whooping cough??? what triggers my cough?

[shellybmorgan]

I have been having this reoccurring illness that comes about twice a year in the spring/fall.its is a really deep and loud cough and it gets to where i cannot breathe because of it. my pertussis level is elevated and all the doctors have told me is that is why i am coughing. so if it is the whooping cough what triggers it? over the last 3 years i have spend 6+ weeks in the hospital with it. i need some help!!! i don't know what to do, i have been to countless drs and none of them tell me anything. can you help?

[shellybmorgan]

Thanks, i was vaccinated as a child and had the vaccine 2 years ago. i have been on vitamin d for about a year now. i hardly ever have any mucus that i cough up and my lungs are always clear. its just a dry barking cough. i have tried numerous medications and cough meds as well and i havent had much relief from any of them. like right now i am not coughing but i cant ever tell when it is going to start and when it is going to stop. thanks for your post i am open to any idea that might would help!

[mkh9]

Hi shellybmorgan,
Usually after infection with Bordetella pertussis (the bacteria that causes pertussis) you develop antibodies to it and don't get it again. However, if vaccinated as a child the immunity only lasts maybe 10 years so you can get it as an adult. I read that you can get susceptible to asthma, bronchitis and other respiratory problems following getting pertussis. So, be careful not to get a secondary infection.  If you get bronchitis you may need antibiotics. You should steam yourself in the shower to breakup the mucus or use hot water in a bowl and put a towel over your head and lean over the bowl. and breath in the steam There are cough syrups that make you cough that will keep you from getting the mucus from trapping in your lungs. Of course as the last post said you need to keep your natural immunity up as well. I'm not sure what the doctor is saying about  your antibodies being up. If you never had an infection with B.pertussis or didn't have the vaccine then when you are exposed the first antibody that shows up is your IgM then a couple of weeks later your IgG antibody goes up. But once you have been exposed to the bacteria once your IgM goes back down after about a month you IgG will always be high because that is your immune systems way of protecting you from getting it again. But in the future once your IgG level goes back down you may still have some immunity that will help some when you get exposed again but you could still not have enough immunity to fight off the bacteria. It depends on your circumstances. If you haven't ever been vaccinated or you had been vaccinated as a child but you got Pertussis now your antibodies would go up as if you never had been vaccinated because it is a new infection and the vaccine is pretty much not working any more. But the point is it isn't likely to get recurrent pertussis every year. It probably is something else. Hope this makes sense and
hope this helps,
mkh9

[Red_Star]

I recommend having your vitamin D levels checked. When i was severely vitamin D deficient, i had a a bad bout of bronchitis followed about two months later by a month of severe strep throat.  The Vitamin D Council recommends a slightly higher blood serum level of 50 - 80 ng/ml (125 – 200 nmol/L) and has set the minimum at 50 ng/ml (125 nmol/L).  The average person only begins to store vitamin D at 40 ng/ml (100 nmol/L) whereas 50 ng/ml (125 nmol/L) virtually everyone begins to store it for future use.

"Scientists at the University of Copenhagen have discovered that Vitamin D is crucial to activating our immune defences and that without sufficient intake of the vitamin, the killer cells of the immune system – T cells – will not be able to react to and fight off serious infections in the body.

For T cells to detect and kill foreign pathogens such as clumps of bacteria or viruses, the cells must first be ‘triggered’ into action and "transform" from inactive and harmless immune cells into killer cells that are primed to seek out and destroy all traces of invaders.
The researchers found that the T cells rely on vitamin D in order activate and they would remain dormant, ‘naïve’ to the possibility of threat if vitamin D is lacking in the blood."

[Caryopteris]

All I can suggest is that you cut out dairy, especially milk, to see if decreasing mucus production helps.