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Here it is end of August 2009 I am still coughing, although not uncontrollably. I'm on Symbicort 160, Singulair, and Zyrtec. I've been tested for allergies, and it's not dust-mites or food, and I have no pets. I do not cough at night, but during the day, when I have to talk more. I rarely feel SOB -- my airways just feel inflamed and "thick" until I've cleared them of phlegm. It's never a lot, and sometimes I have none. My PF is 500, but I never feel as good as I did before I got sick.
I've been to a pulomonologist, who says its just asthma, not COPD (he says my PFTs are in the "normal" range), but it seems to me it can't be good to go on coughing forever. I'm going back to my allergist, who at least is consistent in doing tests so she can track my lung function, to get a full evaluation.
My question is, what should I do next? What would determine whether I have permanent/progressive damage (COPD), or a latent infection, or bronchial polyps, or a tumor, or whatever? If my tests keep saying I'm "normal," but I don't feel I'm breathing right, where should I go next? I never had chronic cough -- or acute bronchitis -- before my illness.
FVC: 3.72 (104% of predicted)
FEV1: 2.90 (98% of predicted)
FEV1/FVC-FEV1-Percent: 78 (95% of predicted)
FEF-Forced Expiratory Flow: 2.82 (102% of predicted)