Riba Cough sx

[cba51]

Has anybody out there experienced something similar to the following:

I am in week 29 of 48. From very early on I have experienced a chronic cough that comes on in late afternoon or early evening. It can reoccur later at night as well.

It usually continues for 30 to 40 minutes until I dispel all the flem that seems to be originating in the upper lungs. The continue hacking can become quite painful to the point of producing headaches, sore ribs, muscles, etc. from the strain.

I have been prescribed antibiotics on 2 occassions. By the time I have takenall of  the anti bx.
The cough usually improves to the point that it much less frequent and basically non productive IE no mucous buildup

Slowly over time the cough seems to return to  it's previous intensity and discomfort level.

I don't want to become anti bx dependent, but  I dread the thought of 19 more weeks of daily hacking and the associated discomfort.

BTW I have had 2 chest Xrays each time the cough progressed to where it is now. Both negative.

I am on the verge of asking my doctor for another round of meds.

Is this just the  Riba Cough that I will just have to endure or is it an upper respitory deal that I should treat w/ anti bx each time it becomes intolerable.??

Thanks for any insight.
Big Al

[cba51]

All-

Thanks for sharing your experiences. After reading all the posts I now realize my anemia is also very much a contributing factor.

I will collectively try to answer all in this email.

Getterdone: Thanks I am holding up. I wrote down all my sides a couple of days ago and ranked them in order of PIA (pain in the a**)Index .I have  my fair share of sides from anemia to rash/itch, cough, food tastes lousy, etc.  This is a partial list but no need to risk frightening away a newbie from doing treatment. Symptoms are manageable given the fact that this may be the best shot at beating this illness.

Today I realized I only have 4 .5 mos. of tx so there is light at the end of the tunnel which makes makes it doable.  

merlino:
I have been battling anemia since around week 12;  also low  ANC.
I am currently 9.8HGB and .9 ANC  I dipped into the high 8's and they dose reduced me from 1200 riba to 600, where I remain

NY Girl: I have both of the coughs at different times through out the day.

Florida Mouse:
So sorry to hear of your relapse. Are you thinking of retreating?
I'll give the hard candy a try

Best to all and thanks again.

Big Al

[wyntre9]

I had the cough for the first 3 or 4 months of TX.

With me, the trigger point seemed to be talking.  i couldn't hold more than a 2 minute conversation before the drip and hacking would start.

Since I don't talk to anyone much anymore it's gotten better.

wyntre

ps - weird but true!

[hondapatches]

Yep, I got the cough also. Got it as soon as I started tx. It's just like yours in the evening and at night. I have taken a z-pac and the Dr. gave me some tussonex. I'm trying no to take that cause it's so addicting, but it really helps.
Live, Love, Laugh
HondaPatches

[FloridaMouse]

I also had the Riba Cough.  It was the very first side that I experienced and as one of the other posters indicated, it's more of friggin pain than anything else.  I went through the chest x-ray dealy, everything was fine.  Went on an inhaler, only worked for a few minutes.  Make sure you keep your doctor updated on this cough just in case of infection.   In the mean time, try hard candies.  Believe it or not they worked better for me than the inhaler.

Mouse
Genotype 1a, Stage 3, Grade 3
finished 48 wks of tx on 4/13/07
Relapsed 6 mos. post tx.

[nygirl7]

I noticed that there are a few different treatment coughs - one being the one you describe and the other being the anemia cough where there is nothing to come up but you just can't not cough.

I had the dry cough until my hemo went up like Merlino.  Once my hemo went over 10 the cough started to go away completely. In the 9s though it was HORRIBLE.

[debnevada]

I have it as well. I don't use inhalers, etc. but have been on a bunch of rounds of antibiotics.
It seems, for me, to be related to riba.
it is a nonproductive cough, in other words, it doesn't bring up very much.  

i use a honeywell quietcare humidifier near my bed which helps quiet a bit.
it is very dry here in vegas and that helps.

[chevyelcam79]

I also have had a cough since shortly after starting tx.  Shot 17/24 tomorrow night.  Thought at first it was just the "riba cough" ...  got worse and worse.  Albuterol didnt do anything anymore. Sometimes I would cough so hard I would see those funny white spots, sore abdomen and chest and throat and everything.  Went to PCP, chest xray neg.  She put me on antibiotic and also gave me a script for Advair inhaler to use 2X/day.  Seems to help!  Still get coughing uslually in the morning and late afternoon/evening.  Yeah, cough and cough and only a little comes out!  YUCK!!!  Still there but much better than before!  I'm feeling ya!

Shari

[merlino]

Hi - i just finished 48 weeks last Friday. I battled anemia throughout the entire tx. Once my HGB dropped to 10 the cough started. At one point it was in the 8's and I coughed constantly. Drove me crazy. How are your #[s?

[welderman]

I'm at 26 of 48 have had a small cough in pm not bad wasn't there until treatment worse if I did a lot of welding that day.


Lynn

[geterdone]

One thing I’ve come to realize after being on these meds for a while is that the body is only as strong as its weakest link and it seems to me  they show themselves on occasions while on the meds, if that makes any sense.

jasper

[geterdone]

I have had the cough you described starting after the first month of tx’ing and is still with me today. It’s more a pain in the butt than anything else. I have had two bouts with bronchitis and am just getting over the second. I do smoke, (duh!) but not as much anymore because of the bronchitis’s, heck I just might quit all together. The hard hacking usually comes first thing in the am which is in part due to breathing through mouth during the night and at times is persistent during the day. When it does becomes too unbearable I use albuteral which seems to help break up the phlegm and gets thing rolling. Do I know why this is happening on these meds, nope, didn’t have this problem before tx. Just the way life is at the present moment. Hang in there, past the half way point if doing 48 and just a bit longer if extended.

Al, you’re a week a head of me, other than the cough how are you holding up on the meds?

jasper