Is it normal to be scared by coughing?

[lostmywellies]

I seem to get coughing fits fairly frequently during which I worry that I won't be able to stop - for a while at least I can't breathe enough and then I panic.

Of course this is mainly a concern during the "attack", and then I forget all about it till the next time, so I haven't got round to mentioning it to a doctor...

Do you have asthma?
10 yrs ago DH had a chest infection that became pneumonia, I still get nervous when he develops a chronic cough.

I did in the past, years ago. But not now. There's no wheeze or anything, it's just needing to cough so much that I can't draw breath properly between them!

Like how many years ago?
I'm the last person to want to pathologise anything, but you might want to be extra careful, given you've got a history of respiratory weakness. DH is still prone to chest infex, too.

Perhaps I should talk it over with the doctor. He's not one to prescribe where prescriptions are unnecessary, so I think he'd say if it's needless panic.

It was 15 years ago. And it was always a weird diagnosis, because it was lots of coughing then, too.

Do you have reflux?

I currently have awful inflammation of my vocal cords (much to DH's delight) because of long term acid reflux. The resultant inflammation means that I have an uncontrollable cough which, several times a day, completely closes my airway for a few seconds.

If I stay calm and try to breath in very gently through my nose it gradually relaxes and I can breathe normally again within a couple of minutes.

It is a vile sensation, especially on the few occasions when the room has begun to go black.

GP tells me it will go now the reflux is being treated.

It isn't asthma but my inhaler does help as did a nebuliser from a kind paramedic last week when the spasm did not go away.

Wow, no. But that sounds awful!