Persistent cough - lung cancer fear

[shotta287]

Hello all,

Back with another episode of HA - this time lung cancer.

I had a cold for a few days around 3 weeks ago and developed a dry cough off the back of it which hasn’t gone yet. Also still have yellowish mucus in my nasal passages.

I’m worried because I have a sore/painful area towards the bottom of my left side ribcage. The pain does feel muscular. Also get a pain in my upper back when I breathe in deeply.

Earlier this year I had quite a nasty chest infection which I had to take antibiotics for.

I’m 25 and have never smoked or drunk alcohol.

Should I be this worried and go to my doctor?

[Andromeda]

I don't think the worry is warranted but then health anxiety puts is in a state of worry over the tiniest of things so all I can say is I completely understand your fear.

Coughs and colds can last for a long time. The most likely explanation is that you've probably strained a muscle from the coughing (which is very common)

If you are still worried you could go to the Doctor to get them to have a listen to your chest to confirm that the cold hasn't gone into it. I have asthma so this happens to me a lot.

But otherwise take some pain killers and hot drinks to suppress the cough and it will pass :flowers:

[ankietyjoe]

Coughs often last weeks on end. Myself, my partner and both my kids have had a cough for well over a month now.

The pain you're experiencing is from the effort of constantly coughing.

[lofwyr]

Go to your doctor, not because it is lung cancer, but because you might have a simple chest infection. I coughed for 3 months straight, finally went in and had walking pneumonia. Seven days of antibiotics later I was fine.

[MRS STRESS ED]

My dad died of this illness l don't mean to be awful but you more than likely have not got it my dads symptoms were far far more than just a cough now please get it checked its probably just a simple cough :doh:

[NervUs]

You sound a lot like me.

About 2 years ago, I developed a persistent cough after a cold. I coughed for 9 months, in that period got an x ray and then a chest CT (for a different reason than the cough) and then another xray, and had to beg to get the doctors to get to the bottom of it. Turns out, I ended up with an asthma diagnosis (I was 45 and had never had it before).

Asthma exacerbations or something very like them are REALLY common after a cold. 3 weeks is actually like the average length of time it takes for a cough to go away so you are nowhere near having a persistent cough. But, if it doesn't go away by 8 weeks even, the very likely scenario is asthma brought on by cold. It can be asthma without wheezing, shortness of breath, and the like.

The rib pain you are experiencing *sounds* like costochondritis. That is related to anxiety, and I get it in the very same spot as you describe. I also get it in the middle of my chest, and it worsens with deep breaths in. Mine usually lasts a few days, sometimes longer.

In your shoes, I would give it another week or two, because you really have not come to the end of a typical cough's life. If it isn't budging by 5 weeks, go in and your doc might prescribe inhalers to force the bronchial tubes open (that is why you cough, they are narrowed, and your bod is trying to clear them). The inhalers eventually took my cough away. I went off them about a year ago without a problem, but I've noticed it acting up again this fall.

That was a very wordy way of saying, you seem to be just at the normal tail end of a cold. Personally, I would wait a little while, b/c there really isn't much to do for a regular cough.

[shotta287]

Thank you for the reassurance guys and girls, much appreciated.

So I did go to my doctor and she had a listen of my chest while I breathed deeply in and out. She could hear crackling and prescribed me some cough syrup with steroid. I don’t have a fever and feel fine otherwise so she ruled out infection. According to her the chest and rib pain is soreness due to the cough. I was told to come back next week if problems continued.

I guess I should’ve asked there and then but will have to make a separate appointment to discuss my HA. I know I cannot continue living my life this way.

[shotta287]

Okay so today I have developed a new fear. Asthma.
The symptoms of anxiety and asthma seem so similar I’m seriously considering going back to my doctor and getting asthma tests.

God I sound so crazy haha what an awful thing HA is.

[ankietyjoe]

Anxiety mimics the symptoms of heart disease, cancer, stroke and aneurysm too.

Maybe you should ask to be checked for those as well.