Now that a good friend has terrified me. . .

[xiphias]

So, a dear friend has pointed out with the enthusiastically hypochondriac glee of the second-year medical student that, if you squint hard enough, what I've been describing on my LiveJournal could be the early stages of whooping cough.

Thanks, dear friend!

But if the codeine-containing cough syrup works, then it's probably not whooping cough, right?

How long does codeine take to kick in? More or less than fifteen minutes? Should the cough suppressant effect kick in before the wobbly dizziness?

Comments

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

I'm not very sensitive to codeine on any level, but I've never had a dose that was strong enough, in cough syrup, to make me wobbly. I can't have one beer and drive, but I can take codeine cough syrup and drive, and still sooth the cough.

And . . . I'd give it 20 mins.

[noveldevice.livejournal.com]

He may be describing what I think of as "the normal reaction" to codeine. (It's not normal for most people, but it is for me.)

If you're getting dizzy and feel really high, it's about to start working.

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

I have a relative who used to take folks' unused codeine for fun, so I do understand. ;)

[noveldevice.livejournal.com]

Heheh. I don't know that I'd deliberately take codeine just for jollies, but it sure does make being sick more fun.

It could be the codeine, or you could be sicker than you think

[dakiwiboid.livejournal.com]

It's not really a substitute for a doctor visit, but you could visit Wrong Diagnosis.com and plug in your symptoms.

Re: It could be the codeine, or you could be sicker than you think

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

It doesn't rule out either flu or whooping cough, but I'm not sneezing or anything, which seems to be more typical of flu.

If it doesn't go away before the weekend, I'll make a doctor's appointment.

[zarhooie.livejournal.com]

Fever? Need a fever for whooping cough.

You *should* check with your doctor about it though, as whooping cough was "the thing" to have my junior year of HS.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Ranges from "normal" to about 101.5 on a daily basis.

[noveldevice.livejournal.com]

Did you have your DPT vaccination as a child? Ranj says that the pertussis part of it confers a lifelong immunity.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

And my med-student friend says it usually wears off in your mid-twenties.

[noveldevice.livejournal.com]

Hm. That must be one of the ones they reevaluated and changed since he left medicine.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Could be a different formulation.

[polydad.livejournal.com]

*For me*, codeine usually hits in about ten minutes, and usually puts me to sleep, so dizziness is not something I have an issue with.

My memory is that codeine *is* a cough suppressant, and *does* repress whooping cough. But that memory is old enough to vote and have a college degree, so it could easily be inaccurate or obsolete.

best,

Joel

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Hey, if codine DOES supress whooping cough, then I don't much care if I DO have it. It would take longer to heal than the flu, but, if the cough is supressed, this won't be bad.

[polydad.livejournal.com]

It only suppresses the symptom, not the disease. Still helps, but not as much as you might be anticipating. And it's fearsomely addictive.

best,

Joel

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

The disease won't kill me. The symptom is the problem.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Whooping cough is actually very common in adults - the only reason you don't hear about people getting it all the time is that it's massively underdiagnosed in adults.

Apparently, it's possible to cough so hard you break a rib. Whoa.

[arib.livejournal.com]

It's also *highly* contagious, and scourged it's way through my sister's junior class a few years ago. Luckily, she was out sick with something else. :-)

[(Anonymous)]

go see the doctor

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

If it doesn't go away by, oh, Wednesday or Thursday, I'm going to make an appointment. I talked to the nurse-practioner at my doctor's office this morning; she's the one who prescribed the codeine-containing cough syrup.

[kyra-ojosverdes.livejournal.com]

Yay, codeine.

Tylenol 3 knocks me out, or at best leaves me really interested in the patterns on my ceiling. Which is for the best, because walking becomes very complicated.

I did my construction gig on codeine cough syrup. (Carry bottle and measuring spoon in pocket, measure out a dose at prescribed intervals, keep working.) Wobbly ladders to the third story with both hands full of heavy stuff.

[felis-sidus.livejournal.com]

Whatever it is, there are several versions of it going around. The one thing they all have in common is the cough. I doubt if it's whooping cough, but even if it is, whooping cough isn't all that big a deal for most adults. Miserable, yes, but not deadly in most cases. The main reason I doubt that it's whooping cough is that so many people have had similar ailments, but the Hospital hasn't sent out an alert to its employees. Usually, at the first hint of some sort of outbreak of a significant infectious disease, we're given a warning with recommendations for precautions to avoid catching whatever's going around and rules to follow to keep from infecting patients. So far, no pertussis warnings.

[roozle.livejournal.com]

I have heard that whooping cough is going around in MA. In Oct I had a persistent lingering cough after a bad cold and the nurse insisted I get a blood test for pertussis as there was a bad outbreak. But I don't know how long it takes for these things to die down.

It wasn't whooping cough, because it went away after three days with an inhaler to calm my irritated bronchii.

[theclamsman.livejournal.com]

TyCo 3s (like the ones kyra mentioned) work pretty quickly for me, particularly if I snap the pill in two in between my teeth (faster absorption, I guess). REALLY fast...like five minutes, especially if I've eaten (which is weird, but o.k.) and I'm functional on one pill.

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

This is interesting from the Wikipedia "Talk" page for pertussis:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Pertussis

I've noticed for the past few weeks that I and about half the people I know have a really bad, rattling cough... didn't think much of it until I read this article in the Boston Globe about an an outbreak in a hosptial nearby. Not to say that we've all got pertussis, but it's something to think about. According to the article, "So far this year, 780 cases of whooping cough, known as pertussis, have been reported in Massachusetts, said Donna Rheaume, spokeswoman for the state Department of Public Health." I guess it's not as rare as people think, but I don't have any real statistics on it (aside from that one). -- Dirk Gently 17:21, 30 September 2006 (UTC)

[darkrosetiger.livejournal.com]

It's worth checking out. Last year there was a whooping cough outbreak in the Sacramento area. I was coughing up a storm at the time, so I went to my doctor and she made sure that wasn't it.

As far as the codeine, it depends so much on your individual metabolism, and when you last ate...hard to say. For me, it's usually about 15-20 minutes.

[papersky.livejournal.com]

I have had whooping cough -- as an asthmatic kid, I was considered at risk for the innoculations, so naturally I didn't have them and then caught everything.

What I remember most about whooping cough is the "whoop"s, and the way the coughing shook my whole body, and the struggle to breathe. I believe it's easily diagnosable by a blood test, but also roughly even early by having someone press their ear to your chest during a cough to catch the characteristic "whoop".

Thanks for posting this. My leg's rough today, so it's nice to be able to feel wholeheartedly grateful for health and quiet breathing.

Get well soon!

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

My paranoid googling on the term has shown me that, in adults, whooping cough may often lack the whoop, and that a blood test is really the only way to confirm the diagnosis.

I am, however, not entirely certain that it makes any difference whether it's pertussis or another disease that does the same thing. I mean, I guess I could take pride in having a cool named disease, but what other difference would it make?

[mswae.livejournal.com]

I am, however, not entirely certain that it makes any difference whether it's pertussis or another disease that does the same thing. I mean, I guess I could take pride in having a cool named disease, but what other difference would it make?

pertussis would take over a month to go away :-P

Seriously, sorry I scared you. In addition to hedging my post with "this is why I don't have the experience to be right" I also should have bothered to mention "pertussis is only dangerous in infants and the very elderly ... which is why we vaccinate for it. It's just annoying and uncomfortable for everyone else" instead of making you figure that part out for yourself ...

Seriously, you don't have pertussis ... probably :-P

I hope you feel better soon!

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Well, the "over a month to go away" part is the worrisome part. I don't expect to have any serious problems -- but all my work involves contact with large groups of people. I can't teach or tend bar -- or go to Arisia -- if I have a communicable disease.

[mswae.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure that's automatically true. I would think you'd be able to teach after completing the initial antibiotic course if you wore a mask. (That's what we do in the hospital when we have to work with a cold.) It might be courteous to skip Arisia if you're still coughing that badly nevermind what is causing it. I just don't know, I haven't been taught. Your doctor will know, though.

Seriously, I hope you feel better, and I really think you should go to the doctor. NOT because of the whole pertussis thing, but b/c you are really sick! How many days have you had the relapsing fever? Go doctor!

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Three, now I've only got the cold. And I did phone, and I got the codeine script, and I'm calling again, just to chat and find out there's anything else I ought to do.

Dunno if actually going in and seeing them in person makes sense -- but I bet THEY know whether it does.