I tried the ph water and had her drink it because her post nasal drip was not going away and she was coughing all the time now.
I would not recommend using this water unless you know for sure your issue is reflux.
I think my mom could have contracted a pathogen, so I use 1:100 lugol's iodine to distilled water with baking soda as a nasal rinse and the cough and post nasal drip is settling down.
She used to have MRSA colonized in her nares and the only thing that made her negative to MRSA was the iodine nasal rinse.
It was proven in the literature effective against mrsa
Bactericidal activity of antiseptics against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.
The only other thing left that it could be is from the vasculitis, but she just finished her induction of Rituxan, so don't know if it is working.
My mom's post nasal drip is all the time and coughing all day long.
I tried guifensen with dextramethorphan and it stops the cough for awhile.
I stopped the imuran and will see if this helps.
She had just started the imuran 10 days ago and am wondering if this is the cause, so I called her nephrologist and am waiting for a response.
Otherwise, I may have to bring her to the ER and they will just do an xray and say she has pneumonia.
I would say it is much better to use the liquid guaifenesin WITHOUT the dextramethorphan! That stuff has a rebound effect of making the cough worse after a few days. The plain guaifenesin will loosen up the mucus and make coughs more productive, so that ultimately, there is less collecting in there to cough up, and it takes less coughing to do it. You'll just have to look a little harder to find the guaifenesin without the DM. Rite Aid and Walgreens have it in their house brand, and it is called "Tussin" or "expectorant". I think Robitussin also makes it, and a brand in Canada that has been mentioned on here.
Anne, dx'ed April 2011
I have been suffering from wheezing pretty much since I started to show signs of sinus infections, I also feels like someone covers my mouth and plugs my nose at the same time...cant take a breathe and I wheeze a fair amount. Mind you it comes and goes and can not find a common factor on when it happens. After a tons of lung tests, heart tests, ect....my lung specialist feels that due to the post nasal drip and the mucus my vocal cords are not functioning properly which would result in what I describe to her. I don't feel out of breathe when it happens just a sudden gasp for air. You can do physiotherapy for vocal cords although it sounds less than a good time. Mostly when it starts I try to sit down and calm myself until it stops. But the wheezing is a pretty constant thing.
I guess theoretically if coughs are becoming more productive by use of an expectorant, eventually they should lessen in frequency. It might take awhile. I know it has for me. I've been using the plain liquid guaifenesin for a few months and it definitely makes the stuff easier to cough up, but as long as there is still stuff getting down in there, there will still be coughing. Just lately, I've been coughing less and have not needed the expectorant nearly as much, if at all, because the coughs have started becoming more productive on their own. My only explanation is that I've come out of a flare and there is less mucus being produced, thus less collecting and thickening in my airways and causing so much coughing. As for the DM cough suppressant, I remember using that before diagnosis, when I was really coughing a lot, and after dx when it got really bad at times. It definitely calmed the coughing, but after a few days it just seemed to make it worse, especially if I took it several times a day. Then I read about the rebound effect online, and noticed that the product packaging said only to take it for a few days, and not continuously. I guess it is intended more for colds or bronchitis which are temporary and not so much for chronic conditions. I hope your mom finds some relief from the coughing. Another thing that might help open things up and allow better mucus expulsion would be to inhale steam from a bowl of hot water, towel over head, not too hot, and for me it is pleasant to add some peppermint leaves or a peppermint teabag. I think plain water with nothig added might be harsh, and salt might also be something to add to take the edge off, or other herbs such as eucalyptus, rosemary, whatever.
Anne, dx'ed April 2011
Hi Anne,
I do have a personal steamer that I use himalayan sea salt or herbs in and I might try it.
She seems to be getting too anemic, so everything is bothering her badly.
I may have to bring her in for a transfusion again.
Do u know of any real clues to determine if someone is very anemic?
Nice to hear from you again, cutehair. I had a lot of trouble with my vocal chords for some time before I was diagnosed, with mucus collecting on them, I guess, and my breathing sounded like asthma even though I didn't really feel short of breath. My voice sounded terrible during that time, too. Around that time I had an allergy test which showed I was quite allergic to lots of things such as pollens and molds. I was on the shots for about a year and half, I guess, and stopped when I was dx'ed. I did get better with the shots, and at the same time, I was having lots of sinus infections and getting treated with antibiotics and prednisone. Things kind of stabilized for awhile and then my lungs got really bad and I was eventually dx'ed and treated for WG. It seems like I have the worst WG symptoms around the time of seasonal allergies and tend to have flares at that time. I don't know if there is any connection.
Anne, dx'ed April 2011
The steamer sounds good. I have one, too, but the resevoir is a little small and I find the bowl and towel method to be more satisfactory. Yours might be a better design. I with i could answer your question about anemia, but I don't know much about it. It doesn't seem to be a problem that I have.
Anne, dx'ed April 2011
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