etc, I'm going to speak to her.

[lanouvelleheloise]

onion - maybe the asthma story might work? I think many people have that slight fear that an apparently 'minor' symptom might herald a major and devastating diagnosis. Telling someone it's likely to be something far less serious and eminently treatable might be a way of convincing them to go.

Dismissive GPs can cause huge problems for getting a diagnosis with the kind of person who doesn't like 'causing a fuss'.

[user94567433]

Now of course I am using up even more hospital time as I need to see a consultant at some distance every few months to monitor me and I'm on a raft of medications.

[user94567433]

I can be the same way as your wife Onion as you can imagine I kick myself now. My lung function has reduced considerably and could have been saved it I hadn't sat on the problem for a couple of years. So dumb of me. I avoid doctors and hate wasting people's time.

[OnionKnight]

Thanks lanouvelleheloise, I think I need to scare some sense into her.

[OnionKnight]

user8384511 I have no idea but she has this utterly amazing habit of putting things off and I wonder if she just can't be arsed? Even when she pulled a muscle because of it she refused, she just moaned about it until I snapped and said if she won't get the cough looked at, she shouldn't moan. The next time she has a coughing fit I'm going to politely and firmly ask her to see a doctor. It's annoying as I'm the one with underdeveloped lungs (born prematurely) and I very rarely cough, not until I have tears rolling down my face anyway.

[lanouvelleheloise]

onion - my Mum was like that for years. She'd have sudden coughing fits, and be almost unable to breathe for a bit - redfaced, streaming eyes, needing a drink of water. When she finally saw a sympathetic GP (after being turned away by a couple who didn't seem to see how bad it was) after about 30 years, it turned out to be undiagnosed asthma, which is easy to treat but dangerous if untreated.

[OnionKnight]

Sorry just realised the smoking question wasn't aimed at me

[user8384511]

Oh dear, Onion I am sorry. Is she afraid of doctors or does she genuinely believe she just has to suffer a cough?

[MotherOfDragons27]

Buy her a bottle of Broncho Stop. It's the only cough medicine that actually works, you can take it for all kinds of coughs.

[OnionKnight]

She doesn't smoke, she works in childcare so no smoky environment, obviously the children bring in bugs etc and pass them on but she's had this cough on and off for years.

[OnionKnight]

I never said that the doctor can't do anything for my wife, I meant they cannot do anything in regards to a normal cough which I'm 99% sure my wife doesn't have.

She blames it on things like hay fever, there's coughs going round at work etc, she point blank refuses to get it checked out and in the meantime she goes through periods of coughing her guts up and choking.

[Justaboy]

Well there was an advert campaign that was encouraging you to see your doc if it went on for much more than a week. Its not a normal situation a cough apart from when the lungs are irritated by some muck that shouldn't be there.

Does she smoke or does she work in smoky environments at all?, I is possible it might be the early stages of lung cancer it has been known to show itself like this. You say she is off work lot then i wonder what these other reasons are and might they be linked.

Try to get here to see the doc anyway for her sake and yours!

[user8384511]

That sounds serious Onion.

I don't understand. Why do you think the doctor cannot do anything? If your wife won't see the doctor, he cannot possibly diagnose or help.

Even the NHS advice is to see the doctor. If there was no point, you can bet they wouldn't be encouraging us to go along and clog up GP waiting rooms.

Your wife could be suffering needlessly.

Do encourage her as best you can. Show her the NHS literature. She's probably afraid of a bad diagnosis.

[OnionKnight]

The doctor can't do anything for a cough but I do sympathise, my wife has been coughing on and off for a few years, I've asked her to see a doctor but she refuses. Just this weekend she was coughing like mad and at one point was all red faced with tears streaming down her face because it made her choke.

[user8384511]

www.nhs.uk/conditions/cough/pages/introduction.aspx

When to see your GP

There's usually no need to see your GP if you or your child have a mild cough for a week or two

However, you should seek medical advice if you've had a cough for more than three weeks

your cough is particularly severe or is getting worse
you cough up blood or experience shortness of breath, breathing difficulties or chest pain
you have any other worrying symptoms, such as unexplained weight loss, a persistent change in your voice, or lumps or swellings in your neck

A persistent cough may be caused by:

a long-term respiratory tract infection, such as chronic bronchitis
asthma – this also usually causes other symptoms, such as wheezing, chest tightness and shortness of breath
an allergy
smoking – a smoker's cough can also be a symptom of COPD
bronchiectasis – where the airways of the lungs become abnormally widened
postnasal drip – mucus dripping down the throat from the back of the nose, caused by a condition such as rhinitis or sinusitis
gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) – where the throat becomes irritated by leaking stomach acid
a prescribed medicine, such as an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACE inhibitor), which is used to treat high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease
Rarely, a persistent cough can be a symptom of a more serious condition, such as lung cancer, heart failure, a pulmonary embolism (blood clot on the lung) or tuberculosis.

[CoughingForWeeks]

There's not much a doctor can do for a cough unless it's turned into a chest infection - even cough medicines only soothe the throat briefly (believe me, I have tried them ALL!) I know it's annoying though, I've apologised profusely to my housemate and upstairs neighbour for my constant barking over the last eight weeks.

The not covering her mouth is more of an issue though and I would probably mention it if I was you. It's one thing having to listen to her coughing, but you don't want to end up doing it yourself.

[Radishal]

Well, rogue, I have taken your suggestion and made a doc appointment for this afternoon- amazed I got a same day appointment, actually.
Even more amazing was the sympathetic receptionist when I mentioned how I was pulling chest muscles all the time.
I have MS, and prefer to tough out trivial stuff like coughs and muscle strains.
There you go, op, tell your annoying housemate that even though a random on Mumsnet thinks you are being insensitive, said random is still going to get the cough checked out.

[BorpBorpBorp]

I'm sure it's not the best solution, but I'd be passive-aggressively cleaning everything she touches while glaring at her.