Would you go to A&E for a cough?

[LeopardPrint21]

Had a cough for 7 months. Have had some tests done for gastro as the GP initially thought acid reflux, have literally today been referred for chest x-ray and lung tests.

It has gotten to the point where I cannot stop coughing. Literally having fits of coughing every few minutes and this lasts from the minute I wake up until the minute I go to sleep and sometimes throughout the night too. I also feel unwell with it and I’ve felt unwell since the cough started at the beginning of the year. I feel like I can’t cough up whatever is there but I also can’t swallow it back down so it just feels stuck in my throat and all the constant coughing is leaving me feeling like I can’t breathe properly.

I have been in tears all day because I genuinely can’t go on like this, I dread every second of the day because of how bad it is. I am at my breaking point with it.

Would you go to the hospital for a cough that is constantly there and you’re never getting a let up from it along with everything else I’ve written?

Rubbish.

Does it feel like its in your throat? Could you have whooping cough?

It’s not rubbish, this is neither an accident or emergency

Definitely not whooping cough.

I have no idea what it could be but it’s not just the cough - I have also been feeling quite unwell and run down since the cough started, to the point where sometimes I will have to nap throughout the day to be able to function on a very basic level and that’s after sleeping 8-9 hours every night. I also feel like I’m always coming down with something (but never actually do) and I always feel like I have a very very low grade fever (I know it’s hard to tell in this weather sometimes). The GP said it was quite worrying and concerning

Buy a humidifier - a big gallon. Only thing that helped my grandma and mum.

I had similar and coughed for 13 months straight. Tried everything and then someone on Reddit suggested Gaviscon Advance 4 times a day and before sleeping and incline your bed. Either put bricks or use 1 or 2 pillows under your mattress. Fixed my cough in a week.

@LeopardPrint21 You are probably rundown and exhausted by it. Might be worth taking some multivitamins in the meantime

No advice for you but it sounds awful, you must be completely fed up and exhausted

It's clearly a chronic issue. She will not be admitted for this.

No, wait for the x ray and tests, this is the next step.
A&E only if you are struggling to breathe

No. If you sleep 8-9 hours a night, does that mean you don’t cough when you sleep? I would wait for the referral- I’m not sure what a and e could do for you

There’s no point in going to A&E, you’re already in the system.

In terms of managing the cough, have you tried taking regular antihistamines or steaming? I use a steam inhaler which was about £12 from boots but you can just put your head over a bowl of boiling water with a towel over the top and inhale the steam.

No. It's neither an accident nor an emergency. It's pretty obvious. Seemingly, you are already in the system, so follow up on that, if you must. Otherwise, don't waste people's time.

In some cases it can. I'd want to have cancer ruled out as an example.

No but I would’ve gone back to my GP every bloody week.

Have you tried allergy sprays? It sounds very similar to a colleague who managed to get the coughing under control with good allergy sprays.

He used one with steroid. Have you had blood tests?

Wait for chest x-ray before going to a&e.

@Kirbert2 it’s not for A & E! I would have thought if the GP had any suspicions of this, they would’ve referred her on the 2WW pathway when she first presented with the problem.

Is anyone taking ramipril? That can cause a persistent cough.

Even chronic issues can deteriorate and become acute

Ignore the people who are saying "no." You're having extreme symptoms that have gone on for months. That's not normal, but you already know that. You're suffering and miserable every day. It's beyond ridiculous that you weren't given a full workup a long time ago.

He may not be well-known in the UK, but a prominent Nascar driver died a few weeks ago from sepsis. He'd had a lingering cough for weeks and died less than 24 hours after his collapse. Kyle was only 41.

Don't let other people minimize your illness. Please go today. I hope you get relief very soon.❤

From an ESPN news article:
*Charlotte, N.C. -- Kyle Busch died last week from hemorrhagic shock and disseminated intravascular coagulation after complications from bacterial pneumonia led to sepsis, according to the former NASCAR star's death certificate.
Busch had been experiencing symptoms of bacterial pneumonia for "days to weeks" before sepsis set in, according to the certificate obtained by The Associated Press in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina."

Playing devil's advocate - my mum was in a similar position (but with a completely different condition to what you're describing). She ended up taking herself to A&E in desperation, got a diagnosis and was admitted via A&E the same night. So in her case, it absolutely did mean someone finally sat up and listened after almost a year of back and forth with GP, waiting for specialist appointments etc.

Of course that's not how it's mean to work - but if you're in constant misery I can see why it's an option

Sound like you need an ENT appointment not scans have you have a camera down your throat? . But you would need a referral not A&E.

OP - Has the GP referred you on the 2 week pathway?

But it’s not an accident or an emergency. She’s been back to the doctors today and they have referred her on. If the GP had thought it was an emergency, they would’ve sent OP to A & E. It’s not clear how many times OP has been back to GP within the last 7 months.