Experience with Whooping Cough?

[Deleted]

I am convinced I have whooping cough and not "allergies" that I was diagnosed with by my doc....

Three weeks ago I was VERY sick with a sore throat and chest congestion. My nose never ran, but all I did for an entire week was sleep and cough...

Once week 1 was done, I started having a productive cough, but rather than cough up nasty thick stuff like from a cold/flu, I cough up an entire mouth full of watery spit.

When I cough, my eyes immediately water and I cannot breathe - at all.  I can't breathe in or out. Not similar to when I have had bronchitis/pneumonia in the past, this is very different. I get light-headed and have almost passed out, nearly daily since.

This is week 4 and my throat is still killing me, though I don't have strep, and I am still coughing and unable to breathe immediately after. But, other than the horrid cough/lack of breathing symptom, I feel fine.

I searched online for my symptoms and I think I have whooping cough... Anyone ever have it? 

I just returned from a week of vacation in a completely different climate, and the problem continued with no change, which I think would have been different if I had "allergies."

[Deleted]

Also wanted to add, this would also explain why my kids have not gotten this nasty crap, because they had the booster recently.  I have not been vaccinated against it.

[Deleted]

My son had it.  He wasn't diagnosed for a LONG time, so it was 6 months of coughing.  At first they thought he had allergies, then had him in for a complete pulmonary workup and started treating him for asthma.  The nebulizer and inhalers helped, but he wasn't getting better.  Then a couple months later we were at urgent care and I overheard about all this whooping cough going around and the entire little league being out with it.  I said, "Um...I think I'd like my son tested for whooping cough" and sure enough it came back positive. 

That was a couple years ago.  I don't really have any advice except to have them test you for it.  It can be around a LONG time if you don't get treated. 

[nutty]

I had whooping cough when I was about 9. It was horrible. How often are the attacks?

[myrrh]

My coworker's son caught it and passed it on to my coworker...apparently whooping cough in adults manifests as laryngitis, she couldn't talk for a few days. Maybe you have bronchitis?

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

I had it.....but I was only sick (sore throat, achiness) for a little over a day.  When it was over, I was left with a cough that would leave me gasping for air and it fractured one of my ribs.  I never had any sort of laryngitis.  That cough stuck around damn near 3 months AFTER I was treated with antibiotics.

Get your tail to he doctor, because if you DO have whopping cough, you are exposing everyone you work with, and if someone has a young child who cannot be fully vaccinated yet, then this could kill them.

[Deleted]

how are all of you getting whopping cough if you've been vaccinated?

[Deleted]

Oct 24, 2014 11:25:25 GMT -5 @singlemominmd said:

how are all of you getting whopping cough if you've been vaccinated?

I was told the vaccine before 2004 or so was crap. 

[NancysSummerSip]

Oct 24, 2014 11:31:47 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Oct 24, 2014 11:25:25 GMT -5 @singlemominmd said:

how are all of you getting whopping cough if you've been vaccinated?

I was told the vaccine before 2004 or so was crap. 

I had to get an adult vaccination before I traveled to Canada two years ago. I heard the same thing as MPL; the vaccination of my childhood was no longer good.

[Deleted]

It was a big deal when it happened here, they actually traced back to who they believe were the initial patients.  A family (in my kid's charter school) that did not vaccinate. 

[shanendoah]

Whooping cough is one of those things they didn't used to push the boosters for.
We then had an outbreak here in WA (and I think in other states, too), and they started pushing the boosters. I also think it might have mutated to the point where older vaccinations were no longer effective because for our initial foster license, we had to show we'd had the whooping cough booster in the last two years, but this time round, while we had to get new TB tests, we just had to provide the record that we had the whooping cough vaccine.


I had a co-worker who we thought might have whooping cough. It was during the outbreak period, so it seemed like a real possibility. She saw her doctor, who tested for it (because of the outbreak), but it was really just a bad case of bronchitis that didn't want to go away.
Another friend had bronchitis and walking pneumonia, and that could also fit some of your symptoms.

I very much vote for getting in to your doctor for more tests.

[lynnerself]

Go back to the doctor. Ask to be tested for whooping cough (pertussis). This testing is fairly common.

Also get you Tdap vaccination. Most adults should get this booster.

[Deleted]

Oct 24, 2014 11:31:47 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Oct 24, 2014 11:25:25 GMT -5 @singlemominmd said:

how are all of you getting whopping cough if you've been vaccinated?

I was told the vaccine before 2004 or so was crap. 

didn't your child get the vaccine after 2004?

[lynnerself]

Oct 24, 2014 11:48:55 GMT -5 @singlemominmd said:

Oct 24, 2014 11:31:47 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

I was told the vaccine before 2004 or so was crap. 

didn't your child get the vaccine after 2004?

read her post
"this would also explain why my kids have not gotten this nasty crap, because they had the booster recently"

[Deleted]

Oct 24, 2014 11:52:42 GMT -5 lynnerself said:

Oct 24, 2014 11:48:55 GMT -5 @singlemominmd said:

didn't your child get the vaccine after 2004?

read her post
"this would also explain why my kids have not gotten this nasty crap, because they had the booster recently"

perhaps you should read her post


Posted by minnesotapaintlady
55 minutes ago
My son had it. He wasn't diagnosed for a LONG time, so it was 6 months of coughing. At first they thought he had allergies, then had him in for a complete pulmonary workup and started treating him for asthma. The nebulizer and inhalers helped, but he wasn't getting better. Then a couple months later we were at urgent care and I overheard about all this whooping cough going around and the entire little league being out with it. I said, "Um...I think I'd like my son tested for whooping cough" and sure enough it came back positive.

[Deleted]

Oct 24, 2014 11:48:55 GMT -5 @singlemominmd said:

Oct 24, 2014 11:31:47 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

I was told the vaccine before 2004 or so was crap. 

didn't your child get the vaccine after 2004?

I don't know.  I was just guessing on the 2004 year anyhow.  At the time they told me anything in the past 6 or 7 years and I don't really remember exactly when he had whooping cough.  I think he had most of his shots by age 2 and he was born in 2002. 

I do know that a huge chunk of the kids had whooping cough here that year.  They had to completely shut down the little league because almost every player was out. 

[lynnerself]

Oct 24, 2014 11:55:48 GMT -5 @singlemominmd said:

Oct 24, 2014 11:52:42 GMT -5 lynnerself said:

read her post
"this would also explain why my kids have not gotten this nasty crap, because they had the booster recently"

perhaps you should read her post

My apologies, I thought we were still talking about Shasta

[lynnerself]

Oct 24, 2014 11:55:48 GMT -5 @singlemominmd said:

Oct 24, 2014 11:52:42 GMT -5 lynnerself said:

double post

[Angel!]

I get a horrible cough like that after I get sick. Mine is asthma related though, it will last months if I don't get it treated. I don't feel as though I have any problems breathing & don't wheeze or anything, but when they test me they can tell I am not breathing right. Go on some steroids for a few days & feel great.

Go to the doctor again.  Whether it is WC or something else, you need to see a doctor.

[973beachbum]

This thread scares the crap out of me.  My DD had a bad reaction to the pertussis, AKA whooping cough, vaccine when she was little.  The second booster resulted in a worse reaction.  After that the Dr and I decided to not risk a third even worse reaction.  Unfortunately that means she can't get the whooping cough vaccine or the TDaP. 

If she got whooping cough from someone who choose to not vaccinate, for any reason other than medical ones, I would be hard pressed not to run them over in the parking lot with my car.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Oct 24, 2014 11:25:25 GMT -5 @singlemominmd said:

how are all of you getting whopping cough if you've been vaccinated?

This was around 2003, and most adults do not receive a booster if you get immunized.  They receive a DT vaccine for their booster, not a DTP (or now, it's DTaP) that they give children.  As I worked in a medical center, I was ALWAYS fully immunized, but this was about the time that they were realizing that most adults that had been immunized to pertussis as children were no longer immune.

[Deleted]

Oct 24, 2014 12:27:38 GMT -5 973beachbum said:

This thread scares the crap out of me.  My DD had a bad reaction to the pertussis, AKA whooping cough, vaccine when she was little.  The second booster resulted in a worse reaction.  After that the Dr and I decided to not risk a third even worse reaction.  Unfortunately that means she can't get the whooping cough vaccine or the TDaP. 

If she got whooping cough from someone who choose to not vaccinate, for any reason other than medical ones, I would be hard pressed not to run them over in the parking lot with my car.

however, it sounds like everyone on here who has had it WAS vaccinated.

[973beachbum]

Oct 24, 2014 12:31:37 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

Oct 24, 2014 11:25:25 GMT -5 @singlemominmd said:

how are all of you getting whopping cough if you've been vaccinated?

This was around 2003, and most adults do not receive a booster if you get immunized.  They receive a DT vaccine for their booster, not a DTP (or now, it's DTaP) that they give children.  As I worked in a medical center, I was ALWAYS fully immunized, but this was about the time that they were realizing that most adults that had been immunized to pertussis as children were no longer immune.

The DTaP is the standard now for adults needing a tetanus booster.  My DD needed a tetanus booster before entering college this year.  Getting a booster that was just a plain old DT vaccine was hell!  All the Dr's offices and pharmacies said they werre no longer allowed to get the plain old DT.  they said they were required to get the DTaP for all tetanus boosters.

In the end the Dr had to write a special Rx saying she needed the DT vaccine and couldn't have the pertussis vaccine because of a bad reaction.  The pharmacy had to order the DT vaccine from some place in Atlanta and it took weeks to get it. 

[Deleted]

According to the CDC, effectiveness is 7 out of 10 for the Tdap and 8-9 out of 10 for the DTaP, but with both vaccines protection fades over time. 

www.cdc.gov/vaccines/adults/rec-vac/pregnant/whooping-cough/vacc-effectiveness.html

[973beachbum]

Oct 24, 2014 12:35:58 GMT -5 @singlemominmd said:

Oct 24, 2014 12:27:38 GMT -5 973beachbum said:

This thread scares the crap out of me.  My DD had a bad reaction to the pertussis, AKA whooping cough, vaccine when she was little.  The second booster resulted in a worse reaction.  After that the Dr and I decided to not risk a third even worse reaction.  Unfortunately that means she can't get the whooping cough vaccine or the TDaP. 

If she got whooping cough from someone who choose to not vaccinate, for any reason other than medical ones, I would be hard pressed not to run them over in the parking lot with my car.

however, it sounds like everyone on here who has had it WAS vaccinated.

But they got it because of someone who wasn't vaccinated who got it and passed it to others.

This is that herd immunity thing.  As long as almost everyone got vaccinated as children, everyone else was fine.  Now that so many are not vacinating because of something that never happened it is putting everyone at risk.  This will change because of the tetanus booster being changed to the TDaP but it will take time. 

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Oct 24, 2014 12:35:58 GMT -5 @singlemominmd said:

Oct 24, 2014 12:27:38 GMT -5 973beachbum said:

This thread scares the crap out of me.  My DD had a bad reaction to the pertussis, AKA whooping cough, vaccine when she was little.  The second booster resulted in a worse reaction.  After that the Dr and I decided to not risk a third even worse reaction.  Unfortunately that means she can't get the whooping cough vaccine or the TDaP. 

If she got whooping cough from someone who choose to not vaccinate, for any reason other than medical ones, I would be hard pressed not to run them over in the parking lot with my car.

however, it sounds like everyone on here who has had it WAS vaccinated.

They WERE vaccinated, but had never had a booster because adults were not given a booster to pertussis when they were immunized against DT.  They realized this in the early 2000s.  And as most do not get regular DT vaccinations, what is the likelihood that they'd get a DTaP?

The medical center where I worked was in the process of getting people in for the pertussis vaccine around 2006 or so, when they realized that this was a problem.  For adults, this is not a life threatening disease, it really is more of an annoyance.  However, if an adult infects an unimmunized infant, it can be fatal.

[gooddecisions]

That reminds me, I really need to swing by the pharmacy and get the DTaP. I can't say for sure if I've had that booster. It's tricky keeping up with the stuff when you're an adult and don't need to show immunization records for your job, like you would with school. The only doc I see once a year is my gyn, who does not mention vaccinations.

[midjd]

Oct 24, 2014 13:36:44 GMT -5 gooddecisions said:

That reminds me, I really need to swing by the pharmacy and get the DTaP. I can't say for sure if I've had that booster. It's tricky keeping up with the stuff when you're an adult and don't need to show immunization records for your job, like you would with school. The only doc I see once a year is my gyn, who does not mention vaccinations.

Did you get it while you were pregnant? My OB pretty much required it since whooping cough has been on the rise for a couple of years.

[gooddecisions]

Oct 24, 2014 13:56:06 GMT -5 midjd said:

Oct 24, 2014 13:36:44 GMT -5 gooddecisions said:

That reminds me, I really need to swing by the pharmacy and get the DTaP. I can't say for sure if I've had that booster. It's tricky keeping up with the stuff when you're an adult and don't need to show immunization records for your job, like you would with school. The only doc I see once a year is my gyn, who does not mention vaccinations.

Did you get it while you were pregnant? My OB pretty much required it since whooping cough has been on the rise for a couple of years.

I hope so, but really have no idea. They sent me to a lab for all my blood work and I have no idea what half of it was for. I was too busy to question stuff and just followed directions to get it done. I also got a bunch of shots before I traveled to India, but again- I have no idea and just went to a clinic. It's embarrassing that I don't know this stuff.

[Angel!]

Oct 24, 2014 13:56:06 GMT -5 midjd said:

Oct 24, 2014 13:36:44 GMT -5 gooddecisions said:

That reminds me, I really need to swing by the pharmacy and get the DTaP. I can't say for sure if I've had that booster. It's tricky keeping up with the stuff when you're an adult and don't need to show immunization records for your job, like you would with school. The only doc I see once a year is my gyn, who does not mention vaccinations.

Did you get it while you were pregnant? My OB pretty much required it since whooping cough has been on the rise for a couple of years.

My OB did as well for my 3rd pregnancy, but not for the first 2. I think this is a pretty recent change in recommendations.