Horrible lingering cough. Is there anything I can do?

[Virgil]

I have now had an awful cough for four and a half weeks. It is worse at night and is causing me to have long coughing fits every fifteen minutes or so. Antibiotics haven't shifted it. Do I just need to wait it out?

Go back to the doctors, thats a long time to have a cough. Saying that, they can just sometimes hang around for ages - try raising your head end of the bed as when you are laying down all the phlegm is laying on your chest. I hope you feel better soon

Try boots honey and lemon linctus. Very soothing. Agree with the others about going back though. Oh, and I find sucking a boiled sweet helps.

You may well have whooping cough. Have done quite a bit of research recently (fairly sure dp has it) and it looks like there isn't much you can actually do except ride it out, unfortunately. Called the 100 day cough for a reason. It's horrible. Poor you.

Right have done a bit of googling (who needs a medical degree) and am now convinced I have whooping cough. I cannot breathe after I've had a coughing fit and the only way I can get my breath back is to literally hold my breath for as long as possible and then let the breath back in in a slow and controlled way. I'm also waking suddenly in the night unable to breathe at all. Lovely. I go on my only holiday of the year in three weeks' time and cannot be ill !

you don't need a medical degree, your GP however has one and years of experience. Googling and finding matching symptoms does not = diagnosis, i daresay there would be a whole list of things that could give you a lingering cough. Some of them serious, some of them less so. Please go back to your doctors, it could just be that a different sort of antibiotics might work, or that you have a virus and anti-biotics wont work anyway. It could be, albeit unlikely, that it is something more serious.

If it's worse at night, is there a chance it could be asthma?

Speaking as one who had to have an actual blue lips scary asthma attack before realising all the linctus had been pointless for the previous year and receiving a diagnosis.

I saw an article by some specialist who claims that WC is under-diagnosed because if GPs don't witness an attack they don't believe it. He says get someone to record it on a phone or something to show the doc.

I know nothing.

Your GP will (probably) be useless if you have whooping cough. He will claim to have never seen it and will be dismissive of your symptoms. You may not have it, of course, but your gp will probably start from the premise that you don't. I would record/get someone else to record you when you have a coughing fit and take that with you.

I'd check with the docs about whooping cough tbh. Although you shouldn't be spreading it now so it's not so urgent that it gets diagnosed I guess.

I would definitely go back if you are struggling to breathe.

Have just spoken to a friend who is a GP (although not mine) and he thinks it is likely to be whooping cough. There has been an enormous increase in the number of cases this year and vaccination in the past does not necessarily mean you won't get it since the protection can wear off. This may explain why I have been suffering but the DCs have been fine.

Where does your GP friend live? Sounds clued up. Hope you start to feel better soon.

DF has just had a cough for about 8 weeks and it sounds very like what you are describing too.
DM thought it sounded like Whooping cough after a few weeks and hearing something on the radio. DF has had 2 lots of antibiotics and steriods to help lessen the severity of the coughing fits.
DM then started coughing 2 weeks ago, and now DS is the same.
I took him to see the GP yesterday who said she didn't think he has whooping cough as the cough ( he did a good demo for her) didn't sound like it - but I explained about DM and DF and she gave us antibiotics for Whooping cough in case and this is a GP who hardly ever gives antibiotics - she is likely to tell you that you don't need them. As she seemed so sure it wasn't WC I send DS to school today and one of the teachers ended up thumping him on the back as the coughing fit was going on so long.

It certainly sounds like you have whatever is going around - and the jury is out on whether or not it actually might be Whooping cough.

The thing that makes this GP think it is whooping cough is the complete inability to take a breath in after the coughing fit. I have now mastered the technique of holding my breath for the count of ten after the coughing for and then very slowly letting breath back in. Ok for an adult but very difficult for a child. Also not easy when you wake suddenly in the night unable to breathe which is a bit scary. Apparently the typical whooping sound is mainly heard in babies and young children and many cases of whooping cough in older children and adults present without any whoop at all. Its also apparently an indicator of whopping cough if after a couple of initial days of sniffles and/or a sore throat the patient feels absolutely fine apart from the cough. He then said that another indicator is the fact that I'm the only ill person on the house. The DSs were vaccinated as babies and DH obviously still has the immunity which has worn off in me . I'm on antibiotics which have not worked and run out tomorrow and then my GP is going to do the tests (which will make little difference other than confirming whether or not I have whooping cough.)