10 Days post surgey...questions about throat

[Rosebud54]

(I guess) My throat is still irriated from the breathing tube and TEE down my throat...also I aspirate alot and it's makes me cough and my throat tickles. When I take a breath through my mouth it makes me cough. Has anyone experienced this and what do you do for it?

Thanks Carol

 

[Greg a]

Carol, I was intubated so long that ANY sensation there was welcomed but all those went away in a few weeks without any treatment

 

[mainframe]

Carol, like Greg I still had my breathing tube in at 10 days in the ICU.

My guess is any discomfort or unpleasantness you are experiencing now till go away soon. I realize that probably doesn't help you now but it will get better.

 

[epstns]

Carol,
I'm now 7 weeks post-op, and I am still hoarse. I also have/had a nasty, non-productive cough (no mucus came up with the cough). With my cardio's agreement, I have been taking Mucinex DM, which loosens mucus and suppresses cough. It certainly helps me with the cough, but my voice is still very hoarse. Cardio says to give it another couple of weeks, and if I am still having voice problems I should see an EENT (eye, ear, nose and throat) specialist. Cardio says that even though I have no pain from the hoarseness, it can still be from being intubated.

 

[camgough]

Youu will be fine! Wait a few more days and things will improve!

 

[reedonator]

Hey Carol,
I had various pains in my throat for about 3 weeks after surgery. My voice was affected also. Your airway can go through a fair amount of trauma from being intubated and it takes a while to heal. As far as the coughing goes make sure to keep a pillow handy and put pressure against your chest wall when you cough. Make sure and do the breathing exercises, hopefully the hospital gave you an inspirometer to use. Consistent use of that will help get your lungs expanded and help prevent pneumonia. The inspirometer was painful to use when I was at your stage but I found the more I used it I would cough up some occasional mucus but generally was breathing clearer and coughing less. I hope your throat pain goes away soon and the rest of your recovery goes well.

 

[buncle]

My throat was sore for almost 2 months.It did settle down.Yours will too-just hang in there.

 

[epstns]

Carol,
We found, quite by accident, that the majority of my hoarseness and loss of voice was due to the lasix dosage they had me taking for the first month or so. Since we have discontinued lasix, my voice is slowly returning to normal.

There is hope!

 

[Jkm7]

Wow, Steve. What a contribution you just made. Others will certainly benefit from reading that. Very happy your voice is improving but I wonder if there is some way to know for sure there was a connection between lasix and your hoarseness. Is it possible it was 'coincidental'? I have googled to see if that is a possible (known?) side effect of lasix.
Hope your recovery goes forward with no more bumps.
Heal well!!!!

 

[normofthenorth]

Carol, I don't know if you're like me, but I find that almost EVERYTHING affects my (singer's) throat. I'm always checking or testing or clearing it, as if somebody's going to ask me to sing a Carnegie Hall recital with no warning. That's not to diminish your current throat problems, but focusing on that one body part as closely as I usually do, definitely doesn't help. I hope it resolves quickly by itself, and I suspect it will. But also, make sure you tell Carnegie Hall they'll have to wait a month or two!

 

[Rosebud54]

Thanks for the information. It tickles, it wants me to clear it all the time and I choke on liquids easily. I'm sure, as you all say, it will go away after a while.

Carol

 

[Bryan B]

Carol,

I can't help you a lot here because that is one of the things I didn't suffer from after either of my surgeries. But I have been part of this site for several years and this subject comes up a lot so it seems to be a fairly common issue after surgery. I would give it a little more time but if you don't see improvement soon definitely mention it to your doctor. I have heard that in rare circumstances the intubation tube can damage the vocal chords if not inserted or removed properly. I doubt that is the case, but if it is the sooner it is diagnosed the better.