post nasal drip/coughing

[eric10]

anyone having severe coughing and phelgm accumulating in throat and hard to dislodge?

my racing heart beat sent me back into icu for 5 days where they finally gave me the old shock treatment and i am back.....but now have trouble sometimes even speaking with the mucus caught up my throat....any common friends out there???

hope everyone is beating right along

eric10

 

[Kevin]

I have not experienced this, but I have found that using a neti pot helps reduce the post-nasal drip and cleans everything out quite nicely so you can get some relief.

Basically, it's a mini-tea pot looking thing. You fill it with warm water and put a packet of this stuff (baking soda or something like that) in it. It does not irritate the mucus linings or cause any discomfort.

It's gross, but the next step is to pour 1/2 the contents into one nostril (instructions are always on the box) while holding your head at an angle so the residue can flow out your other nostril into the sink. Repeat on other side.

After the solution goes through, blow your nose gently (especially if you are on blood thinners) and you'll be able to expell a lot of the bad stuff.
Kev

 

[ALCapshaw2]

I find a Nasal Rinse Kit easier to manage than a Neti-Pot and you can buy pre-mixed saline packages. I like the ones from Neil Med... NO irritation and easy to use.

 

[Lynlw]

Have you been having this problem since surgery? I know sometimes it takes longer than other to get all the junk cleared out of your lungs, but it seems to be taken along time for that. Or did you just recently get out of the hospital again for the racing heart?

Its hard to guess what is going on, since we don't know if this is something that cleared up after surgery and came back ect. Or if it is something you might have recently caught. Or even if this has been an ongoing problem since your surgery. What meds are you on, some meds cause a cough. I know it hurts to have deep productive coughs, but sometimes that is needed to clear your lungs. Where you given a cough pillow at the hospital, to hug when you have to cough to lessen the pain? IF so maybe you could try using it if you put it away already.
Alot of times it takes a while to get all the junk out of your lungs, did you have a spogometer (breathing thing) post op to breath into thru out the day to get your lungs open and cleared? Have you been able to walk and do a little more each day?

Have you told your doctors about this? I know after Justin's last surgery, he was coughing things up langer than he usually would so they orderred some hchest Xrays, ect to make sure there wasn't something else going on.

 

[ALCapshaw2]

... never heard of a "spogometer"...

I always thought the "breathing thing" was called an "incentive spirometer".

'AL Capshaw'

 

[Johan]

Me thinks you are looking for trouble AL!

 

[Lynlw]

... never heard of a "spogometer"...

I always thought the "breathing thing" was called an "incentive spirometer".

'AL Capshaw'

To everyone I appologize for any spelling errors I make, I will try to do better, maybe I shouldn't try to help at 2 am, especially when I have alot of stress...my bad

 

[bvdr]

Have you recently been put on an ACE (ace inhibitor) drug such as Altace? We had a thread here recently discussing post nasal drip as a side effect of the ace inhibitors.

 

[ottagal]

Hi Eric,
I experienced this post surgery. I kept asking th nurses/doctors if they thought I had GERD. However, I had fluid accumulation on the lungs and a collapsed lung. Like Lyn said, I was coughing up junk and clearing the lungs. I can tell you that although the lungs are 95% better, I am still clearing my throat with what seems to be phlegm in the back. I have used a saline nasal spray called rhinarus once a day which I think is helping a little. I like Kevin's idea of using the neti pot. Good luck. I know it is annoying.

 

[Sharlea]

Hi, this is quiete interesting. I had mitral valve repair on Oct. 20, this year. Since then I have had a cough. At first I was coughing up phlegm, which is what they want you to do post op, but I have had this annoying cough since then. I went to the Dr. and he suggested it might be GERD and put me on Nexeum. I have been on it and an antihistimine for 9 days now and today is the 1st day that the cough has not bothered me. I too, could feel this stuff in the back of my throat and a tickle. I wonder is it is surgery related??????? I'm just glad that today it is better!