Persistent dry cough

Hi Lavender, the are not many WM NHL patients about and I have not seen many posts here on the mac site, you might want to post on the lymphoma association site they have an WM group that is a little more active post here

http://www.lymphomas.org.uk/forums/waldenströms-macroglobulinaemia-and-lymphoplasmacytic-lymphoma

In general terms I have found post chemo my immune system has been weak and it would often take around a month and two courses of treatment to shift a cough or flu. You husband system may well be the same and that might be why his consultant is not so worried. Has he talked to the consultant about his worries and asked for some tests to put his mind at rest?

sorry I cannot be more helpful on this occasion.

john

Hi there, I had to reply to your message as I am in a very similar position to your husband. I was diagnosed with WM over ten years ago and it was 'Watch & Wait', for a while. Then things began to change and I had Chlorambucil, (twice over 2 years), and that damped things down for a while. Then in 2013 they decided to bring in the Big Guns and I went on a clinical trial with Bendasmustine/Rituximab to be followed by a 2 year maintenance programme of Rituximab only. However, although this regime calmed things down I was constantly neutropenic due to the Rituximab, so I had to come off the trial. For 6 months I've been in remission, reasonably well and not neutropenic. However for the past 3 weeks I've had a dry cough, night sweats, no appetite and feel general weak and poorly. I have a pre-planned appointment with my haematologist in a weeks time and I'm quite concerned these latest symptoms could mean the return of the beast. Sorry all this isn't very helpful to you and your hubby but we WM sufferers are a rare breed indeed so I just thought . I'd share my experiences with you. Does you hubby have Cryoglobulinaemia as part of the WM? I do, unfortunately - just another complication.

Thanks for listening and I wish I could be of more help,

Shirley

Thank you for replies. Husband has spoken to specialist nurse today - she suggested the problem was hay fever. Husband has never suffered from any allergies so highly unlikely! He has to give yet another sputum sample - which will then mean waiting until next visit to specialist - end of June-  before results and medication are given. 

Unknown said:

Thank you for replies. Husband has spoken to specialist nurse today - she suggested the problem was hay fever. Husband has never suffered from any allergies so highly unlikely! He has to give yet another sputum sample - which will then mean waiting until next visit to specialist - end of June-  before results and medication are given. 

 

Unknown said:

Thank you for replies. Husband has spoken to specialist nurse today - she suggested the problem was hay fever. Husband has never suffered from any allergies so highly unlikely! He has to give yet another sputum sample - which will then mean waiting until next visit to specialist - end of June-  before results and medication are given. 

 

Unknown said:

Thank you for replies. Husband has spoken to specialist nurse today - she suggested the problem was hay fever. Husband has never suffered from any allergies so highly unlikely! He has to give yet another sputum sample - which will then mean waiting until next visit to specialist - end of June-  before results and medication are given. 

 

Hi Lavender 

Thanks for sharing. My father have got similar case, can you inform what happened next, how long did it take, any special treatment was suggested to your husband?

I ll be hoping to receive your earliest reply. Thanks

Hi and welcome to the Macmillan Community But sorry you are looking for support. 

The thread you are asking the question on is a few years old now so it's possible that  is not so active and treatments move on so quickly.

Could I suggest you start a new thread by hitting the 'Start a discussion' tab, introduce yourself and put out your questions to those active on the forum and see what comes back.

All the best.

Hello, I was diagnosed with non Hodgkin's Lymphoma in December 2018, I am having chemotherapy every three weeks, one of the drugs is Vinchristine (which has had to be reduced slightly because of bad stomach pains and constipation, the other drug is Rituximab.  I had no problems first of all, but have since had bad bouts of coughing ~ because I have had more than my fair share of chest infections in the past years,  I thought it was probably the start of another ~ the first time I saw my GP, it was a slight infection and prescribed antibiotics, they didn't seem to work, nor did the second lot.  

Having read the post above from Lavender19, I'm beginning to think it may be the Rituximab !   I have tried all sorts of cough mixture, & inhalers, but they are not working, hence I am very tired in the mornings as I cough a lot during the night.
Can anyone shed any light on this for us please.

Hi Fairywings, the reality is it could be one of a number of reasons so best to talk it through with your consultant, I used to suck buttery toffee to help. 

Also all my medication came from the hospital and they had 100% responsibility for all my care and needs and I only returned to the GP for care post treatment so surprised they have been issuing drugs, did they check with your haematology team before issuing them?

John 

Hi   and welcome to the Online Community, although I am so sorry to see the circumstance that brought you here and so sorry to hear that you have being treated for NHL. i am Mike Thehighlander and I help out on the NHL Forums.

So sorry that you are experiencing a bad cough. During treatment your immune system will be reduced so things like colds and coughs will take longer to go away.

Interesting in that my wife and two of our granddaughters (no cancer) have had a deep persistent dry cough for 6 - 8 weeks and nothing would not shift it. Their GP was happy that it would clear up and yes it did.

A cough can be triggered by Rituximab but I would always recommend you check in with your chemo team just to make sure but if you are felling well and no other issues it may well go away, but it does not help your sleep.

Rituxitmab is targeted antibody therapy and not a toxic as chemo but can still bring some side effects. I had it as part of my treatment 5 years ago and on the whole did ok with it . https://www.macmillan.org.uk/cancerinformation/cancertreatment/treatmenttypes/biologicaltherapies/monoclonalantibodies/rituximab.aspx

It would be good to join this group (just under the NHL heading) and when you need more supppet or want ask some questions hit the 'Start a Discussion' tab and introduce yourself to the group...... and remember to go to the right on the group home page and select how you want to receive email notifications when someone answers your posts.

You may also find our various Macmillan Support Line Services on 0808 808 00 00 to be helpful as you can talk to a friendly person that can help in lots of ways.

We also have pour ‘Ask an Expert’ section but please allow a few days to get an reply.

When you have time it would be helpful if you could put some information about yourself and the journey that brought you to the Community into your profile as it really does help the Community members to help you and get to know you.

Click on your username and that will take you to your homepage. Look for ‘Edit my Profile’ click on it and start to tell us as much or as little about yourself as you want then click on save before closing the page. You can see my profile by hitting Thehighlander but it is rather long....but my journey is long.

We are around to help out as best as we can.

Like the other ones before me said.  Please let your consultant and specialist nurse know if you have one. They will check you out or refer you. You wouldnt want to take anything that they don't know about. They can easily prescribe anything for you.