Support brace for coughing?

Hi Sarah

My chronic coughing like you describe was one of the things that I think worsened my POP's to a point where I went to a gyno about the POP's. Luckily I found this site before I went to talk about surgery, and the rest is history.

I ended up doing a Buteyko breathing course because the asthma medications I took for about three years were not controlling it terribly well and my asthma specialist basically gave up on me. I was able to wean off the medication (a great relief) and I have never had a bad chronic cough develop again, despite several winter wogs and flus which would previously have left me dry retching and wheezing for months.

It works on the principle of teaching you to breathe only through your nose, to breathe less often and to retain some air in your lungs, and to train the brain with special breathing exercises to do this automatically.

I don't think my POP's would be nearly as easy to manage if I was still coughing. One of the horrible things about coughing is the fear that your POP's will get worse, and there seems to be nothing short of stuffing yourself full of steroids that will fix it. As a results of the steroids you then develop a fear of what the steroids are doing to your bones, skin and general health. It just becomes one big fear trip.

I have now left that fear far behind and developed a new trust in my body's ability to heal itself as long as I can help it along with appropriate practises. I hope lyou can do the same.

Cheers

Louise

Hi Sarah

As a child I suffered from these chronic coughing things every time I had a cold. I would get over the cold and end up coughing really seriously for perhaps 2 or three months afterwards. Eventually it would clear up, perhaps with a change in weather. As I got older the coughing after respitratory viruses got worse until a doctor put me onto asthma medication which cleared it up in a week or so, which was miraculous. About 2004, after one particular virus I developed a wheeze and difficulty inhaling, which was pretty scary. I was once again put on asthma medication but it never cleared up and I was left with what I think was described as bronchial asthma. However the only chronic coughing I had was trying to clear my lungs. I still gurgled horribly on each inspiration and expiration, but had no scary tightening. Eventually my lung specialist said that, as all the medication wasn't managing it, it wasn't really asthma. He thought it was originating in my sinuses and sent me off to an ear nose and throat specialist (problem solved for him!). The ENT man said "maybe". At that point I took it into my own hands and did this course.

I think it runs differently in different parts of the world. Prof Buteyko developed the theory and the exercises but many practitioners use these exercises and practices plus other things from other alternative therapies. I don't know where you live, but if you Google 'Buteyko' and your country you should be able to find practitioners.

It was not claimable under health insurance because it is not endorsed by the medical system as being useful. It is very difficult to do the research to validate it, both in practical terms and statistically. The cynic in me says that the asthma industry has too much to lose by endorsing it, even though I know several severe asthmatics who have had complete recovery. The scientist in me says they haven't got the sponsorship for the research because there are no commercial interests with anything to gain from it. A bit like Wholewoman.

When I worked out the maths of how much the course of six sessions cost me and compared it to the cost of gap payments on local medical consultations, mileage to get to the city to my lung specialist once a year, the cost of medications (I don't get any pensioner subsidies), the time off work to go to the city to the specialist and all the scans and x-rays, the fact that I was now changing my specialist and would no doubt need more scans and tests etc, I worked out that it would pay for itself in about 2-3 years - that is if it worked. It was a calculated gamble, on the basis that I had never been hospitalised, so I couldn't be that sick. The gamble paid off. I could easily have started medication again at any time, so there was little to lose. I was convinced from what I had read and others who had done it that at worst I would be able to drop my medication considerably, which would have just meant that the payback breakeven point would take longer to reach.

The improvements were immediate. I never suffered from that hacking cough again. I have been able to recover from every respiratory viruses without resorting to cough suppressants and other drugs, and I was able to finish weaning off the corticosteroids while I was doing the course, and I ditched the Ventolin a couple of months after finishing the Buteyko course. I have never used Ventolin again, and by 2 years after the course my sinuses had cleared completely and I no longer had catarrgh at all, ie no more constant, wet cough. When my kids were little I would religiously have a flu vax every winter, cos I knew that if I got flu the whole family would suffer, as DH was working very long hours and the buck stopped with me. I have shed the fear that went with that and haven't had a fluvax for several years. I have had flu once or twice, but now I recover from it quickly and hardly ever do any coughing while I have it. I just think it is amazing.

Hope you get to the bottom of the mass in your throat. Not nice. I can see where the doctor is coming from. When my air tubes felt so irritated I felt that the coughing would start as a result of the two sides even touching each other. The whole windpipe and throat felt very sensitive all the time.

But the point is that my windpipes should never have been so inflamed and sensitive in the first place. Breathe in and out through the nose all the time and the air is warmed and filtered by all the nasal mucosa and twisty turny passages. The result is no throat irritation. It is simple really. There is more to Buteyko than that but it just seems to be commonsense when you think about it.

Cheers

Louise

a question--i used to have a book on this, and started the breathing exercises at one point. after about 3 days i got really really ill with stomach issues and always wondered if the breathings could cause you to detox, or if it was complete coincidence. do you think it could do that?

i fell off the wagon on the breathings and didn't go back, but this makes me think i should look again. i'm petrified of getting a bad cough because of my prolapses. i'd love to feel like i was taking control...

kiki

I bet that mass is irritating your trachea. My dad has a mass that bothers him- but I think it is considered a bone spur. Anyway it makes him cough when he is on his back-
I don't know if a V-2 would help- but a tampon might- I use one if I know I am going to be doing heavy lifting.
what position do you use when you cough? I know if I get down to elbows and knees it decreases the pressure to my pelvic floor pretty well.

Hi Kiki

Yes, I got that too, while I was learning the breathing method. I got so nauseous and 'out of sorts'. It was like motion sickness. I had to stop the exercises when it happened. It still took a few minutes for the feeling to pass. It turned out, once I did some reading, to be what I am sure was a form of altitude sickness. It is caused by not enough oxygen. I even got it during the session when I was learning the troublesome exercise, and had to go outside and get some fresh air for a few minutes until I felt better.

Once I had the following session with my teacher I learned the next set of exercises, which fixed the problem, and I have never experienced it again. The next set of exercises started off with more air in my lungs, which is probably why the problem no longer occurred.

That's one of the reasons it is important to be in touch with a qualified teacher, rather than just learning it out of a book. It was the most horrible sensation and it nearly put me off going further, but I am glad I persisted.

Cheers

Louise

I'm so relieved to read so many stories of people overcoming chronic coughs! I began looking into buteyko before my prolapse (I wish I had gone deeper with it at the time) but now I'm still coughing (every cold I get spirals downward into a hacking dry cough OR bronchitis) but every time I cough I feel a wave of panic... which actually makes me cough more.

How do you position yourself when you cough? For example, if I'm at home is getting on all fours best? Or laying down? When I'm standing or sitting at work what is best?

Thanks, I am getting in touch with out local buteyko educators right now.
How do you position your body when you cough?

If you have a good understanding of prolapse and have mastered the elements of Whole Woman posture, then it is really just a matter of sticking to those principles. For a bad spell of chronic coughing when you are at home, yes, getting down on all fours would be most protective of the pelvic organ support system. Otherwise, sitting in good posture with lumbar curve in place (not slouched back with a flattened lower spine) can keep the organs pinned in place. If I can't sit to cough, but have to stand, then I strike the most extreme WW stance possible. Always visualize the organs held as far forward as you can get them.

I have a chronic little cough that goes back to a bout of pneumonia around 1990 (age 40). Not having learned correct posture for another 20 years, I'm sure this contributed to my prolapse. - Surviving