Aa
wake up choking, gasping for air, CAN'T BREATH!
What is going on with us??? At least 3 times each night we both wake up (alternating times) not being able to breath, choking and gasping for air. We do produce some clear sticky mucus sometimes. Our airways are closing up while sleeping (inclined mind you). Also during waking hours maybe 3-5 times per day this happens. The rest of the time, we're just fine, even during exercise. This is how it all started:
3 weeks ago, my 2 year old daughter and I stayed with some friends in an old house with no air conditioning upstairs where we had to sleep. It was sweltering, so the woman offered up a window unit that was kept in the garage for several years. It worked great and soon the room had cooled off and we were ready for bed. We woke up freezing and turned off the unit. The next night we turned on the A/C unit but not so high. Again we woke up freezing, so we turned it off. That morning we both started coughing periodically throughout the day. It seemed like a "wet cough" sounded productive, but wasn't unless much hacking went on. We went home and, it has gotten worse. I figured an expectorant would help, so we both started taking Mucinex...absolutely nothing. We did this for one week with worsening results. We both wake up coughing, gasping for air and plainly just CAN'T BREATH. I took the baby to the ER where they said her lungs sounded fine (triage nurse, er nurse and the doctor). Yes, she was fine at that time, but they acted like I was bringing her in for no reason, said she had an ear infection, gave us some amoxicillin and sent us home. I went to the dr. two times. The first time she said she thought I had bronchitis, gave me augmentin. After 6 days, it was clear that wasn't working, so I went back. She said it sounded like I had pneumonia and ordered a chest x-ray. It came back just fine, but she gave me a z-pack anyway. At day 11 we started using my mother's nebulizer with albuteral "breathing treatment" in the morning and evening. Also, we have had a humidifier going in the living room and the bedroom where we both sleep going at all times. Still no progress. Yes, the breathing treatments do produce some good coughs with sputum, but it is minimal. At day 17 I decided to change directions and stopped with the expectorant and went with suppressant (robotussin for me and Dimetapp for her and they both had exactly the same ingredients so I ditched the robotussin which tastes awful and switched to the children’s Dimetapp. This has a suppressant, antihistamine and decongestant. ) It isn't getting any better. I am scared that there was something really bad in that air conditioner and now we will have this forevermore. Baby and I are both done with antibiotics and there has been no progress and I even have an ear infection in each ear now EVEN AFTER TAKING 2 ROUNDS OF ANTIBIOTICS! I have researched our symptoms and these are the things that I came up with: Acid reflux, asthma, bronchitis, sinusitis, pneumonia, emphysema, COPD and after researching each of these it is clear that we do not have any of these. I need help, the dr.s are not looking at the whole picture. There is a missing link somewhere, please help me find it. Thank you
3 weeks ago, my 2 year old daughter and I stayed with some friends in an old house with no air conditioning upstairs where we had to sleep. It was sweltering, so the woman offered up a window unit that was kept in the garage for several years. It worked great and soon the room had cooled off and we were ready for bed. We woke up freezing and turned off the unit. The next night we turned on the A/C unit but not so high. Again we woke up freezing, so we turned it off. That morning we both started coughing periodically throughout the day. It seemed like a "wet cough" sounded productive, but wasn't unless much hacking went on. We went home and, it has gotten worse. I figured an expectorant would help, so we both started taking Mucinex...absolutely nothing. We did this for one week with worsening results. We both wake up coughing, gasping for air and plainly just CAN'T BREATH. I took the baby to the ER where they said her lungs sounded fine (triage nurse, er nurse and the doctor). Yes, she was fine at that time, but they acted like I was bringing her in for no reason, said she had an ear infection, gave us some amoxicillin and sent us home. I went to the dr. two times. The first time she said she thought I had bronchitis, gave me augmentin. After 6 days, it was clear that wasn't working, so I went back. She said it sounded like I had pneumonia and ordered a chest x-ray. It came back just fine, but she gave me a z-pack anyway. At day 11 we started using my mother's nebulizer with albuteral "breathing treatment" in the morning and evening. Also, we have had a humidifier going in the living room and the bedroom where we both sleep going at all times. Still no progress. Yes, the breathing treatments do produce some good coughs with sputum, but it is minimal. At day 17 I decided to change directions and stopped with the expectorant and went with suppressant (robotussin for me and Dimetapp for her and they both had exactly the same ingredients so I ditched the robotussin which tastes awful and switched to the children’s Dimetapp. This has a suppressant, antihistamine and decongestant. ) It isn't getting any better. I am scared that there was something really bad in that air conditioner and now we will have this forevermore. Baby and I are both done with antibiotics and there has been no progress and I even have an ear infection in each ear now EVEN AFTER TAKING 2 ROUNDS OF ANTIBIOTICS! I have researched our symptoms and these are the things that I came up with: Acid reflux, asthma, bronchitis, sinusitis, pneumonia, emphysema, COPD and after researching each of these it is clear that we do not have any of these. I need help, the dr.s are not looking at the whole picture. There is a missing link somewhere, please help me find it. Thank you
Sounds like a Dr. House episode. The air conditioner needs to be inspected, it seems, to determine what kind of dust/mold it contains. See a pulmonologist and explain exactly what happened. He could test you for different types of mold to determine which if any is affecting you. There are so many different types of lung diseases (histoplasmosis, valley fever, etc. ) that can cause lung problems.
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