Hi snail, ..i'm not a poster to this thread, but your question jumped out at me..My dear now departed mom had a cough, all her life. in my childhood, old fashioned cough med quelled it (w/codeine). yes, she was a smoker,,,,she quit, in the later 60s, took it back up when her weight shot out and stress levels too....but she stopped for good in the late 70s..but the cough was with her all her life, preceeded smoking. It was a debilitating cough. Worse around a cold, she would have fits of coughing. She was finally put on inhalers, in the 90s, all kinds!! she had them all, I think..they ALL made her cough WORSE...doctors would switch them around but also look at her, like she was crazy. NOT one MD or specialist she saw ever suggested she see an allergist, or asked about
her environment. She lived in heavily treed areas, ALL her life, from infancy. Tree pollen and leaf mold is absolutely wicked for some people. In the 90s she was finally put on a round of oral corticosteroid, prednisone 60 mg to 0 in two weeks. She was high as a kite for the first week, cleaned all her kitchen cupboards...as she tapered off , but mostly after ending, she began to deteriorate, physically ......She suffered a complete bodily collapse about
4 weeks later...the slow decline was accompanied by 4 weeks of truly migraine level head pain-laying on the couch, increasing weakness-then the near collapse--we had to carry her to the car --I had gone to the doctor with her, the DAY before she did---he rolled his eyes, as tho my sweet mom was just complaining over small issues..he shrugged his shoulders--was clueless. I watched her literally brought back from this comatose state, intravenous Steroids given in the hospital, --I stayed right with her . TWICE this happened. None of the hospital staff knew this can happen in SOME people.........It led to tests and more tests, scans, all inconclusive, but expensive!.....The release from hospital meant she had to ingest another 6 week oral round of the SAME predisone, with another rapid 2 week withdrawal that resulted in ANOTHER complete collapse, trip to ER 2 night stay. By this time i had found reference to symptoms of renal failure in some corticosteroid users........and was able to communicate that to her doctors........She finally had an attending doc via the hospital that said NO---this drug requires a YEAR LONG withdrawal, a very long withdrawal...he knew about
this reaction she had! here is my take, and I'm NOT a doctor, I'm a just reader, observer ....In personally researching Lyme disease, ...and our personal life histories,....I fully believe my mom could have had tick borne Lyme disease all her life and that was the cause of the cough (other things too) ....people fighting off an underlying bacterial infection/invader/occupier naturally have weakened immune systems. My mom was a health nut....mostly vegetarian (fishatarian--they ate salmon) , raw juices, homemade nut butters, whole grains, etc.. excellent at following good health. My self study came far too late to help her. I only learned about
tree pollens very late, too. after suffering severe rounds of bronchitis each year...my sons and I lived in a home with 6 major offending pollinators, mature trees, all about
10-20 feet from the home itself! Lyme can be generational, hers very well may have been, if so,...she may have passed to me at birth! ...her mom family were farmers, in Dakotas and Wisconsin in the 1850s before migrating west...my mom grew up in CA Lumber camps!--her dad a lumber salesman, in CA. I think it is why I have troubles too....I've not been tested, but have had known tick bites. I just wanted to relate her history, because of the MANY expensive little inhalers she had to start and stop using...they made her cough WORSE, YES, and none helped her stop coughing.....had I known about
TREES as pollinators, I would have told my folks to SELL their house, and MOVE. It is what indigenous peoples did if they found an area made them sick, they MOVED CAMP.
My Dad's Dad had terrible asthma, and he as well as my Pa (90!) also had a "tick exposure" history. I'm talking WHERE did/do you live, work?my entire family both sides were outdoor enthusiasts and farmers,,,my heritage. The ONLY time my G'pa was relieved of his asthma, was 2 weeks each year, --he took his family to the Oregon coast. healing salt air. I'm very fortunate to have oral histories and photos, diaries to back up the learning. I've asked my Pa LOT"S of questions, while I still can. I recommend pollen dot com. you can research plants/trees, even get a pollen counts, when they spike...last year my whole family suffered TERRIBLE...we are surround by red cedar, oaks, many variety, junipers,..to make matters worse...I read that city planners and landscapers choose male trees and plants as they are less "dirty" but THEY, are the pollinators! so the pollen count is hugely aided by the very hand of man. They reported our area of CA has tripled the number of asthma cases,...we had a real estate boom of 20 years...there is so much more PLANTED in trees, shrubs, grasses now than EVER was, naturally! oh, and pools!! Not only heightened pollen counts....but leaf molds can incite terrible reactions in many people....I hope you get you relief, somehow. I know the suffering, first hand. Her oxygen flow was pretty good...her airways were not constricted badly as they can be for asthma patients...and why the COPD was arrived at ...an umbrella diagnosis. I hope my story helps --it is why I occasionally tell it. After my mom passed away in 2010 (pancreatic cancer, they MISSED that, in all those tests) , I read that steroids should NOT be given to Lyme patients, can result in death. Her reaction to it? to me, says so much. She never fully recovered from her "experience" with oral prednisone, and often said HERSELF, had I known this would happen, I would have kept the cough, refused the drug. (and the cough was miserable) not a single doc suggested she see an allergist....