Can anyone help me understand what is going on with my body?
July 27, 2020 10:17 PM   Subscribe

I have a lot of weird issues going on right now, and I'm sure some of them are interconnected, but this one feels like a very specific thing that happens to me from time to time and I don't understand it. It involves vomiting up long trails of mucous over several hours that comes on and then goes away, and it is not fun while it is going on. (Gross but informative and hopefully diagnostic details inside.)

I'm not going to go into all the OTHER stuff that my body is putting me through but let me tell the story of today, which isn't that different from other days which might happen every week or every couple of weeks, and if there's something going on I need to get investigated medically, I really want to know.

I got up this morning and felt as normal as I ever feel these days. I went to work ("essential" apparently) and things were fine all through the morning.

But around noon I started to feel this cough building up that really only means one thing -- I need to head to a toilet and bend my head over it. It's a normal cough but it begins to get somehow deeper into my torso, and there's a feeling of intensity (tightness? it's hard to describe) that begins in my lower abdomen and I know what's going to happen.

When I do finally express in the bathroom it's not like puking, it's more like really deep coughing, and I get massive amounts of mucous coming out of me. I don't know if it's coming out of my lungs or my esophagus, but maybe more the lungs because there is a lot of coughing action happening. I can sometimes get very conscious about getting forceful with this.

It's not like I'm just having a spit. It's like, literal tablespoons of this stuff is coming out of me, in long strings, which sometimes remain connected even as I try to spit them out and have to start another cough to get the rest out.

Every one of these sessions ends with me in a full body sweat and tears pouring out of my eyes and my nose entirely filled with snot (nose-blowing is a major part of clean up -- I'll have liquid dripping of the tip of my nose that isn't just tears).

I must have had like a dozen of these episodes today (including pulling over on my commute home twice to deal with the process. In public. On a roadway. That's great).

Tonight I got home and it continued and I went to lie down to try to get myself centered, and smoked some pot to try to get myself centered, and it was still going on and then.... I had this mammoth session (literally 10 minutes in the bathroom consciously forcing stuff up and out), and then after my sweat dried and my nose was blown.... it all just went away.

I haven't felt even close to nauseous or *whatever* that feeling is since about 6pm, so the session lasted about 6 hours. Everything is fine now.

Has anyone ever experienced this? If so, did it indicate something? If so, and it didn't indicate something, what did you do to deal with it. It's not stopping me from working but I'm sure my coworkers aren't happy having me nauseated and running to the bathroom making horrible noises all the time. I don't have a fever when it's happening. I'm not even, as far as I know, actually sick. (I have a PTSD condition, and it could just be my body fucking with me.)

But if there are any echoes of resemblance out there or any words of advice, I really need them. This is wrecking my existence.
posted by hippybear to Health & Fitness (33 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Response by poster: I've been wondering if this is an allergic reaction to something but there is nothing obvious to track for that. It is so specific and really is only every like 6-8 hours... it seems like a reaction, but I have no idea.

Giving me language to help me talk to a doctor about this would also be helpful. My current doctor is much better than my previous at actually listening to me, but having doctor language is helpful too.
posted by hippybear at 10:19 PM on July 27, 2020


Could it be a response to dairy? I knew a guy who would do a lot of hacking and coughing and spitting in the bathroom, and he said it was a whole lot of deep snotty mucus that he got from consuming dairy. But he liked his milk in cereal and ice cream dessert too much to quit.
posted by The otter lady at 10:24 PM on July 27, 2020


Response by poster: I don't consume much dairy at all and did not consume any dairy in any meaningful level on Sunday, the day before this attack started at noon.
posted by hippybear at 10:28 PM on July 27, 2020


Response by poster: And this is like 10 levels beyond hacking and coughing and spitting in the bathroom. I did not capture any of it to measure it, but I'd say I got rid of maybe 1/2 gallon of mucous across the various expressions of this particular session. I found myself in wonder at the quantity that I was bringing up and spitting out.
posted by hippybear at 10:30 PM on July 27, 2020


This absolutely isn't normal, doesn't sound to me like PTSD or a symptom of panic or any other mental health condition, and requires urgent medical attention. I'd call my doctor's office in the middle of the night and get the answering service for this. Call your doctor, please.
posted by shadygrove at 10:41 PM on July 27, 2020 [16 favorites]


Response by poster: This is absolutely not normal, and I have talked to my doctor about it but I might have not had the right language to talk about it. My PTSD is a bit of a conversion disorder, in that I don't feel panic while my body is doing panic-related things to me. It's complicated. But this mucous-puking feels like it's maybe not a part of all that. I've had it often enough I'm not making any emergency calls about it. I've talked to my doctor, he thinks (at this point) it's all a part of this other thing, which maybe it is? It isn't fun, that's all I know at this point.
posted by hippybear at 10:46 PM on July 27, 2020


Seems more like deep, deep coughing than puking, huge amounts of mucus... I hate to say it aloud but when were you last tested for COVID-19?

The closest I’ve ever had was horking up phlegm with pneumonia, and I remember the feeling of almost vomiting but it’s a ?diaphragm cough?
posted by clew at 11:08 PM on July 27, 2020 [4 favorites]


What you are coughing up is called sputum and can be a sign of a serious respiratory infection or other scary things. Please seek medical attention as soon as practically possible. The stringy appearance comes from the deep branching structure of your lungs. The smoking is probably aggravating whatever the underlying cause is, so it's probably best to stop that until you can get this treated.
posted by arcolz at 11:09 PM on July 27, 2020 [15 favorites]


Response by poster: I've been having these symptoms for months, it's not COVID. I'm probably at risk for having a bad COVID reaction but if I had caught the bug it wouldn't have shut itself off this evening and now be entirely non-existent.

But I can look into getting COVID tested. I have zero symptoms (not a dry cough, no temperature), but maybe I can do that without paying much for it?
posted by hippybear at 11:11 PM on July 27, 2020


This article from Medical Daily: Coughing Up Phlegm: What The Color Of Your Sputum Says About Your Health, suggests that it may be a sinus or upper respiratory infection. I have sometimes been so sick with a cold that I have snot-puked, but there wasn't really coughing involved - it seemed like I had post-nasal drip and my stomach said no thank you, and it wasn't the scale or frequency that you describe.
posted by katra at 11:12 PM on July 27, 2020


I have something similar to this but not to that extent, ie that amount of mucus. (I did at one point but it has settled down.) After years, I finally got a diagnosis, it was LPR or silent reflux combined with asthma (I had a lot of breathing issues and severe bronchitis on top of it which made it harder to diagnose). It’s exhausting and debilitating and it’s exacerbated by smoking, alcohol and caffeine. You know, anything you’d actually enjoy. It doesn’t go away, you have to manage it by avoiding whatever triggers it.

I couldn’t say if that’s what you have but I had to diagnose myself and only came across it by accident. I strongly advice seeing a doctor and asking if it could be this. Mine agreed with my diagnosis once I said it but it never occurred to them prior to me bringing it up, which makes me think it’s either hard to pick or just not that common. Good luck and let us know how it goes.
posted by Jubey at 11:32 PM on July 27, 2020 [2 favorites]


Go to a doctor ASAP. This is not normal. You don't have a fever but something nasty could still be growing in your lungs.
posted by benzenedream at 11:35 PM on July 27, 2020 [11 favorites]


I should add, hippybear, that it may be worth keeping a food diary to see if there’s any patterns between what you eat and these episodes. Something may well be triggering it.
posted by Jubey at 12:21 AM on July 28, 2020


Tell your doctor it's seriously affecting your quality of life, your ability to work and drive, and you need to hear their plan for diagnosing and/or treating it because this is not sustainable.

Also consider getting a second opinion if your doctor tends to cleave to preconceived diagnoses.
posted by trig at 12:33 AM on July 28, 2020 [5 favorites]


This was how whooping cough manifested for my sister.
posted by geek anachronism at 1:26 AM on July 28, 2020 [3 favorites]


Please see another doctor. Doctors miss things literally all the time. Taking one doctor at his word for this is unwise and could jeopardize your health long-term.
posted by Amy93 at 3:38 AM on July 28, 2020 [8 favorites]


Yes, go see a doctor. I get this occasionally and for me, it’s always a lung infection that’s been lingering for months thats exacerbated by asthma. It doesn’t clear up on its own. The long stringy thick white mucus is how it manifests, and deep coughing that for me, ends up in vomiting.
posted by umwhat at 3:45 AM on July 28, 2020 [1 favorite]


Weighing in that I have also occasionally cough-puked like this - in my case, it's thanks to a perfect-storm combination of allergies, post-nasal drip, and a super, SUPER strong gag reflex. However, the key word there is occasionally. Like, if it happens on a given day, that's the only time it would happen that day.

So it sounds like a sinus/mucous kind of thing, but on a much, much larger scale than in my own case, which is in and of itself worth a doctors' consultation.

Adding something that I've found does help nip that kind of thing in the bud a little - when I feel this kind of thing might be coming on (it usually manifests as something in the back of my throat, and I keep coughing and clearing my throat to try and clear it but it stays put and gets close to triggering the gag reflex), I'll try gargling with very warm water; not burn-your-mouth hot, but as warm as I can stand it. I tip my head back and try to "aim" the water at the back of my throat as I gargle. This tends to clear the mucous away from the gag trigger, and loosens things up - and happily, some of it gets washed up into my nose, so a good nose-blowing can get it out. The rest gets washed out when I spit the water out.

It sounds like you're experiencing this on a much greater scale than I do, so I'm not saying that that trick will make everything right as rain, but it may be useful in a pinch when you want to try to stop a cough-puke from happening.

Good luck. This sucks, I know.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:00 AM on July 28, 2020 [2 favorites]


My husband was diagnosed with sarcoidosis about two years ago. He gets up A LOT of sputum from his lungs (not the quantity you're talking about -- maybe a cup a day if I'm guesstimating?) and sometimes feels like he's going to choke when it comes up and he's lying down or something. But aside from that and being more fatigued than he used to be, he doesn't have a lot of outward symptoms, although his lungs are full of bacteria when he gets xrays done. It might be worth getting an appointment with a pulmonologist to see if they have any idea what's going on.
posted by jabes at 6:50 AM on July 28, 2020


The sweating, tears, nose-streaming snot, are typical accompaniments to puking. This sounds severe and not okay, and I am on Team See A Doctor. I think PTSD is a false lead, and not the cause.

If you know puking is on its way, grab some water, take small sips. The action of drinking makes your muscles work in the opposite direction of throwing up, and can reduce the gag reflex. Also, having water in your stomach will help if you vomit anyway. Brush your teeth as soon as possible, stomach acids are hell on your teeth. Ginger is said to be anti-emetic (anti-vomiting), so ginger tea might help, no down-side.
posted by theora55 at 8:25 AM on July 28, 2020


Please go to the doctor. They need to x-ray your lungs and listen to them etc. You could have walking pneumonia or whooping cough or some other infection. I don't think it's puking, and even if it is, the question becomes "why the heck do I have mucus in my stomach??" None of this is normal, even in the realm of a body freaking out as a way of dealing with emotions. I'd recommend seeing a different doctor than your PCP, since he already dismissed your serious symptoms.
posted by purple_bird at 9:31 AM on July 28, 2020 [8 favorites]


Not a doctor, but I am a PTSD expert, and I am not aware of any mechanism by which PTSD would do this to you, nor have I ever heard of this happening in PTSD patients.
posted by quiet coyote at 9:58 AM on July 28, 2020 [3 favorites]


Just going to note that having conversion disorder doesn't preclude a physical ailment.
posted by bile and syntax at 10:38 AM on July 28, 2020 [2 favorites]


I have had coughing fits that resulted in bringing up sputum but also recently consumed drinks. Not a medical professional but I always looked at this as parallel events as in the intense coughing and resulting doubling over did bring up sputum as intended but also caused me to vomit inadvertently. There was never any nausea or gagging normally associated with vomiting.

Whenever this happens I know I am quite unwell and it’s a clear sign I should be home resting up. This has only happened very infrequently and there was always marked improvement in my overall condition within a day or two. Having this happen repeatedly and for weeks is difficult to imagine and you need to be persistent about figuring out what’s going on.
posted by koahiatamadl at 10:47 AM on July 28, 2020


This sounds like it could be pertussis (aka whooping cough), as others have mentioned above. A relative had it and they experienced this deep cough with a lot of mucus. You should get evaluated by a doctor now. I would not wait.

From here: "Typically, people with Pertussis cough up (expectorate) large amounts of thick mucus, which may cause vomiting (post-pertussis emesis)." and "Aspiration of mucous into the lungs may cause bacterial pneumonia."
posted by bedhead at 11:03 AM on July 28, 2020 [1 favorite]


You urgently need medical attention and should call your doctor. When my partner coughed/vomited like this he had pneumonia that required a several day stay in the hospital and multiple trips to the ER over the following months. (Don't let it get worse. Part of why his experience was so bad is that he was trying to dismiss it as bronchitis and hoping it would resolve on its own. He didn't have a fever at the beginning either.)
posted by zdravo at 12:38 PM on July 28, 2020 [2 favorites]


Just adding to the pile-on that this sounds like a scary lung thing and I hope you can get your doctor to take it seriously.
posted by beandip at 12:47 PM on July 28, 2020 [1 favorite]


I am not a doctor. I am not your doctor. I had bad bouts of hay fever in middle and high school that sounded quite a bit like this--uncontrollable coughing (embarrassing when it happens in the middle of math class), then a lot of mucous, usually out of one side of my sinuses, often also with one eye getting really watery. I never did anything about it because I was a dumb teenager but this year my allergies have been back in full force for the first time since and I'm realizing, based on pollen counts, that it's likely a grass allergy, and I've started to take a daily allegra and now it no longer happens, unless I forget to take it and go outside without taking an antihistamine first. Then it's snot city.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 2:44 PM on July 28, 2020


I get this when Night Blooming Jasmine blooms, which is now. My body seems to react to it like it is the most poisonous substance in the world, with similar retching, expectorating, and debilitating coughing fits. Then it passes after 3 to 5 days like nothing ever happened.
I had a lot of pollen-related allergies in Alabama, but they all went away completely when I moved here, with this one end-of-July exception.
TL;DR - hopefully maybe a single, limited season intense allergen.
posted by halfbuckaroo at 7:45 PM on July 28, 2020


Response by poster: I will be contacting my doctor this week to try to get an appointment of whatever sort we are allowed to do these days. And I will be requesting tests. It sounds like chest x-rays at least might be worthwhile. That can see a lot of things like infections and pneumonia and stuff. I'll ask about other tests, like for pertussis? I'll ask if he wants me to save some goo from my next episode for lab testing. I have a couple of other things to ask that have been mentioned in private, too.

Thanks to all of you for your responses here. I will keep you posted as things move forward. First step, try to get an appointment.
posted by hippybear at 8:07 PM on July 28, 2020 [1 favorite]


(no please don't brush your teeth after puking - I absolutely ruined my enamel doing that while pregnant because the enamel s softened by the acid then further damaged by brushing. My dentist recommended rinsing with water, mouthwash if I really need it, and to wait at least an hour before scrubbing)
posted by geek anachronism at 9:22 PM on July 28, 2020


Response by poster: So, after a lot of false starts and difficulty getting doctors to really listen to me, my symptoms got worse over time and I finally ended up in the emergency room to be diagnosed with pancreatitis. It's a diagnosis that makes a lot of sense of what I've been going through over time. Now it's time to heal from this.

I hope the is the only thing that's wrong, but it seems to really fit the bill pretty well.
posted by hippybear at 8:44 PM on February 22, 2021


Glad to hear you got a diagnosis, and one that seems treatable! You wouldn't think pancreatitis could cause ARDS but bodies are complicated. Best wishes!
posted by benzenedream at 9:18 PM on February 22, 2021


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