Chronic cough & sinusitis

Posted by anunez @anunez, Mar 30, 2020

Hi I have been reading posts various lung disease. I am 69 years old and was in excellent health up until 65
I had no seasonal allergies. I rarely had colds or flu.
My current issues started almost 4 years ago with a very productive cough. I felt well with good energy & strength but could not stop coughing. My sinuses began to become congested with excessive mucus. I was put on antibiotics multiple times. I was treated with allergy medications, more antibiotics, low dosage of steroids. Nothing helped! Two years into this illness I had sinus surgery and it helped a bit but the productive cough did not resolve. I am currently diagnosed with chronic sinusitis, asthma, mild to moderate brochiestisis and most recently ( januray - current) a lung infection that has not resolved with bacteria specific (pseudomonas) antibiotics. I have had two CAT Scans since January 2020. I am the SF Bay Area and I am currently married to Kaiser Permanente HMO for treatment.
Does anyone have any suggestions? I would appreciate feed back & ideas.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Lung Health Support Group.

Hi @anunez that must be so difficult to suddenly have this chronic cough and sinusitis after years of excellent health.

@tinaesims and @nannette both have experience with chronic cough and may be able to offer you support.

Since you mentioned bronchiectasis I wanted to share this link to the MAC & Bronchiectasis group on Connect where you can interact with others who are being treated for bronchiectasis: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/mac-bronchiectasis/

Back to you @anunez and your story, are you comfortable sharing some of the antibiotics or medications you have tried in the past?

REPLY
@ethanmcconkey

Hi @anunez that must be so difficult to suddenly have this chronic cough and sinusitis after years of excellent health.

@tinaesims and @nannette both have experience with chronic cough and may be able to offer you support.

Since you mentioned bronchiectasis I wanted to share this link to the MAC & Bronchiectasis group on Connect where you can interact with others who are being treated for bronchiectasis: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/mac-bronchiectasis/

Back to you @anunez and your story, are you comfortable sharing some of the antibiotics or medications you have tried in the past?

Jump to this post

Hi Ethan, thank you for your reply. I had wanted to post before but wasn't seeing the link to post. I am aware of the MAC & Bronchiectasis group and have read many of the stories there. I was not able to post there. In response to your question about medications. I initially I used Augmentin for the recurrent sinusitis and bronchitis. I was also prescribed an inhaler for asthma in 2017. Also a variety of allergy medications, flonase, azelastine nasal spray, OTC allergy pills, sinus rinses. It wasn't until September 2018 when I was referred to my sinus surgery doctor that my antibiotic was changed to Cipro after he did a culture and found pseudononas. I have had several sputum tests. A few have been positive for MAC but mostly negative. I have also been prescribed prednisone bursts a few times and antibiotics and steroids in my sinus rinse.

I am currently on two inhalers and started nebulizing 3 weeks ago with with 7% saline. I recently saw a infectious disease specialist. She was alarmed with how much I have been prescribed antibiotics. The nebulizer may help clear my air passages and prevent new infections but I continue to cough up phlegm and have constant irritation in my throat. I had a pretty good summer and early fall but my constant cough, sinus which won't drain due to thick mucous have been worse since late November. I have also had weight loss which may due to loss of appetite.

My pulmonologist was finally ready to consider a bronchoscopy when the COVID-19 crisis hit. Now it is a wait game as elective procedures are on hold. Also I would not want to go near a hospital now. Right now my primary goal is to stay safe.

I am looking into the possibility of changing insurance soon. It would not get me to the Mayo Clinic but perhaps Stanford or UCSF.

Thank you

REPLY
@anunez

Hi Ethan, thank you for your reply. I had wanted to post before but wasn't seeing the link to post. I am aware of the MAC & Bronchiectasis group and have read many of the stories there. I was not able to post there. In response to your question about medications. I initially I used Augmentin for the recurrent sinusitis and bronchitis. I was also prescribed an inhaler for asthma in 2017. Also a variety of allergy medications, flonase, azelastine nasal spray, OTC allergy pills, sinus rinses. It wasn't until September 2018 when I was referred to my sinus surgery doctor that my antibiotic was changed to Cipro after he did a culture and found pseudononas. I have had several sputum tests. A few have been positive for MAC but mostly negative. I have also been prescribed prednisone bursts a few times and antibiotics and steroids in my sinus rinse.

I am currently on two inhalers and started nebulizing 3 weeks ago with with 7% saline. I recently saw a infectious disease specialist. She was alarmed with how much I have been prescribed antibiotics. The nebulizer may help clear my air passages and prevent new infections but I continue to cough up phlegm and have constant irritation in my throat. I had a pretty good summer and early fall but my constant cough, sinus which won't drain due to thick mucous have been worse since late November. I have also had weight loss which may due to loss of appetite.

My pulmonologist was finally ready to consider a bronchoscopy when the COVID-19 crisis hit. Now it is a wait game as elective procedures are on hold. Also I would not want to go near a hospital now. Right now my primary goal is to stay safe.

I am looking into the possibility of changing insurance soon. It would not get me to the Mayo Clinic but perhaps Stanford or UCSF.

Thank you

Jump to this post

@anunez- Good morning. I've also had a constant cough and lots of mucus this winter. It must have been a bit of infection because after a few days of an antibiotic (also used for pneumonia) it pretty much cleared up. But I still have mucous and a cough, but nearly as bad as before. It's scary and frustrating and uncomfortable. Have you ever been tested for COPD?
Frequent sinus infections can cause post-nasal drip, I call it "a tickle" in the back of my throat. Drainage of the mucous can trigger a chronic cough. ... It is caused by a build-up of mucus in the lungs, which the body tries to clear by coughing. Also, nasal polyps can cause a constant cough. I tend to get a constant cough more int he winter, even if I use an AC during the summer. And this year it's been especially bad. The only thing that I can say is that chronic coughs are self-propelling- once your throat is irritated it's a vicious cycle. I also found this: https://www.webmd.com/asthma/guide/cough-variant-asthma#1
Do you cough as much during the day as at night? I drink plenty of water and drink hot tea and honey every day. Have you changed your diet at all to try and calm your throat and drip?

REPLY
@merpreb

@anunez- Good morning. I've also had a constant cough and lots of mucus this winter. It must have been a bit of infection because after a few days of an antibiotic (also used for pneumonia) it pretty much cleared up. But I still have mucous and a cough, but nearly as bad as before. It's scary and frustrating and uncomfortable. Have you ever been tested for COPD?
Frequent sinus infections can cause post-nasal drip, I call it "a tickle" in the back of my throat. Drainage of the mucous can trigger a chronic cough. ... It is caused by a build-up of mucus in the lungs, which the body tries to clear by coughing. Also, nasal polyps can cause a constant cough. I tend to get a constant cough more int he winter, even if I use an AC during the summer. And this year it's been especially bad. The only thing that I can say is that chronic coughs are self-propelling- once your throat is irritated it's a vicious cycle. I also found this: https://www.webmd.com/asthma/guide/cough-variant-asthma#1
Do you cough as much during the day as at night? I drink plenty of water and drink hot tea and honey every day. Have you changed your diet at all to try and calm your throat and drip?

Jump to this post

Thank you for your comments. The pulmonologist says I do not have COPD although it acts like it. I am starting to believe that my chronic sinusitis has somehow caused my lung issues (brochiestisis, asthma and lung infections). I work very diligently to clear my sinuses but it is difficult due to thick gummy mucous that doesn’t completely rinse with multiple sinus rinses daily. The nebulizer May be clearing the gunk from my lungs. I have noticed increased post nasal drip at bedtime. I clear my sinus and throat before sleep and I have been waking once or twice as the PND slips into my throat. Mornings are usually pretty good until early afternoon. Evenings are the worst with lots of coughing and clearing airways.
I have taken antibiotics which only help for a short time. I have yet another sputum test pending. Last 2 CATSCANs have shown area of infection in right lung.
Thanks for link, I will read it.. Stay safe

REPLY
@anunez

Hi Ethan, thank you for your reply. I had wanted to post before but wasn't seeing the link to post. I am aware of the MAC & Bronchiectasis group and have read many of the stories there. I was not able to post there. In response to your question about medications. I initially I used Augmentin for the recurrent sinusitis and bronchitis. I was also prescribed an inhaler for asthma in 2017. Also a variety of allergy medications, flonase, azelastine nasal spray, OTC allergy pills, sinus rinses. It wasn't until September 2018 when I was referred to my sinus surgery doctor that my antibiotic was changed to Cipro after he did a culture and found pseudononas. I have had several sputum tests. A few have been positive for MAC but mostly negative. I have also been prescribed prednisone bursts a few times and antibiotics and steroids in my sinus rinse.

I am currently on two inhalers and started nebulizing 3 weeks ago with with 7% saline. I recently saw a infectious disease specialist. She was alarmed with how much I have been prescribed antibiotics. The nebulizer may help clear my air passages and prevent new infections but I continue to cough up phlegm and have constant irritation in my throat. I had a pretty good summer and early fall but my constant cough, sinus which won't drain due to thick mucous have been worse since late November. I have also had weight loss which may due to loss of appetite.

My pulmonologist was finally ready to consider a bronchoscopy when the COVID-19 crisis hit. Now it is a wait game as elective procedures are on hold. Also I would not want to go near a hospital now. Right now my primary goal is to stay safe.

I am looking into the possibility of changing insurance soon. It would not get me to the Mayo Clinic but perhaps Stanford or UCSF.

Thank you

Jump to this post

@anunez you mentioned that you were not able to post in the MAC & Bronchiectasis group. You should be able to as a registered member of Mayo Clinic Connect. Should you wish to post a reply in that group, here's how:
1. Go to the MAC & Bronchiectasis group https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/mac-bronchiectasis/
2. Click on a discussion you would like to join.
3. Click REPLY.
4. Write your message and click REPLY.

If you continue to have issues with posting, please send me a message using this contact form. https://connect.mayoclinic.org/contact-a-community-moderator/

REPLY
Please sign in or register to post a reply.