Coughing fits in public places

[luvwinnie]

I have a horrible cough. Before getting on the bus to go to work I take Robitussin AND Sucrets but today that didn't help. Had a horrible coughing fit. Guy in front of me actually turned to give me a "look". Believe me, buddy, I am not enoying this either! I can't help it! I have my mouth completely covered, doing all I can to not cough into the air. I ended up coughing into my sweater to drown out the noise. Embarassing.

 

[jlaspoq]

I feel your pain. I have terrible coughing fits at times also. Although it's not so much the public places that get me, as the continuous coughing around people that know me! (work, friends, family, etc .) I watched Finding Neverland with my DD10 the other day - the mom dies from a bad cough - and I spent the rest of the night coughing. It was all I could do to convince her it's just my allergies acting up!

 

[HappyMommy2]

Oh, I can sympathize! Often near the end of a bad cold, I will feel almost well except for a horrible coughing fit now and then. It is awful!
I had an awful coughing fit in Target a couple months ago--you know, the kind of coughing fit where you get tears in your eyes and your eyeballs just about pop out of your head, and you cough till you gag and almost throw up. Yep! Everyone around me was either making a beeline away from me, or looking at me like, "Are you dying? Should I call 911?"
And no cough remedy seems to ease that type of coughing fit.

I hope you won't have any more coughing fits.

 

[disykat]

I always worry that someone will call 911 on me too. It is very hard to find a private place to cough. People always glare like I have no right to be out in public, but as a person with cough varient asthma - it's just the way I am. I call my coughing fits "coughing spasms" and it seems to help people get the idea that I can't help it!

People try to give me cough drops, not realizing that I'm not being rude not using them - I just don't want to choke to death.

 

[Aidensmom]

I always worry that someone will call 911 on me too. It is very hard to find a private place to cough. People always glare like I have no right to be out in public, but as a person with cough varient asthma - it's just the way I am. I call my coughing fits "coughing spasms" and it seems to help people get the idea that I can't help it!

People try to give me cough drops, not realizing that I'm not being rude not using them - I just don't want to choke to death.

I have cough variant asthma too, people always act like I am dying or something. At work people will come over to my desk asking if I am OK, and they know I am going to give them the same answer I always do - it is just my asthma.

 

[LoraJ]

One time, many years ago, I went to a concert with some "friends". We had front row tickets and they handed out the tickets in a way that they thought I would be furthest from center. Turns out, my ticket was the one that was dead center.

Anyway, show starts and I start having a coughing fit. Where my throat was just so dry. My so-called friend turns to me and says "if you're not going to watch the show, then let me sit in your seat". I went out to get water and came back in and of course she was in my seat, I made her move.

I didn't hang out with them after that.

 

[luvwinnie]

Well, at least I'm not alone! WIsh me luck on the bus tonight.

 

[monarchsfan16]

I've had a continuous gross cough since a bad cold a year and a half ago. For the most part I now know when the coughing fits will come, but some can't be controlled. This year I coughed my way through physics every single day. Probably should have explained it to the teacher at some point, but he never questioned it, and had no problem with me sipping on water or whatever to control it. It was the looks from the kids in the class though that were awful. I was lucky in that the cough didn't completely drown out the teacher, and wasn't completely disruptive. But yes it was gross, and a pain. And in the middle of a store is bad too. I always seem to start hacking in the grocery store People look at me like I'm contaminating their food. I tend to hack for awhile after I've just eaten, so if we're in a restaurant long enough I'll cough there too. The looks are miserable, but I've learned to ignore them. I can't do anything about it; I certainly can't stop eating (for some reason eating makes me uhhh flemmy and I cough to clear all of that).

 

[Tigger_Magic]

Good luck. I've had a few coughing fits on public transportation, too and gotten "the look." I always carry a clean handkerchief just in case (plus cough drops). It is embarrassing. Unless it's happened to you, it's hard to know how it feels.

 

[cats7494]

My MIL had a pretty awful cough for a while...she would get so embarrassed by it! I felt so badly for her...she went to the dr. and he did nothing for it either. Cough medicines just did nothing - thankfully - that has passed and she is a little better now. It was pretty bad for her...she always had to leave certain social situations because people would give her "looks." Like she is coughing on purpose..sheesh!

Hope your cough gets better, luvwinnie!