Coughing advise

[Lisa0731]

Hello everyone,

My mother had been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer and starts chemo next week.  
She coughs alot and it is debilitating for her.  Does anyone have any advise or tips to help with the coughing?

Thank you!

Lisa

[Rower Michelle]

Hi Lisa,

I had that horrible cough too.  I had a wedge pillow at night & needed a opiate based cough syrup administered every four hours consistently (even at 2am).   Not much else helped me until treatment kicked in.   Others may have additional options that worked for them.    Michelle

[Sabacat]

Not sure if my experience is typical.  The bulk of my cough was eventually found to be triggered by a large pleural effusion.  During the diagnostic process, I had significant leg swelling of then unknown origin, and was put on first lasix and, later, spironolactone, which helped as it alleviated some of the extra fluid burden.  Once I had my first scan, the pleural effusion was identified and drawn off which REALLY reduced the cough.  After that, adding Mucinex (600mg extended release BID) helped a good bit with what remained.  

Michelle's suggestion is great, too.  I was already on wedge pillows due to pre-existing GERD and Barrett's esophagus, so didn't think of that.    I didn't have a chance to try cough syrup as prior to diagnosis they were looking more at heart failure type issues to explain the combo of leg swelling and cough.  

[GaryG]

I experienced first hand what a debilitating cough does.  It got to a point where I felt sharp objects piercing my upper body even when I took a breath or even moved a bit. What worked for me was finding a way not to cough at all. 

i followed the instructions in this youtube video to the T. I watched it over and over again. It looks simple but it is not simplistic. It worked for me and I am grateful it did. If you think about it it makes a lot of sense. 

In addition, to loosen up the phlegm, I took Mucus relief 400 mg pills purchased on Amazon. I first  took the pills every 2 hours per the instructions and found out that my body did not tolerate that many so I cut back to 2 and 3 pills daily. As I explained earlier the key is to avoid coughing and that can be accomplished by doing the breathing exercise as explained in the video and then laying down motionless  with the head propped up on wedge pillow (as per Michelle suggestion) or hospital bed. After few minutes I felt the loose phlegm travel up to where I can discard it without coughing. I repeated this procedure many times per day.

Good luck.

 

[Tom Galli]

Lisa,

Welcome here.

I found taking a steamy shower to be soothing and it broke up the phlegm. My GP lent me his Albuterol machine and I got a script for Albuterol and used it 6  times a day. I eventually purchased a machine for my personal use and keep it ready for my next chest cold.

I've also found Mucinex to be helpful in breaking up congestion.

Stay the course.

Tom

[Lisa0731]

Thank you everyone.    This is heart wrenching.    

[Judy M2]

My pulomonologist prescribed Robafen liquid, which contains codeine. It worked great while I had a constant cough. After radiation and chemo treatments were completed, the cough has been significantly reduced and I don't need the Robafen anymore. 

My 98 YO father has COPD and he gets albutirol inhaler treatments daily and also takes Mucinex, as Tom mentioned. 

Hope your mom feels better soon. 

[GaryG]

For those who care to save a lot of money Mucus relief 400 mg pills  is a generic Mucinex.

[Robert A.]

My wife also had lots of coughing. In addition to the mucus pills Gary suggested, her Dr. prescribed Brom/PSE/DM Cough Syrup.

[ChiMama]

Thanks for this thread! I've been coughing since my surgery and haven't found a solution yet.  I don't have a lot of phlegm but anything with the potential to stop the coughing is welcome!

@GaryGAh, these are similar to the ones my surgeon gave me.  The only difference is they have me holding the breath for a count of 3 to help reinflate the lungs.  Doing 3-4 deep breaths with holds, then rested "breathing control" (like at the beginning of the video demo) then 2 more cycles of deep breaths/breathing control before the huff.  They say if you wheeze when doing the huff you're doing it too hard.

I love her Scottish accent!!!

[GaryG]

5 hours ago, ChiMama said:

 

@GaryGAh, these are similar to the ones my surgeon gave me.  The only difference is they have me holding the breath for a count of 3 to help reinflate the lungs.  Doing 3-4 deep breaths with holds, then rested "breathing control" (like at the beginning of the video demo) then 2 more cycles of deep breaths/breathing control before the huff.  They say if you wheeze when doing the huff you're doing it too hard.

I love her Scottish accent!!!

Yes you are correct about holding the breath. That version is also prescribed for COPD patients so it must work. I was lucky to stumble on the Scottish lady on youtube. Her method cured by  horrible cough without the need for syrup.