coughing

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wanderlost

New member
I am trying to type this as I neb my hypertonic saline - and I realize that I either stop breathing or breathe really fast when I type - wierd.


So my question is about coughing - how often do you do it? I wonder the correlation between coughing and health as well, as I have had decent health, but I am a cougher. I always cough first thing in the morninglike crazy and then whenever I laugh or do something that elevates my breathing - stairs, running, etc. and sometimes I just randomly cough for no reason - and I mean cough, like the silent body wracking yellow sputum coughing - but yet I have not yet been hospitalized, don't do any meds besides albuteral and advair inhalers and now the hypertonic saline, and my PFts are in the 70s - so I am wonder what's the deal?

Is there a correlation with coughing - like because i cough so much I am actually keeping the gunk from growing in my lungs or what? It seems like the coughing would cause some damage to them (or maybe that's why I have this nice barrel chested look)....so just wonder what kind of cougher you are, and do you see a relation to the status of your overall health?
 
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Scarlett81

New member
Your coughing may be not so bad. Maybe you keep moving things around by coughing, so your mucus doesn't 'settle' as much and get infected.
I do the first morning cough too. Sometimes by legs and arms shake-I cough so hard. The 'laughing' cough. Running cough.

When I switched to my new cf doc she told me that I shouldn't be so afraid of my coughs, and I should learn to love them! Seriously-she says that as long as you learn to make your cough productive-coughing is a good thing.

If I'm at home-I keep a little paper cup around the house and spit each cough into it. And I can see how much I'm bringing up through the day, color, ect.
I have trained myself to go with each cough-and get them as deep as possible to get the deep gunk out.
So let's embrace our coughing!
 
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thelizardqueen

New member
Before when I wasn't sick I would never cough. No cough period unless I had an active chest infection. Now more recently I notice that I cough on and off throughout the day - not everyday, but noticeably more then a couple of years ago. I notice that I definitly cough first thing in the morning, and I know this is from sleeping all night and having gunk in my lungs just sit, so once I'm active in the morning I cough it all up. I'll cough more if I'm around irritating scents, or if the whether is really dry. If I'm having a laughing fit, I'll top it off with some coughing. I definitly notice after sex that I cough a bit, and that's simply from all the action. I don't get out of breath or anything, but will cough some afterwards.
 
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littlemisssilly

Guest
Hi all,<br>
<br>
I would say that I'm in good shape for a 29 y old CFer and I ALWAYS
have mega coughing fits !! In the morning I have these coughing
spasms that make my face go completely red, sometimes I even vomit
in the shower because of them (it's really attractive). When I
start exercising I have coughing fits, like real spasms, I can't
describe them.<br>
<br>
My coughing episodes always clear my lungs but they're that bad (I
think) that I never stay over a friend's place (like after a night
out or something) unless I'm close to them and I know that they
won't freak at my morning coughing fits because when I have them it
like I'm choking and about to die! Also, I've given up on my gym
membership because all the body beautifuls around me would just
stare and I got really embarrassed.  <br>
<br>
My PFTs have so far, always been stable, even when I'm sick they
never fluctuate. One good thing about coughing .... killer abs! I'm
proud to wear my bikini (although I sometimes have barrel chest
issues when feeling fragile!!)
 
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Faust

New member
I'm sorry wander...I can't get past your picture in your sig. I'm a bad man <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif" border="0">
 
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anonymous

New member
I too am a huge cougher and I've never been hospitalized either. I haven't been on antibiotics since I was a kid and the only pills I take are the Creon 20's. My PFT's are in the 60-70's, but my doctor said they're probably actually higher because I don't "try" enough when I do them. I actually haven't been to the doctor in over 2 years, becuase I'm a tad lazy as well. My theory is that my cough is so strong that I can get the crap out before it has a chance to sit and build up, and that's why I'm coughing all day. Who knows! BTW, I'm a 24 year old female.
 
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wanderlost

New member
ah, let's see...

Scarlett81 - I have the "laughing" cough too - in fact, usually when I cough at school, the first things the kids say is "you sound like you're laughing!"

Lizardqueen - I don't get out of breath either - I just cough - but wierdly not after sex (maybe all those endorphins <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0"> )

littlemisssilly - I also prefer not to cough around people who don't understand - I hate all the "are you oks?" and "Ohmy gosh - have you seen a doctor?" or my personal favorite, "Need a cigarette?" I also quit going to the gym, too embarrassing.

Eoin and seandavis - I don't know how to make a blushing face icon here, but thanks guys.
 
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JazzysMom

New member
My sister tells me that I sound like a diesel engine trying to start when I cough which is exactly how our Mom sounds. Mom is a heavy smoker! <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-disgusted.gif" border="0">
 
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spicyone18

New member
I cough all the time. My big coughing fits are normally in the morning after waking up.or at night when trying to sleep. I also too can't laugh w/o it turning into a coughing fit. The most common comment I get while in public is "are you sick?, are you getting sick?" Or if they don't ask anything they just hand me a cough drop. I hate coughing its rather annoying <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif" border="0">
 
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