I finally bit the bullet and went to the doctor. I'm tired of not being able to sing and feeling tired when I speak. I've done well getting through this illness without biting someone's head off, but I'm fatiguing and reaching a point where controlling my emotions is difficult.
My lungs are clear. That's good: no pneumonia! He can see drainage in the back of my throat that is "pretty thick." That's bad. He put me on antibiotics.
He thinks my cough is a type of asthma flare-up. I haven't needed an inhaler in three years; but some people with a history of asthma just have a cough. It's actually called cough-variant asthma, and I remember reading about it. I told him that I had tried using the vent and it just gave me the jitters and didn't help. He prescribed a new inhaler called Pulmicort that he thinks won't make me so jittery. I'm supposed to use it twice a day for two weeks and then use it again for two weeks at the onset of any new cold.
He also put me on a different over-the-counter cough med which he thinks will do a better job of bringing up the junk from my throat. So far I don't really know how it's going to do, but I've only had one dose.
I do think I like the inhaler. I didn't realize I was having difficulty breathing; but I feel like I could flit around like a feather, and speaking is much less burdensome!
Speaking of flitting... I flit, I float, for C is on her way!