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Suggest Treatment For Severe Coughs And Difficulty Breathing
I have had a persistent wracking cough for two seeks. I am very tired after each coughing episode and I feel like I can barely catch my breath. I have a crackling sensation in my upper chest after each episode when I breath in or out. My PCP suspects I have a really bad case of bronchitis and I had an x-ray to confirm that I did not have pneumonia.
Mon, 14 Dec 2020
Hi,
A cough for two weeks is unlikely bronchitis (bronchitis is a "chest cold" almost always caused by viruses). I would start thinking about allergies, heartburn, and maybe whooping cough (Pertussis). Allergic coughs can definitely last more than two weeks and are generally with mucus. It can make the crackling sensation as mucus shifts in your airways.
Heartburn can cause cough by irritating the airway with acid. Some people don't have typical heartburn symptoms and only a dry, chronic cough. Pertussis is a possibility if there's Whooping Cough in the community or if you have not had a recent Tdap vaccine. There are other causes of cough, but they are less likely (Wegener's Granulomatosis, COPD, CHF, etc.)
Take care. Hope I have answered your question. Let me know if I can assist you further.
Regards,
Dr. Timothy Wong, General & Family Physician
A cough for two weeks is unlikely bronchitis (bronchitis is a "chest cold" almost always caused by viruses). I would start thinking about allergies, heartburn, and maybe whooping cough (Pertussis). Allergic coughs can definitely last more than two weeks and are generally with mucus. It can make the crackling sensation as mucus shifts in your airways.
Heartburn can cause cough by irritating the airway with acid. Some people don't have typical heartburn symptoms and only a dry, chronic cough. Pertussis is a possibility if there's Whooping Cough in the community or if you have not had a recent Tdap vaccine. There are other causes of cough, but they are less likely (Wegener's Granulomatosis, COPD, CHF, etc.)
Take care. Hope I have answered your question. Let me know if I can assist you further.
Regards,
Dr. Timothy Wong, General & Family Physician
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