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Phlegm (mucus; snot) buildup in the chest and coughing?
Hey all,
Just wondering if anybody else here experiences too much mucus building up in the breathing tubes – resulting in coughing to all holy hell.
Every time I get a respiratory infection, the worst part isn’t the infection, it’s clearing out all that snot. I am coughing out my lungs for a month at least after those and everybody around me thinks I’m dying. (I meant dying tomorrow, not in 20 years!!)
Would be nice to hear if anybody else has this (and coping strategies).
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10 Replies
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Hi VK,
I have a lot restrictions in my lungs so it is very hard to clear the airway to breathe. Something my respiratory therapist has suggested for me is an aiway clearance vest. It vibrates to help cler the airways and makes our cough more proucible. I would ask the doctor to order one and speak to a respiratory therapist about what would be best. -
Thanks for the hint! I never until this past year realized all these problems with clearing my airways were due to lung disease. I thought I just made too much snot.
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This might be totally different from what you are describing, but I had a big problem with nasal congestion, especially when I was taking Letairis. Sometimes my congestion got so bad I would cough and then end up throwing up. Eating made me short of breath because I couldn’t breathe through my nose with all the buildup.
Since my heart-lung transplant, I’ve noticed how much more productive my coughing is. With PH, common colds would almost always turn into pneumonia because I couldn’t get the junk out of my lungs. With time, I wised up and started doing more regular nebulized albuterol treatments whenever I started to feel my airways being affected. It helped clear things out, and I spent a lot less time hospitalized with pneumonia because I learned to catch the infections early and get ahead of them.
Do you take Letairis? Do you find other medications make your nose more stuffy? Have you ever used a nebulizer? What is your plan when you get a cold?
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Hey Kathleen,
I do the neb breathing treatments you are talking about. I tried it with albuterol first and OMG I felt like I drank about 100 cups of coffee, I was shaking so bad. They changed it to Xonpenex and I have the inhaler form of it too for when I feel things getting tight and feel bronchitis coming on. Sometimes it is hard to use the inhaler thought especially when I’m constricted in the chest so I use the neb with the mask. Do you use the mask neb or the one that you have to breathe with your mouth?
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Karen, I take letairis and adempas and my nose is so clogged my oxygen doesn’t do much good. Nosebleeds too. My mom was told not to use petroleum jelly in the nose because it can trap bacteria, but like her I use it with 02 anyway. Any suggestions?
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Letairis? Yes, same here for congestion. I figured some was chronic sinusitis and corn filings in the High Plains wind, but this is worse. On top of that, I use a nasal pillow on CPAP. Congestion and difficulty breathing wake me up early but may have to get a full face mask. Not getting an oxygen adapter for the CPAP hose when I started oxygen last week hasn’t helped either but I am
I’ve been using neosporin cream (because that was what I have on hand).
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@rocko-robin I ended up going off Letairis because I felt like oxygen wasn’t getting through my clogged nose. It wasn’t making a significant difference in my breathing and I was already on multiple therapies. To prevent nosebleeds I use Mupirocin ointment, which was recommended to me by an ENT (I think it requires a prescription), and I had a lot of success with it. You might ask a doctor if it has the same potential to trap bacteria. I think because it is an antibiotic ointment there’s less risk.
@vanessavaile do you find that Neosporin works for you? It’s also an antibiotic and has a similar consistency to Mupirocin (chapstick for your nose I call it) so I imagine it would work similarly. I hope the oxygen-CPAP combination starts working for you. I am finding that these things take some getting used to, but can end up being very helpful in the long run.
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Thanks!
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I have always had sinus congestion for years. I even had sinus surgery to help. I think it made it worse though. I use saline spray and mupirocin in my nose to keep from getting a sinus infection. I’ve been on O2 for 10 years. I am on 6- ltrs resting 8-ltrs regular activity and 10-ltrs exercising.I was misdiagnosed 10 yrs ago. I have PH,w/CHF and PF. I also have COP,IPH,and COPD Asthma. I just started revatio. Does the hot flashing go away? How do I get rid of the congestion? Some mornings I feel like I’m going to pass out coughing so much. I even wear a Bipap to sleep with because my carbon levels skyrocket if I don’t.
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Hi Sherry,
I have a problem with the coughing too. There are different devices that they can use as airway clearance devices. One of them is a devices you blow into and it vibrates your chest for you and is supposed to help with the mucus and coughing. I know the feeling of coughing so much that it feels like you’re going to pass out and it certainly isn’t a comfortable feeling at all. I also use a noninvasive vent machine similar to a bipap and have used it during the day when I’m resting too and it seems to help at least lower the amounts of congestion I feel and tightness in the chest. There’s a new vest that I am trying to get approval for through insurance called the afflovest that works to clear the airways too. Maybe asking you doctor about some of these therapies would be a good idea ! I know it is tough when dealing with so much on top of PH.
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