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Anyone here been diagonosed with it? A medical professional with experience with this disease?
If so, can you tell me your experience with it? I've been doing research, because all the tests on my chronic cough come back normal. And cough variant asthma might fit the bill for my experiences.
Posts: 4112 | Registered: May 2001
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posted
My diagnosis is just "asthma", but it does involve a lot of coughing. When it's mostly, but not quite, under control the only symptom is (grossness warning)hacking up phleghm.
Sounds like something to at least ask your doctor to consider.
Posts: 9866 | Registered: Apr 2002
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I had some kind of cough variant asthma, but I've mostly gotten over it by now. It was basically a chronic cough, and it would flare up when I would excercise, and it was worst when I was doing water related activities. I took a preventative inhaler for a while, and had another one for emergencies. After a while, they took me off the regular inhaler, but i still keep the emergency one around. I don't have the chronic cough anymore, but my asthma shows up sometimes in the form of hyperventilating now.
edited to add: How old are you? My asthma showed up in my early teen years. I was told that happens a lot, and that people often "grow out of it".
Posts: 4174 | Registered: Sep 2003
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I was just told that a chronic cough was part of having asthma. I've tried everything in the world to get rid of it, and am now taking allergy shots, but they don't seem to help either. Allegra, though, tends to do the trick.
Posts: 880 | Registered: Nov 2005
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Paul, when my mom was diagnosed with it (about 10 years ago), she was told that 10% of asthma sufferers cough rather than wheeze. My mom has a very distinct cough -- we call it the family curse. It is passed down mother to daughter, and it does make it easier to find her when we're out somewhere . . . (She used to find her mom the same way, and now people can use my cough as a beacon as well.)
A few years later, they decided it wasn't asthma after all (primarily because she doesn't respond to many asthma drugs), but a related respiratory problem. The various medications (mostly inhaled) she is on help somewhat. Drinking a LOT of water, carrying cough drops, and avoiding perfumes and other allergens help her more.
Mine has not yet progressed to the stage where I cough all year; just some of the year (like this month ).
See an ENT (or allergist).
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But don't assume it's asthma/allergies - my dad kept telling me a story about his uncle, who actually had something stuck in his throat, or something.
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I imagine checking for something like that would have been included in the chronic cough testing . . .
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Actually, my ENT guy didn't do any testing at all. I had been on allergy shots for over a year (and coping with this problem and 4 different docs for about 4 years) before I had my first scan/x-ray thing. It annoys the heck out of my wife, so I've tried about everything. Now when she's getting annoyed she just hands me one of her allegra. And she sleeps with ear plugs.
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My asthma tends to manifest as a cough rather than wheezing. Singular and a pulmocort inhaler work great for me. The combination also helps keep the chronic bronchitis at bay.
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I have that. So far I have just used Albuterol as needed, but it's kicked up a few notches and actually have an app't today to see if I need more.
Posts: 2711 | Registered: Mar 2004
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Singular and Advair didn't do much for me. They also tried to treat it like a sinus infection, and that didn't work either. It's kind of interesting to see what has worked for other people, though.
Going over the posts, I've had asthma since I was about 13, but the cough didn't develop until about 25 or 26. Did anyone else grow into it?
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smitty, my "family curse" definitely worsens with age. My not-quite-twelve-year-old daughter is just starting to get significant coughing in the winter (as opposed to the allergy symptoms she has had since she was little). My mom's (she's in her late 50s) symptoms are pretty severe, even WITH the various medications she takes. And I have noticed a big difference in my symptoms and sensitivity in just the last five years.
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I started having bad coughs regularly when I was about 12. My doctors always told me I just had a cough, and they typically went away after a few weeks. I was ridiculously active in high school, earning nine varsity letters, 8 of them in track and field as a sprinter, so asthma never crossed anyones mind. When I was 20, I switched to drinking primarily water, rather then juices, and my coughs stopped showing up for 5 years... until this winter. I've been short of breath, and this cough has stuck around for almost 2 months now, and all the tests on it came back negative, so I started doing some research, and... well, either I just have a cough, or cough variant asthma.
Posts: 4112 | Registered: May 2001
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Or GERD, or post nasal drip or ... many other things.
Oh, and you aren't on any medications for blood pressure or kidney problems, right? The class of drugs called ACE inhibitors can cause a dry cough. That's lisinopril, quinapril, etc.
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quote:Originally posted by smitty: Going over the posts, I've had asthma since I was about 13, but the cough didn't develop until about 25 or 26. Did anyone else grow into it?
I had problems being short of breath starting when I was around twelve, mostly exercise related (and I was otherwise in shape, very strong, and not overweight then) but didn't have a full-blown asthma attack (with actual diagnosis) until I was, um, 32 or thereabouts. I think what I had earlier was asthma, but I have no confirmation of it.
Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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I was diagnosed with activity induced asthma at a young age, but it rarely acts up. I never wheeze or cough anyway, but my chest gets really constricted sometimes and I feel like I'm having a heart attack. It's less intrusive than a cough or wheeze, but frequent chest pains hurt like a mother. Nothing really works to fix it, I have an inhaler but never have it with me, so until one of these days when I actually remember to tell my doctor, I'll just live with it.
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(She used to find her mom the same way, and now people can use my cough as a beacon as well.)![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
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