To just live with this cough?

[PattyCakePattyCake]

Had a cough for four months now. Wheezing etc. I’ve been to the GPs and they said ‘here’s some antibiotics’. Got worse, had chest pains and shortness of breath. Went to local hospital )not A&E before anyone scolds me). Got checked out (including stay) and they said ‘Chest infection and inflammation of the lung, here’s some antibiotics and an inhaler’.

A month later and it’s still here, still the same. No chest pains (presume that was pulled muscle) but shortness of breath remains. DH wants me to go back to the doctors but what’s the point? I’m just wasting their time. Antibiotics isn’t going to fix it, they looked at my lungs and they’re healthy as was the breathing test I did. This just a really drawn out cough right and I’ve just got to keep waiting for it to go away, right?

And before people say ‘why ask on MN we’re not qualified’ I want perspective because I struggle to know what to go to the doctors for these days to be honest.

Have you had a chest x ray? I'd go back to GP and ask for that, and testing for asthma or COPD, do you smoke or have you ever smoked?

No go back to GP It might be time for a chest X-ray, maybe sputum sample bloods etc. Coughs can linger after a chest infection but 4 months is a long time.

Yes they did a chest xray, it was clear. And I did that think where you have to do a big breath into the tube and they said it was good. Haven’t smoked, never any signs of asthma either. I figured it’s just this 100 day cough lingering?

Sorry I’ll edit my post as I did have a chest xray and all clear. I just feel like I’m wasting their time, they made me feel like I was wasting their time too.

Oh I can’t edit my OP - when I said ‘they looked at my lungs’ I meant a chest xray! Sorry, poor wording by me.

If they gave an inhaler do they think it’s asthma and therefore a different (additional) inhaler can help?

Unless you go back they don't know that the antibiotics didn't fix it.

Have you had a tuberculosis test?

It's more common than most people realise and you can catch it even if you were vaccinated in childhood.

She said she gave me the inhaler ‘just in case’. I’m still taking it but I don’t feel any relief once I have, so I figured it’s not really helping?

True. And no I haven’t, I’d be really shocked if it was!

No one else has caught the cough off me either and I’ve had no other symptoms, so I figured that my lungs were just still inflamed.

Maybe I should go back. I just hate feeling like a nuisance.

You're not a nuisance. This is why they are there.

This is what I always say to others, but you know when they give you that look of ‘Really, you’re bothering me with this?’ and I just feel like with all the pressure they’re under and the lack of spaces if I can live with it for a while longer then I should.

People who give you looks like that are unprofessional and should be ignored. (Easy for me to say, but it's true.)

And working with your thought process, it puts them under more pressure if people wait for things to get worse before going to them.

So you're actually doing them a favour by going back promptly after the previous treatment failed...

Thank you, this is reassuring to hear. I’ll try and get an appointment this week.

Confusing AIBU but yes please go back to a dr, YABU to try to live with the cough. 4 months is not reasonable. You are not a nuisance. Good luck!!

Could it be post nasal drip. I get this every time as a lingering after effect of any cold. The only thing that works is clearing out my sinus with becocleanse and then using nasal spray I’m prescribed. Cant remember the name of it cos I’m out of stock.

I would go back to the GP...all your symptoms are how my asthma presents.

However, that said I have had this poxy cough virus since the end of October and it is really pissing me off...been checked out, chest x Ray sputum tests etc. Antibiotics, steroids etc and the conclusion is 100 day cough.

That said I read somewhere that this 100 day cough is basically whooping cough but they just aren't calling it that for some reason.

"And before people say ‘why ask on MN we’re not qualified’ I want perspective because I struggle to know what to go to the doctors for these days to be honest."

So you would listen to anonymous names on the net rather than your DH? Taking medical advice from anonymous strangers online is dangerous and Mumsnet should not allow it.. You need to go back to the doctors and see what they say.

It's funny you should say that about the whopping cough being refered to as the 100 day cough. I recently suspected my dd1 had whooping cough, as she almost stopped breathing from wheezing so hard.

The OOH doctor prescribed antibiotics (which not only didn't work to get rid of the cough, but actually gave her horrendous side effects that meant she couldn't finish the course), but both she and the next doctor she saw (who gave different antibiotics) called it the 100 day cough!

I can't remember where I read it, but whooping cough used to be referred to as the 90 day cough.

The issue with whooping cough (have had it twice before despite being vaccinated so fairly certain it is what I currently have) is that antibiotics are only effective if they are taken within the first 2 weeks. However. The NHS guidelines mean doctors refuse to acknowledge a cough until you have had it more than 2 weeks. Even in someone like me that has chronic asthma!

Don't get me wrong. I know why the guidelines exist, and I don't necessarily disagree with them. But there are times when their own policy causes far worse issues

Just on the left which is why I went to hospital, that along with struggling to breathe made me panic it was my heart.

I’ve had a look and it does seem to match the symptoms of whooping cough. The difficult breaths in between coughs, horrible wheezing sound I make when I need to cough and the fact it’s worse at night. Interesting, I guess the vaccination isn’t enough to keep it at bay!

I've had a cough with breathlessness for about a year now, though it wasn't until my ankles swelled up that I went to doctors. I've had all possible blood tests, x-ray and inhaler. Medically they just don't know what's wrong. I am on water tablets which has reduced swelling, and has helped me lose weight. There has been talk of long covid.

I have an appointment for a lung function test in a couple weeks. And they're also looking into potential heart issues, which is kinda scary to think about.

But to get to this point I was going to doctors every other week, unfortunately these days you do have to keep advocating for yourself to get looked at.

Is there any mould in your house? I developed similar symptoms during Covid. We had been due to have a small leak fixed in March 2020 but everything got cancelled during lockdown. A couple of months later I was coughing a wheezing and went to the dr who gave me an asthma inhaler (never had asthma) but couldn't find the cause. Eventually we moved some furniture and it turned out there was mould behind it. We cleared it off, got the cause solved once builder started working again and after a few days of airing the house I was fine.

We moved and it started again. This time we looked for the mould and sure enough found some. Again, once it was removed and the house aired I was fine.

With the wet winter plus current heating costs a lot more people have some mould in their house at the moment than before. It's worth checking.