Violent coughing for several weeks, I now wonder if I have fluid on the lungs, do I need to do anything about it?

[Mustardfan]

I’ve been coughing for 7 weeks (quite violently). I had whooping cough. I think I also had reflux. I’ve had two courses of antibiotics, still coughing up some yellowy phlegm. Today there was less yellow and more throth. I have a very wet cough. I can’t sleep lying down. When I move I can sometimes feel a sensation in my lungs as though they’re also moving - is that fluid moving around? I get a bit breathless when I go for a walk, also when I talk. I’ve got an oximeter but it’s hard to get an accurate reading due to cold hands, the level drops after walking and also if i try to sleep lying down. I’m taking omeprazole and am following a strict diet/ lifestyle and I think the acid reflux is controlled. My energy level is a little low. However I’m much better than I was in January, and if there is fluid, I assume it’s only a little bit. Is there anything that I can do, or my GP, if it is fluid? I want to recover and get back to work as quickly as possible. If it’s not fluid, could there be something else going on?

It could be pneumonia..seek medical advice.

I don't think you can take medical advice from here, you need to see your GP.

The reason that I’m posting is that I’ve seen my GP several times over the last few weeks and I think they are fed up with me. Also I’ve had to figure everything out myself. An example is that for about three weeks I didn’t have enough breath to speak,( and my chest ached with tightness). I asked my GP why I couldn’t speak, he said it was because I’d damaged my voice box. I went back the next week and said that I was too breathless to speak (having figured this out with the help of mumsnet). Then I was given steroids, which really helped. I’m annoyed that the first GP just said that I’d damaged my voice box without asking further questions to understand what was happening. I’d like to be armed with as much information as possible if I do see a GP again. I had a chest x-ray two weeks ago, which ruled out pneumonia.

Whooping cough can leave you with a cough for months. The frothy fluid is classic whooping cough symptom. Apart from the cough, do you feel unwell?