Coughing a lot

[Tom K]

I quit smoking 8 weeks ago and had surgery 6 weeks ago. In the past few days I have started coughing a lot. The coughs are very deep and mostly nonproductive. Has anybody else had this experience after surgery? Should I talk to a doctor or wait a few more days to see if it clears up?

[Debi]

I'm sure it is probably nothing, but if it were me, I would call the doctor just to make sure. It could be so many things, one of them that you're coming down with something, and you may need antibiotics to fend it off. Right now, just out of surgery and all, it is better to be safe than sorry-

I strongly suggest to call the doctor, the least it will do is put your mind at ease. Good luck, and keep us posted!

[tnmynatt]

It could the virus going around. Charlie and I both had it. I have never heard somebody cough so much! Nothing but time seemed to help him.

You should let the doctor know so you can be properly evaluated. Hope you get to feeling better soon. Take care.

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[Don M]

I never had a cough problem after my first surgery where I had a upper left lobectomy. But after my second surgery, when I had the rest of my left lung removed, about 2 or 3 weeks after surgery I developed a dry nonproductive cough that would send me into spasms. It drove me nuts. My oncologist prescribed a cough suppressant for me, a narcotic, which I used for about 2 months. Eventually the cough went away and I never turned into a drug addict. My pulmonologist theorized that the mediastinal shifting was tugging on my lung tissue and caused an irritation which caused the cough. It did go away though, whatever caused it.

Don M

[Fay A.]

Talk to your Doc sooner rather than later. We aren't Physicians, and the possibility of an infection is too serious to let slide for those of us who have a history of Lung Cancer.

I do want to let you know that coughing is pretty common in people who have stopped smoking. When we stop smoking the cilia begin to regrow (also when we stop chemo). They eventually begin to do their job...clearing the Lungs of stuff that doesn't belong in the Lungs. So we start to cough.

Congrats on stopping smoking, and a successful Lung Surgery!