Chronic cough .... now the lungs?

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runor
runor Member Posts: 1,798
edited May 2019 in Not Diagnosed But Worried

Diagnosed and treated for ER/PR positive breast cancer early 2017.

Since July of last year (2018) have been coughing. Dry, unproductive cough. Not in fits. Just one, lone cough every 10 minutes or so. Chest feels congested but I produce no phlegm. Do not rattle or gurgle when breathing, although I do wheeze a bit sometimes. By the end of the day I have often lost my voice and sound hoarse and croaky. My chest has that achy feeling I've had with pneumonia. I DO NOT cough in bed at night and most mornings do not cough when I get up, not until I've been awake for quite a while.

I ignored this because I thought it was allergies triggered by the very heavy smoke in the air this past summer. Then I continued to ignore it because I don't want to know. I think my brain will meltdown if I get any more bad news. I have a doctor appt later this week.

I know there are no doctors here to make a diagnosis. I am asking if anyone else had similar symptoms, a dry, annoying, tickling cough that produced nothing, and what did it turn out to be?

I am terrified. I feel that I can't talk about it to anyone because they are all sick of hearing about how scared I am. I feel like I will be letting people down if I have lung mets. Because I was supposed to be fine, it was early stage, I had a low oncotype (11) blah, blah, blah. I do not feel safe. I do not feel 'out of the woods'. I do not feel I can share this anywhere but here with other people who truly get it. I am barely keeping it together. Sorry for that.

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  • djmammo
    djmammo Member Posts: 2,939
    edited February 2019

    runor

    When was your last chest x-ray?

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  • runor
    runor Member Posts: 1,798
    edited February 2019

    In early 2017, a chest x-ray was on the do-list with basic blood work prior to any treatments. At that time they gave me the all clear. No x-ray since. Several mamms, but no chest x-ray.

    Edited to add that after radiation I coughed for 6 or 7 months. I did mention this to rad onc and she said it was typical and would clear up, which it did. Same kind of cough. Occasional, dry bark. I have had no coughs until the terrible forest fire season this past summer and the air was BLUE with particulate. Started coughing then. Haven't quit.

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  • Luckynumber47
    Luckynumber47 Member Posts: 397
    edited March 2019

    Read up on reactive airway disease. Basically your lungs become inflamed from a sinus infection, allergies, virus, etc and then they forget to go back to normal. It's sort of related to asthma. Treatment is by an inhaler. Cough drops, hot tea, and humidifiers are also useful.

    Hopefully, that's what is going on with you. Hate that this diagnosis always takes our brains to crazy places.

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  • ShetlandPony
    ShetlandPony Member Posts: 4,924
    edited February 2019

    Runor, I think it took a lot of courage to even ask this question "out loud".

    I do not have any special knowledge or experience to offer. However, I did do some reading, and if I understand it correctly, a cough within the first few months of radiation is often radiation pneumonitis. It sounds like you may have had this. Following radiation pneumonitis, as the damaged tissue is remodeled, it is possible to develop radiation fibrosis, typically 6-24 months after radiation. This would fit your timeline. Maybe a season of smoke could trigger it. Just a possible not-cancer reason for your cough, and I see another one above. Maybe you will be referred to a pulmonologist.

    Including a link to my reading, not because I recommend reading it. When you feel so scared and are waiting for an appointment, I think stepping away from the computer is better, once you have your questions written down. Sending love.

    https://www.pulmonologyadvisor.com/pulmonary-medic...

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  • jpypers
    jpypers Member Posts: 2
    edited May 2019

    I don't think I've ever posted on here, but your post really resonated with me. I have a very similar diagnosis to yours, around the same time as well, except I chose BMX and my Onctotype was 19.

    Feeling like you don't want to share this with those close to you I definitely understand. I'm tired of sharing my fear and tired of going to the doctor, for tests, etc. I've had a cough and some chest pain/pressure for a while now and feel like I need to wait a little longer before getting it checked. I'm so hyper-aware of how I feel now that I don't want to to call my Oncologist for every little thing, and everything I have had checked out turned out to be nothing. I understand how you feel. :)

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  • Moderators
    Moderators Member Posts: 25,912
    edited May 2019

    Dear jpypers,

    Welcome to the BCO community. We are sorry that your breast cancer and your present concerns have brought you here but very glad that you reached out. We hope that the chest pain and cough get resolved for you. We notice that this thread has not been active in a few months. That doesn't mean that you won't hear back from others but we would love to help you to get connected and if not on this thread perhaps we can help you find other topics of interest and pathways to additional support. Let us know if we can lend a hand in any way.

    The Mods

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  • wallan
    wallan Member Posts: 1,275
    edited May 2019

    Hi Runor:

    I just want to say I understand how you feel. Completely. I hate to state my fears out loud to friends and family too and I resent the doctor appts and tests only to have nothing in the end. I imagine in my head the doctors find me a pain in the ass hypochondriac.

    I too have a dry, non productive cough in the last month and half or so. Just like yours. I don't cough at night. It comes and goes but is every day. It feels sometimes like it comes from my chest and sometimes it starts from a tickle in my throat. I think its from heartburn irritating my throat or from allergies. I was dx in 2017 with stage 1, hormone positive BC. No nodes. Oncotype 14. MO says she is "not too concerned" about recurrance, but no guarantee. So everyone around me thinks my BC was like have a weird mole removed and thats its gone. I feel silly for worrying too.

    I am though going to call my MO today and get checked out. Maybe its the Arimidex. Are you on AIs?

    Good luck to you. This site is great for stating our fears. We all get it.

    Hugs

    wallan

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  • runor
    runor Member Posts: 1,798
    edited May 2019

    Jpypers and Wallan - I hear you about feeling like a pain in the ass hypochondriac. I almost feel like apologizing to the receptionist when I make an appt with the doctor! Sorry for bothering you with my unfounded hysteria .....

    To follo up the chest x-ray was clear and doc gave me a two week steroid inhaler that only help a little bit and took the whole two weeks to see an improvement. It only took a few days after end of treatment for the cough to return.

    In desperation and an effort to satisfy my own curiosity I took a dose ONE DOSE of Benadryl for allergies. I am not prone to allergies. I am fairly non-reactive. But I thought, well, this might be one way to weed out if this is cancer or not. Figuring that if this was a cancer cough an antihistamine would not help it. So I took ONE LOUSY TABLET and I have not coughed since! I kid you not! I think it's like Luckynumber said and my airways got irritated in last year's fire season and just stayed irritated. Doesn't help that we heat with an old wood furnace that belches huge amounts of smoke and particulate into the household air!

    This year when the province is on fire, as seems to be the norm these days, I am going to take an antihistamine and prevent that whole cycle of irritated airway from even starting. I suspect (but cannot confirm) that the radiation damage to my lung has predisposed me to not being able to recover from small insults to the airways like I used to. To anyone iwth that miserable, intermittent, pointless hacking cough - try an antihistamine. If it works or not will help direct you to your next steps! Thanks all!

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  • santabarbarian
    santabarbarian Member Posts: 3,085
    edited May 2019

    My MO said, "anything that's out of the ordinary that isn't resolving within 2 weeks, LMK" -- it isn'tb eing a hypochondriac, its being attentive and a good reporter.

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  • djmammo
    djmammo Member Posts: 2,939
    edited May 2019

    runor

    "Doesn't help that we heat with an old wood furnace that belches huge amounts of smoke and particulate into the household air"

    And this is the value of a complete history. Did you mention this to your doc(s) at any point in time? if not, as they say in the newspaper business, you have "buried the lead" ;-)

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  • runor
    runor Member Posts: 1,798
    edited May 2019

    Hi DJ, yes, I did mention this to doc. I'm pretty good about painting a complete picture and laying out all information that I think is pertinent. I think our messy old furnace is pretty pertinent. Mind you, furnace particulate has never bothered me in the past 28 years. But it's like the forest fires of 2018 set off some lung event that I just could not shake. Not an infection but an irritation. It's pollen season now and I am being hyper vigilant to see if I start hacking but so far all is well. We do put filters in our furnace and in our vents and they get filthy! I think we are over furnaced - you could cook a whole side of beef in that massive thing! Every morning I get up in my slippers and housecoat and split wood and make the fire before I even have coffee. Rural Canada ... hooray! Thanks DJ, I make every effort to give my docs all the pieces of the puzzle they need.

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  • jpypers
    jpypers Member Posts: 2
    edited May 2019

    runor, so glad you seem to have solved the problem!

    I did finally call my MO's office and spoke with the nurse who didn't seem concerned about it at all. Said I could investigate with my GP (maybe swab or chest X-ray) but it likely wasn't anything to do with the cancer.

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