I got a heavy coughing cold in early January and experienced demoralising cycles of illness for the NEXT 4 MONTHS!
It has felt like I've had a whole series of colds and coughs
The exact nature of the congestion, the coughing and the feeling of exhausted malaise HAS changed every few weeks or so#
But the common characteristic was feeling half-way better and cautiously optimistic on one day only to be steamrollered by a complete reversal the next with all the symptoms back with a vengeance!
Having heard about the rise of a 100-day (aka whooping) cough, I decided to tough it out and spare the undoubtedly overwhelmed doctor - especially as I'd had whooping cough before (13 weeks) and understood there was no real remedy unless antibiotic support was indicated.
Twice I scarily choked on food when a sudden and spontaneous cough caught me mid-chew, with no immediate breath to spit out the food and only the slightest ability to wheeze in past it before finally coughing out the obstruction.
Eventually I did get antibiotics from the doctor when every breath seemed to crackle in my chest and the feeling of breathless wheeziness was almost constant. After 2 rounds of treatment the symptoms seemed beated - but only on the very last day! The next day was somewhat dubious and the following day the wheeziness increased and I went back to the doc. No more antibiotic needed they said... but they did give me an on-deman inhaler for "asthma-like" symptoms.
That following weekend I became seriously wheezy and breathless, and often coughing still, I contacted 111 and was referred with an appointment at the local hospital emergency centre. They were very organised, saw me pretty much on time and only prescibed another inhaler but did ask rather pointedly why I hadn't been referred for a chest X-ray (as if I should know!!!)
Apparently ANY cough of 5 weeks plus should be followed up with an X-ray.
I have since asked my GP for an X-ray referral based on the above information but have just discovered that I now have to make another GP appointment even though my cough has spanned 4 whole months!!
Comments