h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've been coughing since mid june.
Before the cough really kicked in, I began feeling a tightness around the throat, as if I had a tight collar on a shirt. Any scarf or something touching the "adams apple" part of my neck would make me claw as to remove the choking feeling. To no use, of course.

In June, then, I got a proper infection, and tried repeatedly to cough my lungs up, with some success. I had fever for a few days, and stayed home, but went to work otherwise. Coughing hard, until choking. Breathless. Got out of breath by walking 10 meters. Ten minute gentle bike ride made people believe I had run 10k.

Coughing got gradually better. I went to the doctors when I got fed up, and have now tried ethylmorphine cough syrup, inhaled steroids, bromhexin tablets, and other things. I have been tested for mycoplasma, pneumonia, flu (I think), thyroid hormones, this, that, the other, oxygen saturation and spirometry. All is fine and dandy, except for spirometry, which is "low". Low inspiratory flow, and low volume (full inhalation).

I still cough, on and off. Usually just a few ones, sometimes ten "coughs" ending with a sneeze (more often a month ago, but still). Often when I take a deep breath, before I get up from a chair or bed, or when I bend down, to put shoes on. It's weird.

So today I finally googled. (Bad Idea, the doctors will say)
It sounds like Vocal Fold Disorder/paradoxical cough things. It also sounds a little like nerve issues around C5 nerve root.

I do have some neck pain, and quite a lot of cracking when I tilt my head left. So, I'm leaning towards thinking that that nerve is affected. If not a bad disc, then perhaps just tense/inflammed muscles pinching at it.

How do I get my doctor to check for those things, without sounding as hypochondriac as this Journal?

Oh darling, that sounds a real worry! I hope you can get it checked out soon.

Milla, would it be possible for you to ask your regular doctor to issue a 'remiss' to a specialist?

I'd just describe all the symptoms as such and would avoid 'self diagnosis'. Been there, done that, got the 'T' shirt.
I put chest pain down to indigestion for best part of 6 weeks before going to the 's and cheekily asking for a stronger indigestion remedy. It wasn't till he'd done an ecg I realised how far out I was. That resulted in my first long stay in hospital wired up to all manner machines while they stabilised the heart.
I'll stick to diagnosing faults in cars, what I'm trained for, and let the doc's diagnose health issues.

Usually I'd agree with you, BMT, but Milla wrote this has been going on since mid June and has been tested for various things without any results. I'd get quite frustrated too, and start looking for ways of solving it myself.

I agree with BMT....

I had a cough, twas dreadful, woke me up, cough cough cough, interrupted talking, cough cough cough,on and on and on...

Went to the docs, x-rays n tests ensued....

Absolutely nothing wrong....

In the end, I discovered that I was allergic to my perfume...stopped squirting with gusto...

Eventually the coffin has stopped

Leave it to the professionals x

It does sound like you might be allergic, Milla - and the reason(s) for being allergic can be very tricky to find

Well, I am being a good girl me, keeping at my inhaled steroids, and there will be a second spirometry, to see if they help.

I'm not coughing at all like I did this summer, so I think that the infection coincided with something else, and the else remains.

It's interesting, it's not going to kill me, let's see how it turns out. I may ask for physiotherapy to get my neck muscles softer and perhaps the cracking less frequent. And if that then helps the coughing, then all the better

Re: Your neck....

I've got spondilitus (spelling?- they really need spell check here!!) a result of continually falling off horses and landing up side down in my youger days...but thats another story

and...to cut a longer story short, my neck cracks ALL the time and is stiff etc blah blah blah... the physio told me "get used to it, and cracking is good - that means its still moving!"

just a thought, to cheer you up, don't worry...