I got COVID for what I believe was the first time mid-July thanks to some assholes of coworkers in my second job. It lasted with me about a week, but hit me like a train. I’ve gotten better, my smell and taste are back, but I still have this damn cough.
In the past, respiratory infections hit me hard but I only got them every year or two. A cough would linger for a few weeks then go away. This one has me hacking away uncontrollably at times though like a smoker, white to clear mucus, and it’s been about three weeks now. Every breath tickles it, some just set it off.
Has anyone else had a similar experience and successfully beat it? How so?
Hello, I don’t have personal experiences but I found a article with come advice and information on it.
Why do coughs drag after the infectious period?
Inflammation is a defensive process our immune system uses to fight off COVID. Inflamed tissues both swell up and produce fluid. This can last a long time, even after the virus has gone.
Coughing may persist for any of four key reasons, all of which involve inflammation:
if the upper airways (nasal passages and sinuses) stay inflamed, the fluid produced drips down the back of your throat causing a “post-nasal drip”. This makes you feel the need to “clear your throat”, swallow and/or cough
if the lungs and lower airways are affected, coughing is the body’s way of trying to clear the fluid and swelling it senses there. Sometimes there isn’t a lot of fluid (so the cough is “dry”), but the swelling of the lung tissue still triggers a cough
the neural pathways may be where inflammation is lurking. This means the nervous system is involved, either centrally (the brain) and/or peripherally (nerves), and the cough isn’t primarily from the respiratory tissues themselves
a less common but more serious cause may be the lung tissue being scarred from the inflammation, a condition called “interstitial lung disease”. This needs to be diagnosed and managed by respiratory specialists.
Interestingly, people may experience a range of post-COVID symptoms, including coughing, regardless of whether they were sick enough to be hospitalised. Some patients tell me they weren’t particularly unwell during their COVID infection, but the post-infective cough is driving them crazy.
We need to be wary not to label a cough as a post-COVID cough and miss other serious causes of chronic coughs.
One thing to watch out for is a secondary bacterial infection, on top of COVID. Signs you may have a secondary infection include:
a change in the type of cough (sounds different, more frequent) change in the sputum/phlegm (increased volume, blood present) developing new symptoms such as fevers, chest pain, racing heart or worsening breathlessness.
Other potentially serious illnesses can cause a chronic cough, including heart failure and lung cancer, so if you’re in any doubt about the cause of your cough, have a check-up.
Source: https://theconversation.com/still-coughing-after-covid-heres-why-it-happens-and-what-to-do-about-it-179471