I am 21 years old and i've had a chronic cough for 4 years. I tend to cough up lots of stringy mucus usualy white, & every once in a while after I cough a lot, there's a hint of blood in the mix. I've also had sinus infections as well as bronchitus for which the doctors perscribed meds and the sinus infection/bronchitus seemed to go away but the cough with mucus was still present.

The doctors don't really seem to know much more about it than I do. I've been tested for allergies and the results came out that I wasn't allergic to anything. I've also been tested for: tb, anemia, had my thyroid checked, my lungs x-rayed, and for a while they suspected coughing asthma so tried a number of meds for that. None of it works to the point where my cough goes away. After all that, I did some research of my own and thought I might have whooping cough. Although I don't really have a "whoop" sound in my cough it's a hard thing to judge. My search results
came up with information saying that whooping cough (also known as
bordetella pertussis) did not always consist of the classic "whoop" sound for which it is so well known for. I also found information stating that the only medicine that works for whooping cough is erythromycin (estolate form, such as ilosone) which must be administered for no less than 14 days. And that testing for it can result in a false negative for a number of reasons.
My sister also had whooping cough when she was about 2 and a half years old (which for someone so young can often be potentially fatal). My mom had to go to the doctor a number of times, and finally the doctors gave ilosone at my mother's request. Even then, it was hard for her to get a perscription for 14 days worth but she eventually did. My sister's cough did finally go away after that. And some years later, my mom found out that there had in fact been an outbreak of whooping cough at the time of my sister's case of what my mom thought to be whooping cough.

It seems to be a very rare thing when a doctor actually finds a case of whooping cough, but apparently, reciently, there had also been a couple cases of whooping cough at my sister's school and outbreaks in a couple other states. Also, one of my mom's friends had had it and her doctor actually cought it and treated her.
So, with all this new information, I went to the doctor who had treated my mom's friend for whooping cough. I also mentioned my research results to which he told me that ilosone was much to strong of a drug for most people and he really didn't think I had whooping cough from what I sounded like. He tested me for it anyway, and a couple of the other things mentioned above. The results all came out negative.
The most recient consensis (a couple doctors agree on) is that I have acid reflux, for which, i've tried a number of meds as well: protonix, nexium, zyrtek, and now aciphex (double dosage). The general idea is that when acid comes of from my stomach, it gets caught in my larynx and agitates me to where I cough.

The cough seems to be most prominent at night and when I am exposed to heat or humidity. A lot of times when I have a coughing attack, I end up throwing up as well (thus the diagnosis for acid reflux) and although the current medication seems to work pretty well for the acid reflux, it still doesn't combat the cough well enough.
I am almost frantic to find a cure for whatever this is that's wrong with me. It disrupts my sleep and therefore my life. I reciently decided to try homeopathic meds, somewhat skeptical at first, but willing to try almost anything at this point and was truely amazed at how well they actually did work. It's not a cure yet, but it's something. Not to mention, they seem to have worked better than many of the other meds i've been on in the past. I really just want to be rid of this.

If anyone has any new ideas for me, I would be extreemly grateful!


Thanks~
& you can just call me "cough-y girl" for now

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