How do you hawk a loogie? (I don't even think I spelled that right!)
I have pneumonia and have been coughing a baziillion times a day and sometimes I can feel that I have coughed a little something up, but when I try to get it the rest of the way out I can't!! I can't spit either, it's pathetic! I need to get this out of my chest not keep swallowing it.
I asked my husband, and after he chuckled a bit he told me it's almost the same muscles you would use for vomiting! WHAT? So, ladies....anyone know how to get the phlegm out??
L.
Did you go to the Doctor?
Don't force it out, or you will get blood in your mucus.
Are you on meds? Prescription? You need that.
Also, you can take Mucinex. It is a mucus thinner.
Also drink LOTS of water... to thin the mucus.
I have had Pneumonia.
Keep an eye on it....
I usually cough, and with my throat, propel it out.
Then spit.
oh gosh this is making me nearly gag right now just reading the comments. I just had bronchitis pneumonia and my first asthma attack last month. Just about ended up in the hospital. I know how you feel and I have almost never been able to cough up and spit out whats in my lungs when Im sick. But this was starting to get scary and I knew I was in trouble when I couldnt clear my chest and stop wheezing and buzzing and purring loud like a lion. I had to really work hard at it and finally got some guck to come up. What I had to do was stand in front of the bathroom sink. I had to really look at myself in the mirror for a minute and get brave, take a really deep breath.. and as I bent forward over the sink I coughed as hard and deep from my chest as I could. You can feel the stuff come up into your throat, and it nearly strangled me, but I then started the clear your throat motion in the back of my throat and just let it come out of your mouth. and spit. Its all with one huge breath..OMGosh it makes me throw up its such a real gag reflex. You have to fight the urge to stop and breathe and swallow. but it helps to really do it a few times and you get better. What flew into the sink was dark green thick and wouldnt even go down the drain. I had to scoop it up with tissue and was shocked and sickened by how heavy and thick it was. This is the stuff that kills you when you have pneumonia! Your lungs fill with it and you cant get it out and you cant get air in. You die. So, isnt this a nice conversation! I just had to say, when you cough up what looks like guacamole, you know you need to see the Dr. Hope this helped,, now go look at yourself in the mirror, and take a deep breath.
If the secretions aren't thin enough, you can cough your way to broken ribs without actually being able to clear any fluids/secretions. (cracked ribs from ineffectual coughing is quite common with pneumonia)
You need to walk down to the pharmacy and speak with the pharmacist. If you were on no meds at all I'd say to go grab a bottle of Robitussin DM. It has both an expectorant (thins secretions allowing them to be coughed up) and a suppressant (reduces the NUMBER of coughs, so that you aren't hacking away exhausting yourself, but when you do cough the expectorant makes them productive ones).
Dextromethorphan HBr 10mg (cough suppressant)
Guafenisen 100mg (expectorant)
HOWEVER, if you've already been given an Rx cough medicine (should have been), you don't want to start overdosing key ingredients. Hence, talk to your pharmacist.
Cough medicine with either alcohol, codeine, or BOTH is the most effective (they make the expectorant and suppressant work better, it's called a "synergistic" reaction, when 1+1=5). Codeine requires an Rx (unless you have friends up in Vancouver or Victoria, and then can schlepp some OTC codeine cough syrup down here for you!), but you have the choice in the pharmacy OTC whether to get an alcohol based cough medicine or alcohol free cough medicine. Always go for the alcohol based cough medicine unless you have a preexisting condition which precludes it.
So sorry you're sick!
I take a deep breath and then try to exhale as hard as I can using the muscles in my throat and the back of my mouth. Hope that makes sense! And feel better! I had the same thing a couple of months ago. Not fun.
i agree with the mucinex. Sorry I know that wasn't your question, but I think it'd help.
The best way I could suggest to get it out would be to brush your tongue. Do you have a good gag reflex? When I brush far back on my tongue, it sometimes makes me gag and I get mucus out more easily. Good luck!
You could try coughing lying on your stomach or bending forward so your head is lower and you are fighting gravity less.
probably like puking, like your husband said. You could get some of that medicine with that little monster on it, the booger monster, can't remember the name...Mucinex! My husband remembered. ;o) It is supposed to help you cough it up. When you feel it close, hack HARD like you are going to puke. I hate that feeling!
