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jrc1963 posted 2/22/2014 14:37 PM

I have been stuck with a cough for I guess about two weeks now.

Just the most annoying tickle in my throat and a cough... I have had a very minor elevation in temperature... like 99.5 was the highest.

I haven't gone to the Drs. Wondering if I should...

Been living on zyertec, sudefed and motrin along with hot tea and cough drops... but this is getting OLD!!!

Should I go see a Dr?

tushnurse posted 2/22/2014 17:10 PM

Try adding in honey and putting a vaporizer in your room and doing a Neti-pot a few times a day. Try to cut back on the degongestants. If you aren't better in 48 hours of these changes then yah I would see a dr. A lot of people have reactive airways once they get pissed off it takes a bit to calm them down. If you are home try boiling water all day to add moisture you can throw in some cinnamon sticks or lavender seeds to make Ot smell nice.

jrc1963 posted 2/22/2014 17:53 PM

I have been putting honey in the tea...

I don't, as yet, have a neti-pot but I do have to go to Walgreens tomorrow.... so putting that on the list.

I don't know if vaporizer is necessary... I live in Florida and it's been raining every day and the humidity is 87% right now and we haven't had the heat running for weeks... hasn't been cold enough. Plus I don't own one.

I guess what's most bothersome is the copious amounts of post-nasal drip... not to be gross but it literally feels like a river of crap running down the back of my throat.

That's kinda why I've been hitting the decongests/antihistamines hard... to stem the tide.

solus sto posted 2/22/2014 18:07 PM

I'm pretty laissez-faire about medical stuff--my kids' doctor knew that if I took them in, they were SICK. No run-to-the-doctor neurosis here.

And yes, I say it's time for the doctor. Two weeks with a low-grade fever indicates a likely nagging bacterial infection requiring antibiotics.

jrc1963 posted 2/22/2014 18:12 PM

Solus... I'm like you... neither me nor the kid sees the Dr much beyond yearly physicals.

It takes a lot to get me to go.... I'm usually pretty healthy, rarely ever get anything too serious cold/flu wise.

sad12008 posted 2/22/2014 18:52 PM

Is it interfering with your sleep, jrc? If it isn't, and you're getting decent sleep, I'd ride it out a little longer. If it's screwing with your sleep, I'd be wondering if I had bronchitis, and go in search of codeine cough syrup so I could rest and recover.

Hope whatever you wind up doing, you feel better very soon!

jrc1963 posted 2/22/2014 19:05 PM

Actually I am sleeping well... except for some weird dreams!

purplejacket4 posted 2/22/2014 19:50 PM

Unless you have a fever over 101 or your coughing up pus you don't need to be seen. Right now 50% of the patients I see did NOT need to come in.

Yes, colds suck. And it's normal to have cough and/or drainage for a couple of weeks afterwords. I tell my patients "your body won the war but the battlefield looks like crap."
I tell people to take mucinex twice a day. Tylenol as needed, saline nasal spray or netipots, humidifier and throat drops. Honey for a cough. Anything DM is just overpriced and not that useful.

Yesterday I saw 10 people with URI symptoms. I gave ONE person antibiotics.

If you go in when you don't need to some doctors feel obligated to give antibiotics even though you don't need them.

jrc1963 posted 2/22/2014 20:18 PM

Thanks Dr. PJ... I was kinda hoping you'd see this.

I have mucinex in the house even... I'll switch to that. Sudefed keeps me awake at night so I won't take that at night.

I'm very anti-antibiotics usually because I think they're over used... so I'm glad to know you really don't think I need it.

InnerLight posted 2/23/2014 23:23 PM

I would go see an acupuncturist and get some Chinese herbs. Traditional Chinese Medicine is really effective at this kind of stuff and it will turn things around faster without antibiotics.

Livingalie2014 posted 2/24/2014 01:33 AM

Definitely, it's been two weeks. I've waited before and suffered with a never ending cough for a month. Don't wait when you can be cured!

tushnurse posted 2/24/2014 12:47 PM

slight t/j
PJ - I think you and I would work really well together.

What are your thoughts on an inhaler for the lingering cough/reactive airway stuff? How effective have you seen it be when used?

Thanks for your input....

Jrazz posted 2/24/2014 12:50 PM

PJ - I think you and I would work really well together.

Um, I think that you already DO! I certainly pay attention to the threads that the two of you "work" on.

end t/j

Jrc - I usually want to err on the side of caution and go to the doc, but as one of a gazillion people out here who had a cough for a MONTH already this year, you might just have the annoying junk that we all had to marathon through.

(((jrc)))