Excessive Mucus, with high blood pressure

[Slvr_ed]

Hello, I have been waking up every day and coughing and having an excessive amount of mucus come out of my lungs. This just happens when I wake up. I used to be a smoker for about 5 years and now I quit. Could that still be an effect of my previous smoking? Or is it something that I need to have checked out? (Plus, I checked my blood pressure several times and the systolic seems to be a little high).    Thank you.

[National Jewish]

In the healthy lung there are small hair-like projections called cilia that clean the lungs by moving mucus out.  Smoking can paralyze or permanently damage this cleaning system.  When you quit smoking your lungs begin to recover from the inflammation that has occurred over the years that you smoked.  Most likely this inflammation is causing your symptoms.  Coughing up mucus is a good sign.  It shows that this cleaning system is working again.  When you were smoking this mucus would just stay in your lungs.  It’s good that you are finally getting this out.  As long as you have quit smoking before there has been permanent damage then you will get better as the cleaning system cleans.  After years of smoking, you may continue to bring up mucus for as long as a year after you stop smoking.



However you should not assume that is the cause.  You will need to have a thorough exam by a doctor to be sure there isn’t some other problem.  This should include a chest x-ray.



A systolic blood pressure greater than 110 is high.  However don't rely on one measurement.  You should do home blood pressure monitoring for at least a couple weeks.

[Rosie49]

It may be an allergy to dust mites.  They build up in the pillows and bedding. To see if that's the problem, wash all bedding in hot water and cover the pillow case with allergen protectors, and see if you are better.