Hi Guys,
I am new to this forum although I have been part of the MS community for a couple of years but would be grateful of any suggestions to this issue, I am getting no where from the research or the medics.
It started with a really nasty chest infection in January this year which required antibiotics and 2 weeks off work. This left me with a barking cough which would not go and is intermittent throughout the day (it sometimes wakes me once at night but rarely).
At the start of June after 5 months of trying everything and several trips to the GP the cough suddenly got a lot worse and the top of my chest was very sore. The GP dx bronchitis and gave me a steroid inhaler. This helped a lot and stopped the cough being as harsh or as frequent but after 2 weeks I had to stop using it because it had caused a bad case of thrush in my mouth.
I still have the cough, it is now 8 months, as well as things I have described I have tried every type of cough medicine on the shelves here, extra medication for gastric reflux (just in case), a steroid nasal spray (Nasonex) in case of post nasal drip, this dryed everything up and made the cough worse as it was drier. In fact I have had a PND for about 20 years and never had a cough with it. My peak flow is fine and the GP says not asthma because of that.
I am now desperate, I cough about 12 - 14 times a day that doesn't sound much but each session can last several minutes, it hurts my ribs and stomach, I am left with tears streaming, red in the face, I have had to step up the use and size of tena lady pads (as you can imagine - but that's another story). I have too leave meetings at work to have a coughing fit.
I am totally exasperated and exhausted and at my wits end as to what to try next. We have even bought an air filter which cost £160 for the bedroom in case it is an allergy with no luck.
The GP after my # visit wondered if it might be that my aspiration was not quite up to par because of the MS she said that if it was at 97% we would not be able to measure it but it would cause me problems.
My MS team said - no - silent aspiration would affect me EVERY time I tried to eat not just occasionally and not when I wasn't eating, they think I have just been unlucky!!!! This is definitely not silent I could assure her!
I am now desperate - it sounds minor but after 8 months of a hacking cough which is exhausting added to all my other sx and the usual fatigue you all no so well and trying to work I am desperate for it to just stop, So any suggestions welcome - happy to try anything at this point :( I am a singer and have had to leave my group and cancel all singing as my voice is now completly shot through this.
Thanks for reading this far.