i suffered from a productive cough for at least 7 months, this is the 1st time i had a lung infection and my health is generally good. the cough developed while on holiday in australia. i was given several antibiotic courses which never totally resolved it. i was also never given a firm diagnosis. it began as an involuntary cough which produced thick sputum which varied between yellow and green, it progressed slowly and was not accompanied by fever. as it worsened i woke nightly from coughing, generally 3-4 times per night. the sputum from the lungs was never bloody. the cough was slightly painful, i never felt any sharp pains or rattling in my lungs. at 3 weeks i had a (clear) chest xray. after approx. 4 weeks i developed a sinus infection and my sinuses started bleeding, so i saw a doctor and was given 1 week of amoxyclav which cleared the sinus infection and slightly improved the cough, the sputum also turned white. the cough did not improve after this point though, i still was coughing up sputum regularly and i found it very hard to suppress my coughing fits if i ever tried to. when i returned to NZ i was still having violent and productive coughing fits, often set off by laughing or exercise, also at night. i visited a doctor and was given a 3 weeks of amoxycillin, this improved the sputum colour - it became clear, but i was still coughing uncontrollably during the day, most often triggered by laughing and exercise. this persisted several months until i developed an acute infection and was diagnosed with pneumonia and given 2 weeks of clarithromycin, when i visited the hospital i was told that my blood test indicated the presence of a bacterial infection. the pneumonia symptoms did not completely resolve so i was given another 2 weeks of clarithromycin which seemed to resolve the coughing to a manageable level. after this point the coughing gradually declined until it stopped completely. i have had chest x-ray since and there is no visible scarring present.