It was the early hours of Valentine’s day, around 1am, when I woke up again for a coughing fit. This was the 4th fit this evening. I had to be thankful, we could have been spending the night at the ER room and though I may have been having fits, I was in my own home and our daughter was sleeping in her bed.
Given our ER visit, my wife decided to stay home and make sure I was stable. To say that she’s been supportive is an understatement. She’s been amazing. We celebrated Valentine’s day at a local eatery. My pertussis felt left out and decided to join us with a coughing fit. I suppose it felt jealous.
Feeling more neglected by the afternoon, it reminded me that I was still suffering from it and I was hit with a coughing syncope. I remember needing to cough and going to the front room to grab a rag, and suddenly being shaken by my wife asking me if I was OK. Another close call happened 1 hour after. At this point I’d had 2 close-calls and 1 actual syncope in about 4 hours. Happy Valentine’s day to me.
My doctor had called earlier in the day and prescribed me a different form of antibiotics. I was ready to begin taking them. That evening I began to feel better. Yes, I know the efficacy of antibiotics is not immediate, but I did immediately feel better. That evening my fluid generation diminished, not to zero, but given my state for the past month, I was acutely aware of any change, small as it was.
The next day meant no coughing and I actually slept pretty well. The antibiotics were working. There was real hope. This illness was finally leaving my body.
Until now, all coughing fits had resulted in the extraction of mucus, which as disgusting as that may be, I was “used” to. The next few days, as the antibiotics continued to work, those coughing fits began to shift their purpose to something I had only read about.
The antibiotics were doing a great job reducing the creation of phlegm and this resulted in my feeling much better. But the coughing fits, their aggressiveness and violence, remained. Sure, I may not be having as many as before, but when they came, their intensity remained. How intense? Intense enough to cause me to vomit if there was any food in my stomach waiting to be digested.
The vomiting was something I’d never experienced before. It felt procedural. I felt no nausea prior, during or post. It felt as “normal” as coughing, in that it was simply a victim of my abdomen squeezing itself and since my stomach was there, well, sorry, it got squeezed also. And if there was anything in there, it was coming out.
For the next week, the duration of the antibiotics, my symptoms continued to improve. The production of fluids and the frequency of my coughing fits continued to decrease, steadily. Vomiting was something I could partly control by having small meals and knowing it only happened if I’d recently eaten.
Concerned the syncopes could have caused, or be causing, long-term brain damage, my doctor referred me to a neurologist who in turn ordered me a round of tests. These included blood work, a CT scan, MRI and an EEG test. All came back negative and my wife and I felt much better about my syncopes stopping once this illness finally ended.
One thing that was curious during this past month and round of syncopes was the fact that I’d not been hurt. Yes, after about 10 syncopes I had not yet hurt myself or others. Part of it was that I was diligent to cough in a safe location (while sitting), but unless I was laying down (which I could not do while coughing), there was still a risk of falling. A bunch of times my wife caught me as the syncope kicked in and I began to fall. Even the doctors would ask with disbelief if I had been hurt yet.
Sunday was a beautiful day. Bright and clear. The perfect day to go out. We were getting ready to go to the museum, when I had a syncope and fell to the floor. I was sitting down when the coughing fit came and didn’t think it would turn into much. The next thing I remember was seeing blood on the floor and thinking “oh, crap. I must have just passed out…” and then my wife knocking on the door asking if I was OK. Apparently a falling body makes a lot of noise.
The blood was coming from my lip. It seems I fell on my face and cut it on the floor. It was nothing more serious than a broken lip and some blood, but a reminder that syncopes were serious and that I had been very lucky so far. Very lucky.
We got ready for the museum and told everyone that asked that I had ran into a wall during the night. The last thing we needed was for our son and daughter to freak out. My daughter had seen enough in the past month and our son didn’t need these headaches.
The antibiotics lasted 7 days and they were, so far, the best 7 days I’d had. Yes, I’d been injured from a syncope for the first time, and the coughing fits were now including vomiting, but the production of fluid was definitely coming down and we were now waking up 2-3 times per night as opposed to 8 to 10.
Next time I will share with you what happens when your body’s immune system is low and the weird viruses that take advantage.
If you missed parts 1, 2 or 3, they are here.
