No, I'm not dying...thanks for asking.

[repsac]

I got something of a nice giggle out of this one that happened today.

Little bit of a background here: I have a cough. It's a weird thing that my doctors traced to me being stupid. I was cleaning with ammonia and inhaled too much of the fumes. Now, when I talk too much or get excited, I start coughing. It's kinda like asthma, but the inhalers don't do much. Typically I just need to shut up or calm down and it goes away. Also, sometimes it just comes and goes. Not much I can do about it, and I've kinda gotten used to it.


So, onto the sighting.


I was in a new Big Lots that opened up near my city, doing some shopping when I started coughing at the end of this one aisle. I'm not sure what started it, but I'd been exerting myself trying to dig through a bin of movies and think that may have started it. Either way, here I am deep into this bin and I start to cough. First once, then twice, then it's three or four coughs every now and then. As I'm doing this, I pull out a small throat sweet (which seems to help) and pop it in my mouth. It's about that time that this older guy looks at me and says something like:

"Are you dying?"

Blinking, I look to him and shake my head, saying softly "Nah, just something I can't control. Kinda like asthma."

The man looks at me for this long moment and then nods sagely.

"I'm sorry. So they giving you chemo for that?"

Ruh ro raggy...

I think he was a really nice guy, but I swear I think he never heard of Asthma before :P

[RetailWorkhorse]

Aw, hell, that made ME giggle.

Mayhaps the guy had heard that cough before from a cancer patient and that sticks in his mind? *Shrugs* Iono.

[LibraryLady]

Ah Repsac, my sympathies. You re a victim of THE THING (organ sting, please)

It's quite common around here and has been so for some years. Local doctors call it THE THING.

It comes on with no warning. You're feeling fine one moment and the next you sound like you're coughing your lungs out. Once the spasm is over you feel perfectly fine again. You have no fever, no congestion, no symptoms of anything.

In one of the first bouts I had with THE THING, we were having dinner with friends. When I began coughing, one of our dining partners started giving my the Heimlich and was on the verge of calling in the EMT's. There are some advantages to dining with a police officer. When I recovered and continued my Dinner in a perfectly cheerful mood. He didn't believe me when I said I felt fine.

My Husband didn't believe me until he got THE THING. Then he learned how weird it is.

[Anakah]

I'm trying to get over the worlds nastiest flu and I have one of those coughs that sounds like I am coughing up some internal organs. Quite loudly and nasty. The thing lol I hate coughing so hard that I end up gagging.

[repsac]

You'd think after...oh six months I'd be over this thing.

[Ree]

Not if you actually damaged your lungs by mixing cleaners and breathing in the ammonia vapours, and, if you have been left with a recurring cough, it sounds like there was some residual damage or scar tissue.

You're lucky all you have is a cough.
People have died or even ended up on oxygen and lost their lungs from that type of thing.

[blas]

The same thing happened to me when I didn't RTFM and fumigated my entire apartment with bug killing spray. Apparently you're supposed to open all your doors and windows and you know, not be inside for a while.

[Geek King]

Indeed. We could be teasing you with lyrics from Mr. Frump in the Iron Lung.

[Lehk]

Not if you actually damaged your lungs by mixing cleaners and breathing in the ammonia vapours, and, if you have been left with a recurring cough, it sounds like there was some residual damage or scar tissue.

You're lucky all you have is a cough.
People have died or even ended up on oxygen and lost their lungs from that type of thing.

if it is the mix of chemicals i think it was, the damage is a very mild form of what WWI soldiers got from chlorine gas attacks.

I say very mild because the less mild form is you die or get horribly maimed.

[wagegoth]

Repsac, I wish you the best.

I've bitched before about the crap I went through when the carpet cleaners at work mixed three different chemicals they shouldn't have. I was there while they were cleaning. I coughed sporadically, then continually. Had to get breathing treatments, an inhaler, then a medicine called Tessalon, IIRC. Then I developed bronchitis because of the irritation and weakening of my system. Thankfully, it was apparently cleared up and healed within a week.

Have you tried Delsym? It's usually very good for a dry cough. Also, my kids used to get a prescription, unfortunately, I can't remember the name, that was designed for dry, hollow coughing. It's essentially a muscle relaxant/antitussive that targets the airways. If I can remember it, I'll get the name for you. I was given it one time for my use and it worked extremely well for me too.

[repsac]

I have to take Albuterol (sp I know) treatments four times a day until it clears

[wagegoth]

I have to take Albuterol (sp I know) treatments four times a day until it clears

I think the oral medication was albuterol. It comes as a liquid but doesn't work as quickly as the inhalers, but seems to last longer.