Coughing like crazy immediately after surgery?!?!

[ImaGoofball 0]

I was banded on Thursday 6/5(2 days ago) and immediately started to have a decent sized cough. Naturally it hurts to cough due to all the stomach incisions and just natural soreness. I was wondering, has anyone else developed a cough from the anestesia? (Sp?) Please shed some light and tell me i'm not the only one to have this annoyance. It's keeping me up at night! Grrrrr.....

[Cadets71 1]

Imagoofball,

I had surgery Thursday as well and really started coughing on Friday. I am trying to take deep breaths and walk a lot...but yes, it kept me up last night. I also panic a little because it makes me feel like I can't breath. I am sure it will get better! Hang in there. You are not alone.

[rxdspncr 0]

Very interesting. On the "Jazzy Junes" group someone posted a list of things to buy prior to surgery to have on hand and one of them was cough drops. I wondered why, but I guess I know now. I thought it was basically just to keep the throat moist after the intubation. Good luck - send someone to get some cough drops! :-)

[losing it in ne 0]

It could be any number of things. If drops or a cough Syrup don't help I'd call my doc. I started coughing right out of surgery this time ( which I have never done in spite of 9 major sugeries in the last 6 years). The tube caused an ashtma attack which I had been diagnosed in the last year but had never had an attack with wheezing and coughing. It could be something as simple as a little allergy to something in the tube or what you are drinking but it could also be something serious like a bloos clot or pneumonia. Call you doc if the otc things don't work. Good luck and hope you are feeling better really soon.

[shy_one 0]

I had a serious cough after surgery also. The cough felt like it did when I had a cold. They game me this contraption that I had to use 3 times a day. I had to breathe in and keep the bubble at a particular level. Worked great because my cough went away within a few days. Hope you feel better soon and gl with your band - Brenda

[gkeyt 0]

Your cough could be caused by a few things. One thing to remember though is that it is your body's way of handling secretions, so you shouldn't try to get rid of it with a cough Syrup except to sleep, if it's keeping you awake.

You could have aspirated some Fluid during your surgery--we are all at risk of this when we have this surgery, because our obesity puts us at high risk for it, and because of the type of surgery, plus many of us had reflux prior to surgery, which is also a risk factor. But there are other things that can cause a post op cough, like your lungs needing to fully reexpand (I don't know a better way to explain it, but you can google "atelectasis") after being on your back in surgery and being on the breathing machine during surgery and then on your back post op for a while. Your throat could just be irritated from the breathing tube, but that usually goes away after a day or two. You could just have gotten a virus as a response to the stress of surgery and anesthesia.

The best thing you can do is make sure you take very deep breaths and cough every hour while you are awake. The breathing contraption that was mentioned above (it's called an "incentive spirometer") helps you do this, but if they didn't give you one to take home, it's okay. Just make sure to take at least 10 full, deep breaths every hour while you are awake. It will probably stimulate you to cough. You can help brace your stomach by holding a pillow against it when you cough. This helps a lot. Also be sure you're getting in your required amount of fluids, this will help as well.

Doing this for the next few days ought to improve your situation if it is due to a tiny aspiration or to atelectasis. If you start to develop a fever, chills, or thick mucous with your cough, you'll want to call your doctor, as you could start to develop a pneumonia. This can be treated with antibiotics but obviously you'd want to start that soon if you had those symptoms. In addition, if you notice that your stomach is more tight/swollen or if you have trouble swallowing your diet (liquids, I presume, at this point), or if you develop new acid reflux/heartburn, also call your doctor.

I hope this isn't too alarming. If you do the deep breathing and the coughing every hour, it is likely that this will resolve itself. If any of the other symptoms happen or if you start to feel worse, I'd call your band doctor about it. I hope it resolves soon!

[YoungNy 1]

I was coughing right after surgery and my doctor said it was fine, normal and good. I still cough occasionally, but not as much as in the first few days.