Lungs clear. What could it be?

[Geonz]

Stopped by to say hi to biking friend today and find out that yes, he's still tired and has this 'nonproductive cough' (it's been months) but the xrays came out clear. So. NO black lung ;) Says he has a weird sort of awareness of exactly where his right bronchial tube is.
What are alternatives... ideas... things to ask that doc about?

[bmccasland]

allergies? Bronchitis? Does he have shortness of breath, especially on exertion? Mono? Any other symptoms other than the non productive cough and being tired?

[Geonz]

Not really. It's not a bronchitis kind of cough (and the doc should have found that)... we did *lots* of miles this summer and some time this fall this sort of moved in. I remember one ride in Oct or Nov when he mentioned being "aware of his bronchial tube" and that being different than the usual (can't remember if it was before or after riding hard, sigh, only that we were going up a certain overpass when he talked about it).
Naps are the main symptom... "feeling puny" he calls it. Now, would allergies bring fatigue?
(It was also kind of a "recovery year" - painful ending of a long-term relationship the prev. fall, sudden unexpected death of his long-time biz partner over hte new year and so I can't help but wonder if his body is grieving... or at least that's got his immune system outa whack.)

[OakLeaf]

I have some scar tissue on one bronchial tube, from a bad bronchitis. Maybe that's it? I can feel it when I'm healthy, just a lack of flexibility when I exhale hard; and about every time I get a sinus infection, if I'm not super careful, it goes right down there and gives me bronchitis again - it's definitely vulnerable. Could your friend have something like that going on? It was very uncomfortable and cough-y for months after I recovered from the initial bronchitis.

Allergies DEFINITELY bring fatigue, severe fatigue; but for me it's more a fogginess and not the same kind of fatigue I get when I'm sick. It's more like when you go to sleep with blinders on your eyes and have no natural light cues as to when it's daytime. But then I'm pretty tuned to my body and aware of what's allergic and what's infectious.

[Eden]

I get an annoying non-productive, months long cough from allergies. I'm hoping to avoid it all together this year with allergy meds for the first time for a whole season.
Even if I don't have full blown miserable allergy symptoms, I get just enough post nasal drip to keep my throat raw and make me dry hack.

[Geonz]

This is helpful :)

[RoadRaven]

I get an annoying non-productive, months long cough from allergies. I'm hoping to avoid it all together this year with allergy meds for the first time for a whole season.

:p Just watch the meds... some asthma and hayfever meds have banned substances in them - you don't wanna be tested and lose a race cause of your meds!

[Kano]

I get an annoying non-productive, months long cough from allergies. I'm hoping to avoid it all together this year with allergy meds for the first time for a whole season.
Even if I don't have full blown miserable allergy symptoms, I get just enough post nasal drip to keep my throat raw and make me dry hack.

My thought too, Eden -- annoying, non-productive is a very polite term for what I have always called "the stupid cough" that drags on when the post nasal drip thing hangs on after a cold, or some odd allergy thing kicks in!

Karen in Boise