I've had a chesty cough since little, why won't it just go?

[Mumoftwinsandasingleton]

All my life I've had lungs which just seem permanently full of phlegm. I remember describing the pain in my lungs to my headteacher when only 8. I've been to the doctor's every time it gets really bad. They say they hear a "gentle rattle" and that's it's probably just a chest infection. I am then prescribed antibiotics - I feel fully healthy for about 2 weeks and then it all comes back again. Things to note:

• there's a growling sound in my lungs until I cough
• thick green phlegm after every cough
• cough is painful
• really awful taste whenever I cough
• I've never smoked and I eat healthily most of the time.
• natural slim build
• I'm youngish at 31

Any advice would be most welcome. I just want to cough clear forever. I'm the only person I know who always has a cough. Even my mum is healthier than me and never coughs despite years of smoking

Asthma? Have you seen a dr?

Dr always says chest infection

Hi OP, I felt saddened as I read your post because I imagine it's frustrating and disheartening living with your cough for so much of your life and never getting any satisfactory resolution. Two possibilities came to mind but I have no idea if either of them could help explain what you've been going through. The first is some sort of long running allergy, and the second is reflux/GERD. Are these ideas you've ever explored or suggested to a GP?

I also wonder if it's asthma, like the previous poster. Do you have a sympathetic GP who listens to your concerns and might be willing to send you to the chest clinic, or have you already been down that route?

Thank you for your suggestion. To be honest I always want the GP to just tell me rather than me suggest things to them. In the past, I've suggested bronchitis, pneumonia, chest infection etc. Doctors always go with chest infection. I had an x-ray once and it just so happened to be on a good day. All results were clear and they emphasise how healthy my lungs look.
Wasn't aware of a chest clinic so I'll definitely check this out and look into your other suggestions

Have you ever tried going dairy free? I’m lactose intolerant and if I have milk in my tea, or a few squares of chocolate, the next day I will have a phlegmy cough. Lactose is very mucus producing.

Maybe see someone privately?

I agree this needs to be further looked at and I’d be think GORD (which Drs never take notice of if the symptoms are respiratory), allergy, some other lung issue. Either pat privately or beg for referral to specialist.

You have to go back and tell them bluntly that this is my a one off thing but has been going on your whole life. Do not assume they have read your notes. Ask for a referral. (My doctors have space on their online form for you to tick for requesting a referral).

Been lactose free since little but thanks for the suggestion

My thoughts. Could it possibly not be a lung condition at all, but a gastric issue? Silent reflux (LPR), perhaps?

You say that you don't eat dairy products. But what about gluten? Have you tried eliminating gluten from your diet for a month and see if anything changes?

In the very short term, how about trying Gaviscon Advance liquid? Take 10ml after each meal and before going to bed for a couple of weeks. Diarise what you eat. Note your symptoms and any changes.

Ask for a referral to an ENT consultant. If that doesn't show anything up, go back to your GP and request a referral to a gastroenterologist. It's either a respiratory condition or a gastric condition, I think.

Just one other random thought. I've read sometimes about people discovering foreign objects lodged in their lungs that have been there for years and caused issues but had lain undiscovered until they had a scan for another reason. Is it possible that as a child you accidentally inhaled something (a small bead, a part of a toy etc) that has irritated your lungs ever since? That would be a possibility to explore with an ENT specialist.

It may well be a nasty post nasal drip/catarrh crossed with productive asthma and allergies. This is at least what i have going on, getting the right inhalers and on anti histamines helps immensely.

The only way you're going to get definitive answers is to go back to your GP, tell them to look at your notes/history and request a proper, thorough investigation, and possibly a referral.

For you to keep being fobbed off with 'chest infection' is SO wrong after all this time.

Thanks for all the responses. I was top in PE at school and do remember struggling to breathe during a swimming race and also after completing the 100 metres race in school competitions. My older sister also has asthma so it's probably that mine went undetected and untreated. That said, I'll still go to a specialist to get reviewed properly. Is this a review I can get done with the NHS or does it have to be private?

I've also noted that if I do my eat for long periods of time and get hungry, my cough worsens significantly and I get general symptoms of the flu. I always forget to mention this detail to my GP.

You could ask your GP to refer you to a respiratory specialist. The specialist would probably send you for a CT scan. I’ve recently seen a specialist and I was sent for a CT scan and have been diagnosed with bronchiectasis. This is a condition that means you have enlarged airways and means that it’s hard to clear your lungs properly of mucous and you are prone to chest infections. It sounds possible to me that you have this. I’ve been referred to a chest physio and have been given breathing exercises to do daily to help clear the lungs. I see that a lot of people have talked about acid reflux. I think I’ve had silent reflux for years and I wonder if that might have contributed to me developing this lung condition. There’s a good book that discusses the link between coughing and reflux called The Chronic Cough Enigma. I also believe I had whooping cough earlier this year and this is cited as one of the causes of the lung condition. Did you have whooping cough as a child?

Thank you for this suggestion. I'm currently waiting for my appointment now at the doctors. I'll put forward some of the ideas you have mentioned. Inhaling a foreign object into my lungs is probably unlikely but I was often left unsupervised so there's a chance it could be that

Have a look at primary Ciliary Dyskinesia. It's quite often diagnosed as an adult but more awareness is happening so more and more children are being diagnosed. One of the main symptoms is a chronic daily wet cough

One of my friends had a cough when little, if she laughed she would start coughing. It was only after she visited a consultant as a young adult that asthma was diagosed. She now takes her ventolin everywhere.
I am 49 and since I was 20 i had very bad throataches, would lose my voice and an annoying dry little cough, and always laringitis was diagnosed, I was even prescribed antibiotics. It was only 5 years ago that the cause was established as silent acid reflux. Sorted the reflux, sorted the sore throats. Like magic when you find a doctor who knows his trade.

Thanks a lot for this. Haven't heard of this one before. Not sure if that's me or not. I had to produce a sputum sample last week. I was provided with a nasal spray and breathing instrument to check my lung capacity.

Today I received a phone call to say that the sputum sample was in fact streptococcus and that I needed antibiotics (yet again) to help it. I mentioned I was already given a round a couple of weeks back but she insisted it was what I needed

Streptococcus is a bitch to clear, my 2 year old has grown it multiple times and it took 3 rounds of oral antibiotics followed by a 2 week course of IVs to clear it. I would push them for further testing and ideally a bronchoscopy so they can get a good look at what's going on inside the lungs and suction up mucus to test. A chest CT with contrast will show if there is any progressive damage (bronchiectasis) which is common in patients who get diagnosed as adults. It's still considered a rare disease and not many doctors know about it.

Had no idea that streptococcus was so difficult to clear. I'll push for further examination. My lungs are likely damaged from the extent that I have coughed up so much stuff. It's not helping that I can't sleep or rest properly due to my twins being up sick all night. I just want proper rest finally

Have you had a sputum sample sent?

If it's green then that would indicate a bacterial infection, which might not be sensitive to the antibiotics you are being prescribed, especially as it keeps re-occuring.

It sounds like what used to be called chronic bronchitis, chesty all the time that flares up into full blown chest infections. I would expect that your GP should have done blood & sputum tests & a chest Xray as a minimum.

Sorry just read that you have infact produced a sputum sample and you have streptococcus. What antibiotic were you prescribed, as I believe it should be Penicillin G.

An ENT consultation would tell if it is acid reflux, I had a constant sore throat, husky voice & losing my voice plus a gungy cough. At my appointment, I had a camera put up my nose & down my throat where the consultant saw that the acid had burnt the back of my throat & even as far up as my vocal cords, I was put on a PPI twice a day & told to sleep propped up. It cleared within a week, which was better than what my GP had referred me for, suspected throat cancer.