why does coughing get worse in supine position?

[chef]

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i've got a flu and everytime i lie down i get uncontrollable cough ! why does coughing get so much worse when lying supine?

 

[gimmedog]

post nasal drip

 

[Darth Vader]

you probably have some fluid in your lungs. you should get a chest x-ray to see if you have pneumonia or something.

 

[GeddyLee]

hmm...i'd discount the pneumonia idea

 

[edinOH]

Cough exacerbated by supine position?

ddx:

1. Cancer
2. SARS
3. Anthrax
4. SARS/Anthrax superinfection
5. TB
6. Lung mets
7. neurosyphilis
8. GERD
9. pneumonia
10. viral uri


I loved my medicine months.

 

[Renovar]

Originally posted by edinOH
Cough exacerbated by supine position?

ddx:

1. Cancer
2. SARS
3. Anthrax
4. SARS/Anthrax superinfection
5. TB
6. Lung mets
7. neurosyphilis
8. GERD
9. pneumonia
10. viral uri


I loved my medicine months.

You forgot CHF... and Wegner's granulomatosis, for that matter... 🙂

 

[DrQuinn]

PE.

Q, DO

 

[Sessamoid]

Alien egg implantation.

 

[DrQuinn]

Blue balls.

Q, DO

 

[Febrifuge]

Put a cup or so of water in a Ziploc sandwich bag. Seal it. Set it on the counter with the zip closure at the top. That's the air that your lungs are using, and you're able to move the top of the bag fairly easily without disturbing the water level, like your lungs are able to move the air while you're sitting up.

Now lay it on its side; the air bubble now spreads out, and what was the front surface of the bag is now the top. Moving the air around means moving it a longer distance, and across more fluid.

Your lungs aren't really like that; they're more like a damp sponge with channels for the air. But the general idea - gravity changes the shape of the collected fluid, and the distribution of its weight - is part of the answer you're looking for. A cough is triggered when fluid gums up a little section of your airway, somewhere along the line, or tickles the right kind of nerve ending. The odds of either or both of those things happening increases when you lie down.

 

[Renovar]

Originally posted by QuinnNSU
Blue balls.

Q, DO

Oh yea how can I forget about this one?!?!??!

How'bout ectopic rectal pregnancy?

 

[Crypt Abscess]

Speaking of blue ball...what is the medical term or urologic description for this dreadfully painful condition? Crypt, MSIV

 

[ckent]

Originally posted by Crypt Abscess
Speaking of blue ball...what is the medical term or urologic description for this dreadfully painful condition? Crypt, MSIV

is it testicular torsion?

 

[Docgeorge]

I think he means the kind of blue balls that is associated with a chronic lack of sexual activity secondary to being in med school.

 

[DrQuinn]

Pelvic Congestion Syndrome.

No lie, learned about it in second year. Treatment? Return of venous blood low from the splanchnic... go lift up on a heavy table and do a valsalva (like the hulk). Me? I prefer, uh, manual disimpaction...

Q, DO

 

[entpa]

Don't forget GERD...

 

[Renovar]

Originally posted by ckent
is it testicular torsion?

I think he meant male-patterned androgenic endometriosis on the balls, which make them have a blue appearance...