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Been Sick for Days, Cough Wont Go Away

Hi moms. It's not my son who is sick, it's me! I had a low grade fever from Sat. afternoon until last night at about 5pm. I have this COUGH that will not go away. I can't sleep. Last night I was coughing until about 2:30am and slept until 6:30 when my son came into my room. It wont go away!! I have tried nice warm showers, Nyquil, cough suppresents, vaporizer, cough drops, tea with honey...nothing works! If I am standing up and walking around it's not taht bad, but I can't exactly stand and sleep. As soon as I lay down the dry incessant cough starts again. It is not producing anything (phlegm) although my stomache muscles are KILLING me from all the coughing.
What can I do??? Please help, I desperately need some sleep!!

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What can I do next?

So What Happened?™

Well, I don't know what happened, but I have been getting all sorts of responses these past couple of days, and I wrote this about 3 weeks ago!!
I did go and get an X- Ray and it came back that half of my left lung was infected, bacterial. So, the medication did work, and then I went back last week for another X-ray to make sure that the infection was gone. It was.
I also learned that a 102-103 temperature is NOT low grade. Oops. That's what I had for 5 days before going to the doctor. Isn't it funny how much better we take care of our children than we do of ourselves.
Thanks everyone for the advice!

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Unfortunately there is a nasty virus going around. I had it from Thanksgiving until just a week ago. Exact same symptoms. I finally bit the bullet and went to the Dr.
It had become a viral upper respiratory infection, with brochitis by then. He had to prescribe antibiotics, cough syrup with codein, as well as tylenol 3 (so I could sleep). I wasted a lot of money for over the counter meds, and I too, drank tons of tea with honey. Please go to the Dr. NOW, before it develops into something worse. I was told by the emergency room physician that this virus going around, has been going into pneumonia. You really need to be seen by a doctor.

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They say it is the silent killer, thank goodness, you went to the doc and got meds, now, try to take it easy.

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I'm using Thera Flu at night, works great. Also, get some Olive Leaf drops at the nat. food store. If you can see through the dropper, it isn't concentrated enough, so I trippled it and it changed me in one day.

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If I understand correctly, you've had this cold for 4 days. Colds with a lingering couch are common. In fact it's common to have a cold for a week or two and a cough for longer.

My doctors, over the years, have told me that colds are a virus. They can't treat the cold but they can treat the cough. Your doctor may be able to prescribe a more effective cough suppresant without you actually going in to see him/her. You can also ask the pharmacist what he/she would recommend. For me OTC products work as well as prescribed ones.

If you have a sore throat with white spots for an extended period of time you may need to see the doctor. Often those infectins are also a virus. But you could have a bacteria infection.

Here is how I treat a cold and cough. I add pillows to the bed and sleep in a more upright position. I keep a glass of water and cough drops on my bedside table. When I first wake up coughing I reach for one or the other or both. Usually my cough subsides, enough, within a few minutes that I can get back to sleep. I don't turn on the light or even sit up when I take just a cough drop. I also keep a humidifier running in my room.

Sometimes I take a Night time cold medication because it has an anti-histamine that will help me sleep. I have also just taken Benedryl which is an antihistamine with no other medications.

I've found that if I don't try to stop the cough within the first couple of minutes it is harder to stop it. That's the reason for the bedside water and cough drops.

There is an ingredient in some cough syrups and drops that is formulated to actually be a cough suppresent. I don't have any cold medication around. Wow! That means I haven't had a cold for quite awile. I don't remember it's name but I think it starts with dex.....You can ask the pharmacist or look it up in the Internet. The products with this drug work much better at treating the cough. I think the cough drop that I have used when the regular ones didn't work is named STOP. The last time I bought it it was packaged in a tube similar in size to a roll of Rolaids and it had a red "stop" sign on it.

Info for the future.
Perhaps the reason I've not had colds is that I've began being sure to get lots of Vitamin C. I use a product that is quite similar to Airborne but costs much less. It's named Emergen-C. I get it at Fred Meyers in the health food section. It comes in a box that contains 36 packets. The ingredients are 1000 mg of Vitamin C along with other vitamins and minerals. It's a flavored powder to mix with water. I use it instead of a multi-vit. I dislike swallowing pills and this stuff tastes good.

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Hi L.,

I too caught that nasty virus with the cough but I am a holistic person and believe that your body is perfectly capable of handling viruses, bacterial infection, fungal infections, etc, pretty much anything we come across, there is a a holistic and naturopathic treatment for that doesn't involved drugs, cold medicines, doctor's visits. That being said, and you know where I am coming from, I have some great natural treatments that work sooo much better than any medication you can use, over the counter OR prescription.

Have you heard of a netti pot? They are basically a small teapot with the spout shaped so it fits into your nostril. Before I got my netti pot, I made something that would work because I was sick as a dog and didn't feel like looking around town to find one. I finally did find one at bed bath and beyond and it is a lot easier to use, but here is what I did in leu of it until I found it. If you have a small teapot, that will work if you take a baby bottle nipple and cut the tip off so there is a hold big enough for water to flow out of it. Just fit the nipple over the spout of the little teapot. If you don't have a teapot, a plastic water bottle will work the same way. You have to cut a small hole near the top of it for air flow, so the water will flow smoothly, but do the same with the bottle nipple, cut the tip off of it and fit it over the top of the water bottle.

Basically what you do is warm 2 cups of filtered water and add a rounded teaspoon of a good quality sea salt. Table salt is actually a chemical that they make chemically and not good for you to put into your body at all. But for treating your sinuses, you want a good quality sea salt, there are several varieties available at your grocery store. I prefer the kind without the visible minerals for flushing your sinuses, otherwise you have to filter those out with a cheese cloth. The water should be body temperature. so feels warm to the touch, but not hot. Dissolve the salt by stirring and if you really want to knock down a bug, take a slice of garlic about the size of a pencil eraser, crush and wrap in a small piece of cheese cloth double thickness to keep any small pieces from getting into the water, you just want the oil. stir the garlic around in your salt water and then squeeze out the excess water and the garlic oil, do this several times until no more oil is coming out of the garlic. Your container should hold about a cup of water so pour in half of your garlic/salt water. Then stand over your sink, tip your head to the side and remember to breath thru your mouth. Insert the pot or nipple into the top nostril and the saline will run through your sinuses, and if your head is upright enough, across your throat and tonsils, and out the bottom nostril. Have a paper towel or handkerchief handy, and when the water stops flowing and your container is empty, blow out your nose gently, without closing either nostril. Then switch sides and do the same with the other side. This method knocked down a full blown sinus infection, strep throat, common cold/flu in just a few days. I did it twice a day, but you can do it more often if you like. There are no dangerous side effects like there are with EVERY medication, OTC or not, there is always a side effect. Most are hard on you kidneys and livers, make your sickness last longer than it normally would, and knock down a fever that is FIGHTING your virus. A fever is a GOOD thing, it means your body is working the way it should.

Using my netti pot instantly soothed my sore throat so my cough subsided as well and I was able to sleep all night. By morning I couldn't wait to use my netti pot again for relief again, and it would knock it down for most of the day. You can use it as often as you like!!! The garlic does sting a little bit if you get too much in there. Just reduce the amount you use. but garlic is nature's magic vegetable and is wonderful for killing bacteria, viruses, funguses, all of those nasty things, and no side effects, no drowsiness, nothing but a little garlic smell. :) I flushed my sinuses twice a day for 4 or 5 days until all my symptoms were gone, it didn't take long. No medication can even compare to that. Make sure you stay hydrated, hot herbal tea feels wonderful when you are sick. Avoid caffeine, alcohol, and really salty foods as all of those things dehydrate you and will make your cough/sore throat worse. Just drink tea and water, avoid as much sugar as you can, and certainly avoid all imitation sugars as they are just poison in the form of health food. Dairy products make you more phlegmy and who needs that when they are sick right? Chicken soups is wonderful as well believe it or not, very soothing and hydrating.

If you want to see someone use a netti pot before trying it yourself, go online and type in "how to use a netti pot" and you can see a demonstration. I hope you feel better soon, best wishes.

T.

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Hi L.,
I don't have time to read your other responses, so sorry if I'm repeating. Get to a doctor now. Ask for a chest x-ray. A fever coupled with severe cough is often indicative (although not always) of pneumonia. Please don't mess with it. Good Luck and feel better.

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Cool mist humidifier. Coughs can last for weeks.

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Unfortunately there is a nasty virus going around. I had it from Thanksgiving until just a week ago. Exact same symptoms. I finally bit the bullet and went to the Dr.
It had become a viral upper respiratory infection, with brochitis by then. He had to prescribe antibiotics, cough syrup with codein, as well as tylenol 3 (so I could sleep). I wasted a lot of money for over the counter meds, and I too, drank tons of tea with honey. Please go to the Dr. NOW, before it develops into something worse. I was told by the emergency room physician that this virus going around, has been going into pneumonia. You really need to be seen by a doctor.

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This may seem weird, but I think I read this solution on Mamasource and it works for my 7 yr old grandson, but haven't tried it myself. Rub some Vicks or Mentholatum on the soles of your feet and then put on socks. It is absorbed thru the skin into your system. I've heard others swear by it, and I'll try it if I get into a similar situation.

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L.,

Ive been there had pnemonia this past month too.... I want to question your Dr put you on Antibiotics, did he do a culture of what you are coughing up... usually if theres a green or yellow twinge to your phlem/sputum then antibiotics MIGHT be warrented, since that is more bacterial infection (also I believe contagious too) but if its clear thats more viral and you should not take antibiotic... go on webmd or mayoclinic.com and do alittle research then follow up... Dr's are very quick to prescribe antiobiotics when sometimes they really are not necessary, just some simple elixer (decongestant) bed rest and drinking hot liquids will suffice.

hope you feel better soon,

B.

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i would see your doctor. perhaps s/he can prescribe you codeine cough syrup or tessalon perls to help silence your cough so you can sleep. also, s/he should check to make sure it's not something more serious. if it's bronchitis there's little s/he can do since the majority of the time it's a viral issue and treating it with antibiotics can actually help create a superbug, rather than prevent you from getting pneumonia. all they can do is treat your cough.
good luck!

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