patti1010

I am confused by a cough that seems to be related to several types of illness since it seems to change every few days.

I started with a very sore throat, low grade fever, accompanied by a dry cough and badly runny nose. The cough increased in frequency with some minor coughing up of phlegm over the next couple of days. The last few days, the cough was more like pertussis with coughing fits and gagging usually started by an irritating tickle in the back of the throat. I have awakened at night shot up in bed because it felt like I couldn't breathe and my throat felt closed. It took a couple of minutes for the coughing and breathing to calm down. Today I have a cough that is more like a barking cough. I was given antibiotics in January for what the doctor believed was pertussis, but the diagnosis was based on how I sounded and other symptoms, no definitive test was run. The cough sounded the same as the January pertussis cough for the last few days but seems to be changing. I am somewhat immune compromised because I had a valley fever (cocci) cavity the previous three years and a wedge resection surgery on my left lung. I had the surgery in Sept. and will be on anti fungal meds till the following Sept. I seem to catch every bug everyone in the family gets , so I have been sick pretty regularly.

I know they call pertussis the 100 day cough but is it the 4 month cough? Does pertussis become a barking cough after a few days? The doctor put me on antibiotics at the start of the fever since I have had so many problems with illness. The cost of going back to the doctor is more than I can afford at the moment so are there any thoughts out there??