Phlegm

[learningmore]

Ok, so for the last 6 months whenever I wake up, I have this gross cough.

I'm not sick.

Chest Xrays fine.

Pulmonary tests fine.

Labs fine.

But I have constant shortness of breath.

Cardiac tests fine.

Cardiac markers fine.

Every few days I cough up some nasty phlegm in the morning.

I'm TMSing hard because of things going on, but I can't believe THIS would be a symptom.

My doctor says I have long COVID from the shot (let's not argue about whether or not this is real).

But can TMS actually produce phlegm?

I'm sure it can do shortness of breath.

Basically if I walk up the stairs I feel like I'm not getting enough breath. Heart rate is 100+ sometimes just when I stand up. Sounds like POTS, TBH, which is a side effect of the vaccine.

I've had basically every test you can get, and often, because I'm a crazy person who orders his own blood tests.

But this new symptom is ANNOYING as is the fact that I can't even work out anymore because even picking up the kettlebell makes me feel like I can't catch my breath for an hour.

Every step I take to improve my life worsens the symptoms. I think someone else wrote about this once.

It's like my mind hates me and wants to see me fail.

 

[LittleWildflower]

I’m breathless too and absolutely started developing phlegm and the urge to cough but it was never truly productive. Long covid/vaccination damage was suggested to me by my specialist but I developed my symptoms before that all existed so they didn’t correlate. My symptoms then switched for 6 months when I was diagnosed with something else and it all vanished- until it all came flooding back when they suggested I was anaemic and might ‘get breathless’. Now it’s back with vengeance. I’m catching my breath, straining to breath and have now developed a sore throat and phlegmy cough.

Ive had asthma, allergies, pleurisy and pneumonia too, so I know what those feel like but they all felt completely different to this. This feels like my rib muscles are tight, like a vice, and I have to pull them apart just to breathe in. I can feel it in my back and my neck. Like someone is sitting on my chest. Coughing sometimes releases the pressure but then it’ll tighten up again. I’ve had chest pain too. All ‘normal’. Salbutamol/inhalers actually made me feel worse too. My lung specialist repeatedly told me I have disorganised breathing which is most definitely TMS. But deeply unpleasant none the less. Especially with the history of lung issues and knowing how serious it can get. It’s taken me a while to accept the TMS diagnosis on this but I can see the connection now. I feel breathless and faint whenever I don’t want to talk to someone or do something physical.

 

[JanAtheCPA]

@LittleWildflower, I just responded on your other post, but I did not address the quick fixes of therapeutic breathing and engaging the vagus nerve. Just look those up, find a mindful breathing exercise that appeals to you, and practice it all day long whenever you think of it, and especially when you are caught up in the panic of a symptom. It's amazingly effective in the moment, and the more you do it the more easily you'll remember to do it when needed. But you still have to "do the work" that I talked about in that post

@learningmore, I know you've been around for a while - maybe you haven't come across breathing as a technique (although of course it's an important basis of meditation) so perhaps this is something that could help you in the moment as well.

 

[TrustIt]

@LittleWildflower, I just responded on your other post, but I did not address the quick fixes of therapeutic breathing and engaging the vagus nerve. Just look those up, find a mindful breathing exercise that appeals to you, and practice it all day long whenever you think of it, and especially when you are caught up in the panic of a symptom. It's amazingly effective in the moment, and the more you do it the more easily you'll remember to do it when needed. But you still have to "do the work" that I talked about in that post

@learningmore, I know you've been around for a while - maybe you haven't come across breathing as a technique (although of course it's an important basis of meditation) so perhaps this is something that could help you in the moment as well.

The point made about the nervous system is so valid for so many symptoms. JanAtheCPA has mentioned, and perhaps others, the stress we have all been under the last few years. I finally went to a Chinese Medicine practitioner and have found relief with accupuncture and herbs. I am not promoting this external "fix", but including it because it was, for me, a "step" I needed to calm down in order to even begin to process my thoughts around TMS. My digestive problems are SO much better (IBS, Orthorexia), post nasal drip considerably better (20 years!). I have been able to concentrate on how I react to my thoughts and putting the TMS work first and foremost. I realize just how anxious and fearful I have been and can feel safe and send love to my body instead of hating it and chastising it and blaming it. I have treated it terribly with my thoughts. Deep breathing helps tremendously, calming the vagus nerve and sending the right signals for surrendering, even with pain/discomfort occurring. Sometimes we need some outside help, even if it's placebo, but what's the difference if it helps and we just need to break the habituated cycle.