Constant Cough.

[adikam]

am 25 yrs and working as a software engineer. Recently from 1month am coughing a lot.
It started with a lymph node near my neck which is like a small bump. I went to my PCP and they did all the blood tests  and they took the chest xray. They said everything was fine and the results are excellent.
they gave me some antibiotics and the bump disappeared gradually. But then after 1 week, i felt feverish, too much head ache like some pressure on my fore head, weak and little cough and so i went in emergency quota to the hospital. again they did blood tests. The results are normal, nothing serious.  they gave me motrin for the head ache. then after 3 days again i felt same way feverish, cough and weak but no head ache this time. so  i again went to the hospital and they took chest xray this time and the results are normal. I told them about the lymph node bump on the front right side of my neck. the doc said its not because of the lymph node, may be due to weather change or something and she told to have NYQUIL syrup for cough. I did use it for 1 week everyday and still the cough is there. so i went to my PCP again and i told her about everything happend after the 1st visit.  she said that might be due to lmyph node. she told me if there is some infection then it gets bigger to fight the infection. this time she gave me Amoxycillin for 10 days. I used it for 6 days, but still nothing really changed instead i became week, couldnt eat much. Then i stopped using it. i donno whats happening, am coughing constantly. am scared abt it. please tell me what to do?

[National Jewish Health]

Yours is not a simple problem, or a trivial one.  Nor does it seem to be no more than a simple, common infection.  If it were, it should have cleared-up in one month.  Yet all your symptoms strongly suggest that you have some kind of infection and probably a relatively uncommon one.

Your having a normal blood count and a clear chest X-ray is certainly good news.   But, clearly, you are still ill.  The clue to the diagnosis would likely reside in the lymph node, assuming that it is still enlarged.  You might want to check your body to see if any other lymph nodes might be enlarged.  

The best advice I can give is that you seek a referral to an Infectious Disease Specialist, either on your own or on a referral from your primary care doctor.  The Infectious Disease specialist chosen would best be one with some years experience with unusual infectious diseases that occur in your part of the country, especially those that may be transmitted by animals, ticks etc.

Good luck

[adikam]

thanks for ur advice. i went to my pcp, this time she ordered the following tests. Complete blood count, pulmonary test, weight loss test
TB test and am waiting for the results. she said 99% its not a serious problem. she gave me a Nasal Spray (fluticasone) which will clear any nasal infection that triggers the cough.  the lymph node's size is like random since one month and she referred me to an ENT specialist whether to go for biopsy or not. but since 2 days the situation is some what better not much coughing and the lymph node's size is shrinking. she said the weight loss might be due to anxiety of what will happen like too much thinking etc but anyway 1% doubt must be cleared.  Once again thank you so much for the advice and that cleared some of doubts.