It continues... living with a cough... for 3 weeks...

I'm not sure if I caught my son's cold, but a week after he started showing symptoms, I started coughing too, even though I had felt like it was someone else's problem.

One week after the onset, I visited an internal medicine clinic and was prescribed a five-day supply of antibiotics and cough medicine.

Even after taking the medicine, although the cough calmed down a little, it started up again immediately. I thought, 'I'll just finish the five-day supply,' but it showed no signs of subsiding.

Although I cough occasionally, my throat doesn't hurt, and I have no runny nose at all. I had a slight fever for two days, but otherwise, I was asymptomatic. I went to work as usual, did my job, and my appetite was normal...

I've lived a reasonably long life, but this is the first time I've had symptoms like this. I think it's normal to at least feel sluggish when you have a cold.

As for my son, his cough had almost completely subsided after three weeks. Three weeks have passed for me as well, one week later. Since my son recovered in three weeks, I thought I would recover in three weeks too... Why did I think something so naive...?

Three weeks have passed for me as well. As usual, when I wake up in the morning, the first thing I do is cough. However, since I have no subjective symptoms other than coughing and a little phlegm, I get up and go to work as usual.

I cough about once every 10 to 20 minutes. It's not a dry cough; it's a rather deep, asthma-like cough.

And finally... three people in my department started coughing. They also don't seem to have any major symptoms other than the cough... so no one thinks they have a 'cold,' and there are no words of concern for each other's health. Everyone is energetic.

I have an appetite. While we were out on business, my subordinate said,
👨 'I know a cheap and delicious yakiniku restaurant. Shall we go?'

Yakiniku, huh... But since I have a cough, maybe I shouldn't eat anything too irritating...? But I haven't been out for yakiniku for lunch in a long time... Alright, let's go.

...It was cheap, delicious, and the best. 400g of offal for 1,400 yen. Kimchi, seaweed. And all-you-can-eat white rice, all-you-can-drink soup... For the first time in a while, I felt like I had a meal with great value for money.

Yakiniku sauce, kimchi, and the like are quite irritating. The same goes for the smoke.

However... I didn't cough at all while eating. And for about an hour after the meal, I didn't cough at all... Why is that? It's mysterious...

Regarding these symptoms, is there not much of a connection between throat irritation and coughing?

A cough that won't subside even after three weeks...
I had an opportunity to go to a different internal medicine clinic than the one I visited the other day to get my blood pressure medication, so I decided to try mentioning the cough as well.

👨 Hello. Please help me.

👩 People with cold symptoms are currently visiting the clinic, so could you please wait over there?

👨 No, actually, I came here today with cold symptoms too. My cough won't go away.

👩 Oh, I see! ...There are so many patients like that right now. When my son got tested, it was pertussis (whooping cough)...

I decided to have a blood test to check if I have developed antibodies for pertussis. However, the doctor 👨‍⚕️ said that pertussis is something children under 10 get, and adults likely wouldn't catch it.

For the test, blood is sent to a laboratory, and the results come back later. However, they said it will take time because the testing facility is currently extremely busy. I will know the results early next week.

Since I would need to take antibiotics if it is pertussis, we agreed that they would only contact me if the result is positive.

For now, I was only prescribed cough medicine and expectorants.

When I woke up the next morning, the discomfort in my throat had intensified. I feel like I have a small amount of phlegm and the frequency of my coughing has increased.
By evening, I felt a bit lightheaded, so I took my temperature and found I had a slight fever. A slight fever for the first time in two weeks...
I don't know if my symptoms are relapsing or progressing. However, I am somewhat happy that there has been a slight change after having the same symptoms for so long...

Three weeks have passed since the onset, has my condition taken a step forward...? The more I look into it, the more I feel like it might be pertussis.

If it turns out not to be pertussis, I fear I might end up going to work as usual, thinking 'it just won't go away,' and end up infecting others. I don't think I can take sick leave, so it's a helpless situation.

I tried a pertussis check...

It seems to be quite prevalent, but since there are no major symptoms other than the cough, I feel like it's not really being talked about. Even if you catch it, your body feels fine, so you end up living your life as usual. If it's contagious, I think it will just keep spreading. Depending on how you look at it, it's a scary disease. The 'discomfort' I'm feeling, which I've never experienced before, is unsettling.

It lasts a long time, and the cough is quite severe, making my chest hurt. At one point, the coughing was so bad that my abdominal muscles were sore. I feel like if small children or the elderly catch it, there's a risk it could turn into pneumonia or something similar.

As a layman, I'm worried if it's really okay to just dismiss it as a 'cold'.

I wish I would recover completely soon...
Maybe I'll wake up tomorrow morning and it'll be gone...🍀