anyone here had the "hacking crud" of late?

[dixiegrrrrl]

Despite my dedicated hermit like isolation, I have, for the first time in over 15 years, gotten ....something.
Actually, Mr. Dixie got it first, when he had to make a trip to Pensacola and mingled with people.
I should have never let him back in the door.

It feels like a cold, but without sneezing....LOTS of coughing, much congestion, to the point I have lost my voice and my ribs are killing me. NO energy at all.

Musinex type decongestant and aspirin and lots of liquids ( no problem, I have no appetitie) is what I am taking.

Anyone else had this bug? Or know what it is? Anything worked for you?

[Berlum]

1. My Mom has it now - just as you describe

hacking and shaking and general misery. She's 91, so we were worried at first -- but she has resolutely declared: "I am not dying. Not from this. No way. I'll be back full strength next week, so watch out world."

Here's some cheer-up flowers for you, Dix:

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. Thank you, Berlum.

Pls keep on eye on your Mom's congestion...I was concerned Mr. Dixie had pneumonia at one point...


the flowers are lovely, I put them in a nice vase....

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. I've had something like that since early February.

Laryngitis lasting a month, coughing until my ribs hurt, runny nose, lethargy, no appetite, can't taste anything - I don't know what the hell this is. I've been to the doctor four times, got prescriptions for codeine cough syrup, steroids, cough suppressants, antibiotics, have taken mucinex, sudafed, aspirin, Nyquil, you name it (not all at once) and nothing seems to make much of a dent in it. It finally seems to be improving - I can talk now, though still froggily, and the cough is more or less under control at last, but this thing is a beast. It was diagnosed as severe bronchitis at one point (antibiotics cleared up the worst of the crud I was coughing up), but all they can tell me is that it's probably some kind of virus and it will eventually go away on its own. Great. I've never had a "cold" this bad before. Good luck with yours.

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. Virus? hmmmm

Mr. Dixie and his doc felt he perhaps had a sinus infection, so he was given anti-biotics,
and after 2 days he said he felt improved. Poor guy was getting NO sleep for 3 nights, from coughing.

My symptoms showed up after he had been to doc, so that would have been a 7 day incubation period for me...
hmmm.......*eyeing the extra bottle of antibiotics in the cupboard*.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. Antibiotics don't work with viruses. He probably had a bacterial infection.

I seem to have had both, since the antibiotic (azithromycin) cleared up the worst of the bronchitis, but the other crap has continued.

[littlemissmartypants]

3. Awwwwww...

I hope you get lots of loving care and find somehting that helps. I would boil some water with a little vinegar in it and breathe in the steam with a towel over my head.

Get well soon.

Love, Peace and Shelter. lmsp

[tularetom]

7. Ms T and I both got it just after New Year's

I got over it in about a month and I've lost the cough and the aches but I still have an occasional sore throat and sinus drainage.

She's still coughing and complaining about congestion.

We decided against going to the doctor after talking to our granddaughter who took her little girl in because the child had it too. She said the waiting room sounded like a TB ward full of people sneezing coughing and hacking and you would probably catch it if you didn't already have it.

Sure enough she got it about a week later. The child managed to avoid it however.

[dixiegrrrrl]

8. A month????

Yikes!

I must say that the Musinex has made an enormous difference in handling this...." thing".
thankfully we are retired and can take the time go rest and to get over it.
I pity anyone who has to handle work/school/family duties on top of this bug.

[Warpy]

9. I had something or other in November

but it was obviously a close relative of something I've had before, since it stayed relatively mild. I hacked up glop that was either crystal clear or white (showing no bacterial growth) for about 2 weeks and then it was gone. My temperature never went over 102F, and for me, that hardly qualifies as being sick, at all.

It's time to go to the doctor if the stuff you're coughing up is either yellow or green. That means there's a bacterial infection going on in addition to the virus (if you still have it), and bacterial infections are very treatable.

[dixiegrrrrl]

10. Thank you, Warpy...you have cleared something up...no pun intended.

We were wondering if it was possible that Mr. Dixie had a sinus infection PLUS this crud, and the doc figured that probably was the case, partly because by day 4 he was having a colored discharge and localized severe headache.
For him, the anti-biotics have helped.

I am showing signs of just virus, I guess. thanks to you I know what to look for now.

My ribs are SO sore from coughing.

[winter is coming]

12. Would your doc be willing to prescribe some cough syrup with codeine?

I've used it twice, both times when I had the hacking crud, and it really helps. The dose isn't enough to make me feel dopey, but it's calming enough that I'm far less likely to have one of those coughing bouts that goes on and on and on...

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

11. That's what happened to me.

I had a bacterial infection, which an antibiotic took care of, and a virus, which it didn't. I still have the damn virus. It's been over a month.