Choking on mucus. No jokes.

Seriously, I have no idea what kind of sickness is hitting me.

Just three weeks ago, I caught some kind of infection. I was coughing like a chain smoker every 20 seconds... drinking teas, using throat lozenges... my nose was never even stuffed and I didn't even have a fever, so I had to drag myself to high school in this total mess.

The coughing hasn't stopped. Not as often, but it’s not dry anymore—it's wet. And there’s this Fak slime stuck deep in my throat that I just can't spit out. It only moves up toward my throat when I cough hard enough. It’s awful. Today, I was reading the paper, had a little cough, and that slime or whatever it is just surged up... I couldn't swallow or breathe, felt like it was going straight into my lungs. I stood up, went to grab some water, turned on the faucet, tried to sip... but it wouldn't go down. Once I finally got some water in me, it was okay.

I almost choked, unknown.

Same thing at school. As soon as I start coughing a bit harder, all that slimy crap rises up. I'm just wondering when I'm actually gonna choke.

Every morning when I wake up, I'm coughing constantly. Since I'm still half-asleep, I end up coughing a bit too hard and it makes me nauseous, so I throw up every single morning. Of course, I manage to settle it by drinking water.

Now I just want to know what's wrong with me, what I should do about this and everything else...

Have you thought about seeing a doctor? 🙂

Just try to drink plenty of fluids and work on coughing that stuff up. You should probably head to the clinic too, just so they can prescribe you something 🙂

Spike Lee, you're going to be the death of us one day. Between all that beer before your dentist appointments and you choking on your own breath, it’s only a matter of weeks before you come down with your first STD. 😁

Have you thought about seeing a doctor? Drink plenty of fluids and try to cough that stuff up. You should probably get a prescription from a professional, too.

Spike Lee, my advice would be the same as Casey Palmer5's. She clearly knows her stuff when it comes to health and medicine—kudos to her. 👋
My suggestion is to go see a doctor. If you've been coughing and hacking for more than three weeks, especially after dealing with an infection, it's time to take it seriously. It could move into your lungs or your bronchi. It doesn't even matter if you don't have a fever; just go get checked out. I hope everything turns out okay. You really shouldn't mess around with a cough like this. 😉

Honey and a little bit of ginger. Or just stir it into some tea... it’ll definitely help.

And quit smoking.🙂

Just go to the pharmacy and pick up some Buscopan tablets. They work fast and they actually get the job done.

I have plenty of advice to offer, but I’m not typing a single word of it until you go see a doctor.

Honestly, it sounds like you might be dealing with some bronchitis, or even just a nasty allergy flare-up—I know some people where a cough like that is a total dead giveaway for allergies. You really ought to swing by the doctor's office to get something official prescribed for that cough, though. But hey, if you’re really not feeling the doctor thing right now, you could always just hit up a pharmacy and grab some syrup. It worked wonders for me when I was dealing with the exact same coughing fits.👍

Oh yeah, gotta mention I don't smoke. (weee)

Just taking some syrup... haven't made it to the doctor yet

I went through the exact same thing last year. I live with asthma and strictly follow my medication regimen, but back then, nothing seemed to touch it—not even my Albuterol inhalers or anything else I tried.
That was until my doctor finally put me on Erythromycin, an antibiotic.
I spent four straight days and nights coughing incessantly without a single moment of relief.
Regardless, you should definitely go see a doctor...

I’ve been dealing with this endless cough for over four weeks now because of my ragweed allergy. It was honestly brutal. To make matters worse, I had to be at my internship, and the pain in my ribs got so intense that I actually started worrying I might have a fracture... I couldn't sleep on my side, I couldn't even touch my ribs, and taking a deep breath was nearly impossible. Every time a coughing fit hit, I had to clutch my torso just to catch my breath. All in all, it was a total nightmare, and knowing my luck, I'll probably be dealing with this all through the fall again...

I went through the exact same thing last year at the start of August. It was brutal—for three straight weeks, I couldn't stop coughing, day or night. I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep, and I didn't even get to enjoy my time swimming in the ocean properly! At first, I was convinced it was a ragweed allergy, but since it was my first time ever dealing with anything like this, and I was vacationing down in San Diego, I was totally lost on what to do. The locals there kept insisting that ragweed isn't an issue in Southern California and that it definitely doesn't bloom in August, so they told me it had to be something else entirely!
I went to the doctor and they prescribed five different medications, but honestly? They didn't help one bit. I was still coughing nonstop. There were moments where I'd lose my breath completely and feel like I was literally choking!
Then, just two days before my three-week trip ended, everything suddenly just... settled down. It cleared up all on its own, so by the time I got back home, the coughing was gone. I would give anything just to know what actually caused it!

Now, I'm already starting to dread the idea of this happening again this year...😢

I’m gonna tell you what happened to me this morning, no exaggeration, no acting tough or anything...

Woke up in the middle of the night, same old story, dealing with my mucus issues. Coughed hard and for the first time, the gunk actually hit my mouth—tasted kind of salty. I headed over to the window, spat it out, and that was it. Back to bed.

Woke up again five minutes later. Or so I thought. It was actually 7:00 PM minus 20. Mucus problems again. Tried to clear it out like last time, coughing like crazy so the stuff would fly out, but instead of hitting my mouth, it got stuck right in my throat. I tried to pull it up, you know, that gross "rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgg" sound, but nothing!
Panic set in. I scrambled toward the door, still unable to breathe. Made it to the kitchen, turned on the tap to grab a glass of water, but I couldn't even swallow. I couldn't draw the water in because I couldn't suck in any air. Tried breathing through my mouth and nose, nothing worked. About 30 seconds had passed and I hadn't gotten a single breath. Total panic. My mom bursts out of her room, followed by our dog barking at me, seeing me choking.

She sees I can't get air and asks, "What happened?!" or something like that. I wasn't really processing anything around me. I couldn't talk, just making these pathetic "uuuuuk uuuuuuk" sounds because I couldn't catch my breath. She grabbed a glass of water and tried holding it to my throat, but I couldn't drink.
And unknown, a whole minute had gone by. Still no air. The mucus was completely blocking the way.

Mom was panicking too, yelling at me to breathe—somewhere between crying and being furious. But I just couldn't! "I'm gonna die." That's what I told myself.
Trying to breathe, but it's like someone is strangling me. No air coming in. Mom thought maybe if she shoved her finger down my throat she could make me throw it all up. She tries, I feel the urge to vomit, but nothing comes out! I don't get it, maybe the sphincter is just too tight or my brain just locked everything down. It just wouldn't happen. I saw there was no help coming. I was done.

Two minutes without air.

I forced the kitchen door open to get to the backyard, trying to gasp for air. I wasn't looking at the scenery, wasn't thinking about God, my whole life didn't flash before my eyes. I was just thinking, "I'm dying. Unknown..." Mom is still shoving her fingers down my throat, trying to trigger a gag reflex, but I can't vomit even though I clearly am about to. I'm going "bljuuu" but nothing happens. She starts massaging my throat and pushing deeper, I don't even know what she was doing, but I've been without oxygen for two and a half minutes now. I collapse to the ground.

I couldn't stay on my feet anymore and just gave up to the floor.

Then, I find this tiny, microscopic gap in the mucus, and I take my first little breath. It was so small, like taking a sip of air for 0.1 seconds. But it was enough.

I pulled myself up. Spitting saliva, hoping there was some mucus mixed in. Didn't see anything green, just white spit. Maybe it was just white mucus. I slowly started breathing harder and harder. Mom shoves water under my nose to drink; I take it, and after two and a half minutes of no air, I finally sit down in a chair.

Sat there in the chair and didn't say a word. Not from shock, but because I physically couldn't. I tried to speak, but all that came out was "bluuu akkk ram." It was horrific. For a second, I actually thought it was sleep paralysis, but it wasn't a bad dream. It was real.

After what felt like two seconds (actually ten minutes), some chamomile tea appeared. I downed it quickly and told Mom I had to head out for my training prep. I think I managed to say those three words for about 30 seconds. "Going to practice."

Mom tells me not to go, stay until she makes more hot tea and breakfast, but I told her I wouldn't make it and had to leave. Like the whole choking incident didn't even happen, for God's sake!
I ended up drinking the hot tea anyway, ate breakfast, and headed for the bus.

Halfway there, I realize I didn't grab my wallet. My transit pass is in there.
Nothing for it. Heading back home for my wallet. If I try to catch the tram, I won't make it to the neighborhood on time...

I ring the doorbell, hear Mom bolt up, probably thinking there's another emergency. She looks at me totally crazed, and I just say, "Forgot my pass," and head across town to get to practice.

I was terrified to even open my mouth... just one accidental cough felt like it could be the end. I genuinely thought I was dying right then and there. Things have calmed down now, but honestly? Nobody believed a word I said. My friends just gave me crap, saying I was acting psychotic or losing my mind after a few minutes... like I was making it all up.

But I almost died.
unknown, man.

The choking thing happened again while I was walking home with two buddies. This massive wave of mucus hit me out of nowhere—I tried coughing it back up into my throat (how does that even work if I'm coughing it UP?!) but I couldn't breathe for 15 seconds flat.

I'm scared.

Look, you’ve got phlegm up to your throat and you're still just sitting there waiting...
I guess last night's little episode didn't scare you enough! If it had, you would have already been at the doctor's office.

I truly believe you could shake all this misery in a single day if you just tried some decent treatment, but it seems like you actually enjoy nursing your illness...

My mom was chatting with a pediatrician friend of hers. She suggested getting some syrup—I can't remember the exact name, just that it's clear-pink and tastes like nothing—that actually suppresses the cough reflex.

That's specifically for a dry cough.

A buddy told me I should've gone for the stuff meant for wet coughs, you know, the kind that breaks up the mucus so you can actually cough it up. Says that's why what I'm taking isn't working...

According to WebMD regarding asthma:
Neck muscles tighten, making speech difficult or even impossible. An attack often ends with coughing up thick mucus. Asthma typically worsens at night, with attacks frequently occurring between 2 and 4 AM.

edit: maybe it's also this 😢

Just go see your doctor and get a proper checkup instead of trying to play scientist on your own.

BTW, you actually need that other syrup, not the one meant for a dry cough.

I'm taking Pholcodin.

Great, $17 just a total waste of time...

Arthur Barnes said:I'm taking Pholcodin.

That's great, $17 totally wasted effort.

If you'd actually listened to your doctor, you wouldn't be throwing money $17 out the window, and you definitely wouldn't be dealing with those choking episodes from all that mucus 🙂...

But hey, noooo, I'm not gonna lecture you... 🙂

Exactly.

I didn't just go out and grab that syrup on my own. My mom called the pediatrician, and based on what I was feeling, she told me to take it. Looking back now... maybe wasn't the best move.

She was supposed to swing by today to check me out, but there's some stuff going on with her family's health, so she hasn't made it yet.

It’s brutal. Every time I start coughing, I can feel the phlegm rising and I can barely breathe.
Anyway, if you don't hear from me tomorrow, at least you'll know why...

Maybe try using a nebulizer to help clear out all that congestion, stay hydrated, and definitely make sure you hit up the doctor tomorrow 🙂