DH horrendous cough

[justbananas42]

DH is on day 4 of isolation and his cough is really terrible. It’s practically non stop and he’s wretching occasionally as well. He also feels very under the weather, like he has a case of flu or something. He’s 44 years old and double jabbed with Astra Zeneca. I’m worried

Does anyone know when he might reach a turning point?

Call 111 if you're worried, and just have a chat with them. I was the same, and needed the reassurance of speaking to a doctor.
Also, get hold of an oximeter ASAP, buying from Amazon if necessary. This will indicate if he's becoming dangerously breathless (not always as obvious as you might think).

Sorry to hear he's poorly. No idea about turning point, but it may be a good idea to get an oxygen finger monitor, to monitor his oxygen levels, you can get them reasonably priced from Amazon. Other than that, the usual Flu tlc prescription. Sleeping quite upright helps stifle coughs in my experience. Hoping for a rapid recovery 🤞

My DH was exactly the same day 7 improved then good day bad day . Felt awful day 11 but slowly improved, coughing got worse again day 14 all night and pain in side .
I was getting a bit worried and picked up a oxi meter readings were ok . It is finally fading now but must be getting on for 3 weeks now . The cough was non stop at beginning.

I would get oxygen measured asap even if it takes going to A & E. It can get dangerously low even without a bad cough.

@justbananas42 how is your DH today? Hopefully better.

You can buy cough suppressant over the counter. Sometimes honey is helpful,
Def get an oximeter though

@Bookridden thanks so much for asking. He had a terrible night of coughing almost non-stop last night (so barely slept) and is still bad today, although it’s not non-stop anymore. He got a bad headache from the coughing which is better after taking paracetamol.

I can’t believe someone has suggested going to A&E - that has really scared me! Is it really necessary?!

@justbananas42 not if you feel he’s improving. Have you got an oximeter? They are useful to have a home.

Do not go to A&E with Covid!
111 for advice.

Paracetamol or cough medication should help. Ventilation will help

@RedHot22 how do you mean ventilation - like keeping windows open?

We’ve got some standard cough medicine for dry, tickly coughs that I’m trying to persuade him to take.

Did uou get an oxymeter? I managed to pick one up from Argos. It turned out my husbands' oxygen saturation was quite low, even though he wasn't feeling that unwell. (He ended up in hospital.)

No we don’t have one - I wouldn’t know what the readings meant or what to do in the case of a low reading even if we did!

The reading is a number, it should be 95 or higher. Much below that you go to A&E or call an ambulance.

Do you have any local friends or family who might have an oximetre that they could drop round to you?

Call 111 for advice if you’re worried.

Thanks everyone. Is the danger that the constant coughing could cause breathlessness then?

The cough medicine we’ve got is Covonia. No idea how good it is.

There’s no real evidence in clinical trials that cough syrup helps so unless it’s pleasant to take or feels soothing it may be pointless.
Headache can be a symptom of low oxygen too. I would call 111 to see what they say.
You might also try posting on a local Facebook group to see if someone would lend you a pulse oximeter.

Please do get an oximeter ASAP. If you share the reading on here, people will help you interpret it. It's likely to be fine, but my own recent brush with Covid inclines me to caution. I really think you should check his blood oxygen levels.

Coughing reduces the amount of oxygen that gets into the lungs, but you can have low blood oxygen without a cough too.

Just order an oxymetre form Amazon. It's not hard to do, if his oxygen reading is 94 or 93 call 111 or gp. Any lower it's 999. 95 or above it fine.
I have Covid my readings have been low.

I think I might go for this one - it says NHS approved.

www.amazon.co.uk/Oximeter-Saturation-Fingertip-Precision-Portable/dp/B08RHMSSY9/?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

I’m frightened

I sort of thought a very bad cough was just par for the course and something that everyone got, but now I’m feeling very worried.

Do you have a Samsung phone? Mine has a pulse oximeter which is just as effective as my purpose made one.

@justbananas42

Thanks everyone. Is the danger that the constant coughing could cause breathlessness then?

The cough medicine we’ve got is Covonia. No idea how good it is.

I think the worry is that coughing that much might indicate pneumonia.

It might be worth ringing 119 to see if they feel he needs to be checked out.

That's the thing though it hits everyone differently...
I haven't had much of a cough but felt dreadful with low blood oxygen. You just need to keep an eye on it and act if you need to.
Sitting upright or lying in your side rather than back is meant to help with coughing.
Keeping my bedroom cool really helped too.