Spasm in Chest - Tickle Urge to Cough

[Daisylouu]

I've been sick for a week.  Started with a dry cough, hives, then progressed to productive cough, swollen glands, earache, sore throat, stuffy head, and low-grade fever.  I have had terrible coughing spells.

What I have now is a funny feeling, like a quiver or tickle in my chest off and on every few minutes.  Almost like an urge to cough without the cough.

When falling asleep, as soon as I'm about to drift off, I am jolted awake by a spasm that causes me to expel a short burst of air along with a grunt.  This goes on and on every minute or so and I am unable to fall asleep.

I saw my doctor who brushed it off saying he never heard of this and gave me script for Tessalon and Bactrim.  But I am UNABLE TO SLEEP every time I drift off I grunt myself awake and even when awake the tremble that comes off an on every few minutes makes me dry cough.

I am a 44 year old female and I have taken Inderal for 20 years.

[Daisylouu]

I haven't slept for 3 days now.  The cold symptoms are much better, but I am still having spasms, several per minute, that wake me as I drift off to sleep.  I feel like it comes from my trachea/bronchial tubes.  It's an involuntary quick grunt.   I feel it while awake also, kind of a tickle that would incite me to cough.  Very brief but VERY frequent.  

[David Tinkelman, M.D.]

Your condition warrants further investigation to include, at a minimum, a complete blood count (CBC), a throat culture and a chest X-ray, especially if you are also having fever and/or chills.  The cough could be secondary to excess mucous associated with the sore throat, ear infection and possible sinus infection, but in that case the cough would be less likely to be dry.  All of what you describe could be secondary to a strep throat and that would be unlikely to respond to Bactrim.

Basically, this would be a good time for your illness to be re-evaluated, either by your doctor or, if you have been “put-off” by your doctor’s “brushing it off”., by another doctor.

Good luck