coughing for 19 days after bush hogging

[npalen]

I normally get a one day delay after being exposed to an irritant. Albuteral (prescripton) vaporized with a nebulizer is my savior.

 

[TripleR]

Same thing happened to me several years ago. I grew up farming and kept hogging on our farms after I gave up farming. I bush hogged stuff over our tractors; maybe sneeze a time or two. Several years ago, I began getting bronchitis; seriously thought I might die as an ER was two hours. Finally realized what was causing it. My days of working in the fresh air were over. I now have to use a good quality mask with cab tractor.

My doctor said it was not unusual as we age.

 

[ning]

You may have gotten into a patch of poison ivy or poison oak and stirred up some of the oils in the plants. Even the dead ones are dangerous. Worst case is burning the stuff and inhaling the fumes.

I was going to suggest one of these; I once had a burn pile that a single poison oak plant had been carelessly tossed into and I had a (non-productive) cough for 6 weeks. How do firefighters manage?

 

[RNeumann]

I was going to suggest one of these; I once had a burn pile that a single poison oak plant had been carelessly tossed into and I had a (non-productive) cough for 6 weeks. How do firefighters manage?

Antihistamine and steroid shots if needed........good times!!! Kinda an itch in the back of my throat instead of SOB as OP describes though.

 

[JamesHW]

Never had as a result of brush mowing (did 2 hours this morning through the 7 foot tall stuff around our place, more in a little while) and have always been careful about burning poison ivy, oak or other nasty plants like sumac (my wife is deathly allergic to that stuff). But I do suffer from a lifetime of asthma and have had coughs that would not subside for days and the only thing that helped was the prescription cough syrup that contains a small amount of opium extract. They would only give enough for a day or two, but it did the job. Note I have never had pneumonia (my wife says I am not allowed to get it, so there is that). Nights when the cough would keep me awake or I was ill with the flu or a bad cold I would have a thermos of hot herbal tea with copious amounts of honey and spiked with whisky next to the bed. That way I could have a sip or two of warm, sweet tea and that would allow an hour of relief (the whisky may not have helped the cough, just made me feel better about it).

 

[rpm5101]

Don't wait, go see a doctor. You don't know what could have been there that you ran over. Best to get checked out.

 

[Redlands Okie]

Not a fan of doctor visits but as several have mentioned it seems a bit excessive. Might be a symptom or result of other issues being irritated.

 

[JamesHW]

Another reason to go to the doctor is a bad, unrelenting cough can also be indicative of issues related to acid reflux and the onset of throat cancer or other diseases such as whooping cough. 65% of throat cancer patients went to the doctor as a result of a cough.

Correction “Approximately 65% of people diagnosed with lung cancer have a chronic cough at diagnosis, and it’s often the reason prompting the visit to a physician.”

Cough! Is it Cancer?

 

[Cat_Driver]

Yep same here when I had an open cab. last time i said NO MORE. I went out and got a closed cab with heat and air and never had a problem since.

 

[drizler]

Get a couple of those 3M 6000 series masks with the P100 flat filters. Cheap and way more comfortable than any of the paper ones. They even fit (sort of) under a welders helmet. The pancake refills are super cheap bought by the bag. Why breathe the gunk if you don’t have to.