EXCESSIVE PHELGM AND COUGHING?????

[littlevicko]

MY 9 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER HAS BEEN SUFFERING FROM EXCESSIVE PHLEGM AND COUGHING FOR MONTHS NOW,SHE HAD HER TONCILS AND ADNOIDS OUT LAST JULY,SEEMS LIKE AFTER THAT ALL THIS BEGAN A FEW MONTHS AFTER,SHE HAS A LITTLE BIT OF ASTHMA BUT I JUST THINK THAT IS THE PROBLEM,A ENT DONE A CT SCAN AND SAID SHE HAD A POLYOP/CIST IN HER LEFT SINUS CAVITY BUT NOT TO WORRY BUT EVERYTHING IVE READ SAYS THAT COULD CAUSE REACCURRING SINUS INFECTIONS,IN DEC,SHE WAS IN THE HOSPITAL FOR DEHYDRATION,SHE COUGHED SO HARD AND THREW UP SO MUCH PLEGM,THE WHITES OF HER EYES WERE SOLID RED FROM BROKEN VESSELS FROM COUGHING SO MUCH,SHES HAD CT SCANS CHEST EXRAYS,THEY SAY EVERYTHING ALRIGHT,HER ASTHMA DR EVEN PUT HER ON A STOMACH MED TO SEE IF WOULD HELP,SHES BEEN ON SO MANY ANTIBIOTICS IM AFRAID SHES IMMUNE TO THEM,NO ONE SEEMS TO BE GIVING ME ANY ANSWERS,DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR ME???SHE IS SO TIRED OF THIS.LOOSING SLEEP,MISS ALOT OF SCHOOL,ETC,YOUR ADVICE WILL BE APPRECIATED.

[National Jewish]

This is obviously a very frustrating problem for you.  From what you have described, it sounds like the sinuses are still a major potential source of these problems.  It could be a chronic sinus infection or simply lasting inflammation in the sinuses after the infection is gone.  That type of problem can cause everything you have described.  I would suggest working with your ENT to be sure that the sinuses are not the continued cause of what is going on.
A nasal wash helps remove mucus and germs from the nose and sinuses.  This can temporarily help her sinuses to drain better.  Please read our Nasal Wash MedFact at http://www.nationaljewish.org/medfacts/nasal.html for more information about this technique.  Share this information with her doctor to see if she would benefit from this daily treatment.

[jintymcginty]

Hi there

have just read littlevickos message and wanted to say I have a 4 year old boy who has exactly the same problem.  He was refered to the ENT who only checked to see if it was asthma and came to the conclusion it wasn't and because he wasn't too bad at the time of seeing them they were not interested and the problem persists.  The nursery have now recommended a homeopath who I am going to try and see if it makes a difference as I really feel now two years after this started that it is affecting his quality of life - he can't play for too long with out fits of coughing - when he gets a cold he is sick every/every other day and at breakfast time he can hardly keep his breakfast down because of the phelgm he is unable to clear from his throat.  My doctors answer is - its a childhood thing and just keep giving him the usual antibiotics and cough mixture which is next to useless!  Just wanted to share with you how impossible it is to get the medical profession to recognise this is a common problem.

[Daylights]

I am 25 and I have those symptoms and more.
I have had cold like symptoms for two months now. Coughing, phlegm,  sneezing, head congestion, now my left ear is losing it, eyes turning read and itching, chest tightness, hoarseness..the symptoms are endless it seems. I was diagnosed with allergies to southern pollen. Well, i moved out of the south and the symptoms have gotten worse. I dont buy the allergy thing. I've never had a history of allergies or getting sick. But this is frustrating me. CAT scans and X rays have shown nothing. And I keep getting Claritin from the doctor.
I need help. I need real medical advice. I need someone who knows what they're talking about.

[littlevicko]

HI,ITS LITTLEVICK0-WELL GUESS WHAT,I FINALLY TOOK MY DAUGHTER TO LEBONHEUR HOSPITAL IN MEMPHIS AND THEY HELPED US,ITS ONE OF THE BEST CHILDRENS HOSPITAL AROUND,WE SPENT 2 WEEKS THERE AND THEY DONE EVERYTHING FROM A UPPER AND LOWER GI,A LUNG BIOPSY,SINUS SCANS,BLOOD WORK EVEN TESTED HER FOR WHOOPING COUGH,CYCTIC FIBROSIVE,TB BECAUSE THEY WERE EVEN CONFUSED FOR AWHILE,TURNS OUT THE CHILD DOESNT EVEN HAVE ASTHMA,ALL THE INHALERS AND STEROIDS DONE HER MORE HARM THEN GOOD,SHE HAS ACID REFUX(GERD),ESOPHAGITIS(INFECTION,FUNGUS OF ESOPHIGIS)SINUS DISEASE ALSO KNOW AS CHRONIC SINUSITIS,ALL THESE THINGS COULD CAUSE CHRONIC COUGHING AND I DIDNT KNOW IT,INFECTION ON ESOPHOGIS WAS PROBLLY CAUSED BY ALL THE UNNECCESARY STEROIDS,IT BECAME SO BAD SHE STARTED COUGHING UP BLOOD AND BLOOD IN STOOLS THATS WHY I TOOK HER THERE,3 HRS AWAY FROM WHERE I LIVE,I SHOULD OF WENT THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE,SEEMS DOCTORS WANT TO ALWAYS BLAME EVERYTHING ON ALLERGIES AND ASTHMA SO PLEASE GET A SECOND OPION,YOU WILL BE SUPRISED THAT ACID REFLUX COULD CAUSE BAD COUGHING,LET ME KNOW HOW THINGS ARE AND GOOD LUCK

[babydoc]

I am a medic and I work in the medical field. My confidence in my colleagues is low. For the last month, I have been coughing, ranging fromn a dry hacking cough to a productive cough. I have had asthma attacks, mainly at night and in the morning and sometimes during the day. Their diagnosis initially was bacterial sinusitis. They started me on humabid and motrin...then a Z-pack, then amitex and pseudophed, then tylenol and tesselon perles, then allegra, now thinking it is allergies. Last year, I coughed in a similar fashion for about 2 1/2 months. I had developed flank pain and was seriously irritated by the everday fatigue. After 2 months of the same providers telling me I had post nasal drip, I finally decided to go to the hospital. It turned out that I had bronchitis. I went to the hospital for breathing difficulties and my PsO2 was 94%, not too bad, but they did an albuteral treatment and chest xrays showed consolidation. I have had chronic bronchitis all my life, about 2, and sometimes 3x a year. My Mother has smoked aroung me all my life. She has been a chain smoker for many years. When ever I smell smoke, my airway closes off. So, I thought maybe her smoking caused significant lung damage and that is why I have chronic bronchial problems. It is possible that I have GERD or Allergies. They are planning to send me to an allergist. I read about your saline flush of the nasal passages and will try this tonight. I am absolutely miserable and wonder what could be wrong with me. My xrays a week 1/2  ago showed a little consolidation, not much. My cough is productive with excess phlegm and scary at that. People feel so bad for me. I take the pseudophed, I take the cough syrup, tylenol, flonase, inhaler and cough drops and nothing seems to make it better. Please lend me some advice. I am starting to think I have cancer or TB or something. I have hypothyroidism, but don't think it is related in any way. Also, would I benefit, if this is allergies causing my sx's, from the removal of my adnoids and/or tonsils? Any advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Babydoc

[littlevicko]

hi,littlevicko again,you could have gerd,you would never think it would cause chronic coughing but that and sinus disease and esophoglis made my daughter have a chronic cough with excessive phlgm,she stayed in the hosital 2 weeks and thats what they found,she may have to have sinus surgery to flush the sinuses out but s far she is alot better after being sick for months-all these conditions made her airways swell and irritated,they did a lung scope and didnt find anything but when you cough so long it will get irritared and airways get full of mucus when you have bad sinusites,they said her sinuses were so full and packed inside,all the other drs around home said it was allergies and asthma and sinus infection,these specialists say she doesnt have asthma so all this time those inhalers and meds the others gave her she didnt even need,inhalers and breathing treatments always made her cough worse-so maybe you could get another opion,see a gastroligist,they can do a barium swallow to see if you have gerd and maybe a scope to see whats going on,hope all is well,keep us posted
                      littlevick0

[elvalor]

What a great site... I have had the same problem as babydoc and vicki's child. I'm 35 and have only recently started having this incredible cough and excessive phelgm. Mostly at night which is bad as I find it hard to sleep having to get up regularly to spit...I have an idea that it has to do with my sinuses as I too suffer quite badly from it. Smoke gives me the most aggresive (aggressive) attack. I don't smoke and can't stand it, so I do stay away from it as far as possible because of this problem. So reading what babydoc and vicki has to say makes a lot of sense. I also find that if I have something with sugar in it late night, then it gets worse. And also coffee, so dehydration makes a lot of sense as well...

[flapper]

I have been having the same symptoms since mid-February (2005).  The mucus that I cough up is clear and sticky/thick.  It is so disgusting.  I have been to the dr. and only get prescribed allergy meds.  Nothing works, no kind of cough med or allery med or anything at all.  I have coughed so hard at times that I am unable to stand while doing so.  I have felt such pain that I feared that I broke a rib...That made for a pointless dr. visit--I got x-rays and no one EVER called me back with results.  Not like they could have fixed it, but would have been nice to know what was going on in there.  Regardless, I am wondering whether GERD could be possible.  I am reading the comments and I can't help but wonder if this is what I have.  I do not have any nasty, bitter tasting phlegm (which I would think would be necessary for GERD--like I even have a clue), but sometimes I do vomit after coughing.  Eating, talking, drinking, laughing, all cause the coughing episodes, and it often feels like the mucus is in my chest, but when I cough, it comes up(and out) from way down my throat.

[littlevicko]

HI FLAPPER,SOUNDS LIKE SOME OF THE THINGS MY DAUGHTER DID,SHE NEVER TOLD ME SHE HAD A FUNNY TASTE IN HER MOUTH OR ANYTHING SO I WAS SUPRISED SHE HAD IT AND THAT GERD WOULD MAKE A COUGH LIKE THAT AND SINUS PROBLEMS-SHE STILL DESPITE ALL THE TREATMENT SHE HAS HAD COUGHS SOME OF THE THICK STICKY STUFF UP,SHE HAS BAD SINUSITIS ALSO AND HER ESOPHAGUS WAS INFECTED,SHE USED TO COUGH SO HARD THAT THE WHITES OF HER EYES TURNED SOLID RED FROM BROKEN VESSELS AND STILL NOW TO THIS DAY IF SHE TAKES A DEEP BREATH OR LAUGHS HARD OR OVER DOES IT,SHE WILL HAVE A COUGHING FIT SO I STILL DONT UNDERSTAND THAT PART,WE STILL GET FRUSTRATED,ALOT HAS GOTTEN BETTER BUT IN OUR CASE I STILL THINK THERE SOMETHING GOING ON IN HER SINUSES AND SHE MAY HAVE TO HAVE SURGERY,SHE HAS A SINUS CIST AND THEY SAY THAT MAKES YOU HAVE ALOT OF MUCUS THAT BACKS UP-HOPE YOU FIND OUT WHAT THE PROBLEM IS,KEEP ME POSTED
                       LITTLEVICKO

[STEW245]

A related discussion, How Long??? was started.

[aladysam]

A related discussion, what else can I do? was started.

[Larkgod]

A related discussion, Green and brown phlegm sometimes hard was started.