Hello,
I'm hoping someone can help.
I started to have a dry cough during my pregnancy 7 years ago. After my daughter was born, my cough went away. When I got pregnant with my 2nd child, the cough came back and was worse than the first time. I had to be on nebulizers throughout my pregnancy. I had a horrible cough and horrible coughing attacks. After my 2nd child was born 4 years ago, my cough improved but never went away. I am always coughing. I never had asthma before this. I did have allergies: dust, dogs, cats, and pollen. Sometimes I have what I guess are bronchial spasms, a cough attack, where I cough for 5-10 minutes and sometimes can hardly breathe. I never have wheezing or shortness of breath (except the SOB during those cough attacks).
Cough is worse if I am moving around or exercising, and then stop. Or if I'm walking around, and then sit down or lie down. Or if I'm lying down and move from side to side, or from side to back, back to side, etc. Or if I'm stressed. Or after talking a lot. Or after eating. Chewing gum suppresses the cough some.
I lived in Dubai for 9 years and I think I got asthma from living there, where the air quality is very bad. I thought that after moving to California 1.5 years ago that it would improve but it has not. It is very depressing and I am feeling hopeless at this point.
I've been to many doctors: pulmonologists, ENTs, gastroenterologist. Doctors suspect it is cough-variant asthma; however, I've tried many inhalers and none of them help. I've also tried many different nasal sprays, Singulair, etc. The pulmonary function test showed normal lung function and also showed that albuterol only improved lung function a tiny bit. I've tried a steroid shot, and a week of Prednisone; those did not help at all. I did blood work that shows that my asthma is not related to eosinophils. I have a deviated septum on the left side of my nose. Gastro and ENT don't think I have reflux. ENT does not think my cough is caused by allergies or my deviated septum.
I suspect that it is related to my hormones. I track it and I think it may be worse when estrogen levels increase. Some days my cough is much worse than other days. And it developed during my pregnancies when estrogen levels are high. My pulmonologist said that she's had patients that developed cough-variant asthma during their pregnancy, but none that still had it after their pregnancies. (I find this hard to believe.) Do people develop cough-variant asthma during their pregnancy, never having had it before, and it remains after their pregnancy?
Does anyone have advice for me on what to do next? See an Endocrinologist? See a functional medicine specialist?
Do I just need to accept that I'm going to live with this forever and nothing can be done?
Thank you, Kelly