Coughing, spitting blood with other symptoms.

[venel1]

I'm 25 years old, Male. I used to smoke for 10 years around 10 per day, and used to drink fairly heavily during my college days. I quit smoking around 1 month ago.

For several weeks now I've been feeling generally quite unwell, tired and feverish. Some times are worse than others. I have been experiencing all kinds of symptoms. Every now and again, roughly once a week, I will produce some blood either from a small cough or from clearing my throat. Usually it is just mixed in the my saliva in small specks, but on one occasion i tasted blood in my mouth and had to spit it out into a tissue. It wasn't an alarming amount, just maybe a little under a teaspoon.

I've had a serious phlegm issue going for a while too, constantly having to clear my throat, with lots of bubbly, thick white ( or perhaps pink, hard to tell ) mucus. This sometimes makes me feel a little sick, but I've never vomited any up as yet. Along with this I've been suffering with diarrhea on and off for some time too. I feel this might be due to a lack of fiber in my diet, which I've been trying to up lately.

Also which could be stress related, I have been having troubles trying to sleep. At the precise moment I'm about to fall asleep I would sometimes wake up with a start as if I forgot how to breathe for a second. This is a really scary feeling leaving me tired the next day. During the day I do sometimes get mildly breathless too.

I of course have seen my doctors on a few occasions. I have a full blood count test, throat swabs, and a chest x ray. All of which came back clear. The doctor listened to my chest with a stethoscope more than once and that also was clear. I was prescribed a one week course of Ciprofloxacin, yet I am still getting these symptoms.

Could there be some other tests I should try to get which could diagnose this problem? This is really stressful and frightening.

thanks for reading.
regards

[venel1]

Hi again,

I have been to my doctor again mentioning excessive pink and sometimes bubbly phlegm with no cough, breathlessness at rest and general ill feeling and he does agree that gastric reflux could be the cause. He also asked if I have lost any weight lately. At that time i didn't think I had so i told him i was pretty stable, but when I got home later on i weighed myself and I think i may be half a stone lighter than I was 2-3 months ago..... I haven't gone on any diets or exercise regime.

He has prescribed me lansoprazole capsules which are a proton pump inhibitor. He also suggested that I try these for a month and if they don't help he'll refer me to an ENT specialist.

I'm a little concerned that a month is a bit long. I've been taking these only for 2 days so far and they haven't helped yet of course, but if things don't improve in a week or so I don't think i can continue putting up with these symptoms.

I'm so worried about this pink phlegm continuously being produced in my throat.

If you can give me any more advice from this information, I'd really be grateful.

Thank you kindly again

[venel1]

Thank you very much for your advice guys. I will run this by my doctor and see if I can arrange a meeting with a specialist as suggested. Its really comforting to hear your opinions and has opened my eyes a little wider to what might be the problem.

Thank you again.
kind regards

[caregiver222]

Doctornee seems to have come up with the most likely scenario.

You should also avoid chocolate, which contains what are called methylxanthines, which tend to relax the lower esophageal sphincter (a muscular valve which keeps the acid in the tummy).

In addition take care not to do any "floor eating". That is munching on goodies while lying on a futon or couch while watching a ball game. The idea is to keep your esophagus vertical until the food has passed through your stomach.

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Welcome to the MedHelp forum!
A constant feeling of phlegm and blood in mouth at times can be due to gastric reflux. Either you have a lax esophageal sphincter or hiatal hernia. Treatment is a combination of drugs to reduce the acid and lifestyle changes. You will need to take a combination of medications (under medical supervision) like a proton pump inhibitor such as omeprazole,  lansoprazole or pantoprazole empty stomach in the morning and an antacid gel after meals for complete relief. Possibility of H pylori infection too should be looked into by a carbon urea breath test and a combination antibiotic tried.
Life style changes that will help include: Avoid heavy meals and eat frequent small meals. Avoid too much of caffeine, tea, smoking, fried food and drinks both alcoholic and non alcoholic fuzzy ones. Avoid heavy exercises within 4 hours of a heavy meal. Raise the head end of the bed by pillows to 30 degrees. Avoid lying down for least 2 hours after food. Maybe these tips will help you.
You should consult a gastroenterologist (a specialist who looks after the diseases of our digestive system) or a physician for this if these tips reduce your symptoms. You may need upper GI endoscopy for confirmation and to know the degree of damage.
Hope this helps. Please let me know if there is any thing else and do keep me posted. Take care!