Fortunately, this has not come up for me lately, although oddly enough I am also fighting a worsening cough. I will be calling my doctor in the morning to try to get ahead of things. I have learned the hard way, like many of us, delayed treatment is usually not a good thing.

My immunologist has always said that when we are sick there should be very agressive treatment with antibiotics. He also says that you should know specifically what you are treating. Dilema. If I wait around until I can be tested positive for something I will have already lost the battle and will likely end up in the ER or worse.

The key for me has been to find a good doctor who gets CVID or at least is willing to be educated and rescue you as soon as you start to get sick. That's not always easy.

Since a cold is a virus you might have a problem. You should at least get something to treat your symptoms. A good cough is something that needs treatment immediately for you because it will add further damage to your lungs.

I believe that you should see your doctor as soon as possible. If he/she doesn't at the very least start you on a prescription cough supressant then I would be pissed off. If you can't get in to see a doctor go to an urgent care facility. After knowing your story I would think that you might also leave with the antibiotics that target respiratory infections.

I'm no doctor, but I do know that sometimes the doctors don't entirely get it, and wait too long to treat us. That can be disasterous.

So, long story short, if it were me I would get into see your doctor and plead my case. If you can't get into see your regular doctor quickly enough I would go the Urgent Care route. That could at least tide you over.

It's sad that we sometimes are forced to play this game, but for me the end result is what matters. In the past I have waited for my doctors who said they could find nothing, and then ended up in the hospital for a stay. I am always tempted to say 'look at me now!' Doctor's need to be partners with you in fighting this sneaky disorder. The other thing about the failure to treat soon enough is that it costs us more money than it should have. $$$$$$$$$$$$$ is a BIG deal for me, and I suspect many, is a burden. I spend thousands on trying to maintain my health and even with insurance it is my major expense, more than housing, food, or anything for that matters.

I am on a propholactic antibiotic and I still get sick, just not quite as often. No one gets to experience the pain and suffering but ourselves. As far as science and doctors have come on the subject, there are still lots of hurdles and road blocks. You will need to be your own advocate.

Call your doctor first thing in the morning, or better yet go to an Urgent Care before things get any worse.

Let us know how you do!

Good advice, I will first thing monday morning. But I am not coughing up anything "green" but I wake up all night with my chest hurting. I can so relate to being ahead of the curve. Unfortunately, in the past my life was totally committed to the lifestyle you have now to stay alive. I just hope that maybe in a few years yours won't be as bad, as mine changed withing 5-6years of diagnosis. I honestly don't think I could go through that again. Not at my age. Thanks for the advice.

For a cold, I usually just treat the symptoms. A cold is a virus that usually just needs to run it's course. But, after a few days, if it's getting out of hand and/or if I develop any kind of fever ... I call my doctor. They always get me in the same day. Thankfully I have a wonderful doctor who has instructed his staff to get me right in. I guess I'm a VIP in his office - LOL!! Anyways, if it happens to be a weekend and I get a fever, I will go to the ER. Not the walk-in clinic ... my doc has advised against those places. He says I need to get to the ER and let them know what my condition is (CVID) and that I have a fever, etc. I have to be very firm with them, so that they understand that I most likely have an infection and that it needs to be treated agressively.

With regard to coughing ... I guess if it's getting out of hand and/or if you start coughing up green stuff, I'd call the doctor too. I've done this before, and just stopped in the doc's office so they could listen to my chest. Again, I have a very good doc who fully understands my needs and situation.

Best of luck to you Stimpy ... and I hope you're feeling better soon!

I have the same thing right now. My cough has gotten worse over the last 2 days and I'm not always sure when to call. I don't feel too bad, and I have been taking dayquil and nyquil, so I think I'm just going to go with the cough syrup unless I can feel it in my lungs. I just can't afford to keep going to the dr office.

I think I will ride it out, until it gets bad (if it does) because really what can they do for a virus? Not anything. If it starts getting GREEN then I know its an infection and i can get antibiotics. I always hoard antibiotics, just in case. LOL

I think all of the previous advice is great.
I'd add that my doc recommends Musinex for a continued cough. It will loosen up the gunk in your lung s and make it easier to cough out . . . and then there is chicken soup

Here are the symptoms I watch for: anything other than clear or white phlegm, vertigo, a strange kinda sweet taste in my mouth, abnormal exhaustion and weakness, a general "OMG! I'm so sick" feeling. I usually don't get fevers no matter how sick I am, so I've had to learn other signs. I will use Mucinex, and even a little Sudafed to get through the early stages, but once I see even yellow phlegm with any of the other symptoms, I get help.

If a doctor won't help, try an Echinacea and Goldenseal compound. That has gotten me through times where I didn't have insurance, or when I had Kaiser and they wouldn't help me. It's a natural antibiotic that you can get at a health food store. Hope you feel better soon, Stimpy.

Theres nothing coming up from my lungs, just a cough, soreness, then in the morning the good ole sinuses are blowing green! I'll just wait and see if it gets worse. Because they put you on antibiotics and then you go off them and your condition is right back where you started from, so the longer I can go without antibiotics the better. I have a funny feeling this is going to be a doozie cold and virus season. I have been lucky, the last 3 years nothing really bad.

the kids and i had a cold 2 wks ago the hubby started last night so i am sure i will get it again. i ended up on antiboticslast time it turned into a sinus infection and caused a pretty yucky astma attack.

i have infusion wed so that should help me if i start getting infection. if i infusion is not close, i tend to go sooner, often times if infusion is close i can make it thru without it turning into infection.

i cant remember are you doing infusions right now?

I'm doing infusions, but my doctor's partner was audited by medicare or something and the whole place blew-up and they closed for two months, then my doctor went back into business, I got 1 i.v. by him but I only got half the medicine, cuz he couldn't get it through the tubing. Then the next month I think I got the whole dose, but I decided to switch to sub-Q, so I waited another month and a week, got the sub-q about 3 weeks ago, and decided against that, so I know my system is deplete, my financial stress is killing me, the phone just got shut off, and I have $50.00 to last the next 3 weeks for groceries for me and my 23 year old son that can't find a job! I have to live on $800.00 a month SSI because of this frickin rotten disease, it pisses me off so much. I need a job to make money, but I need a job that can afford to give me health insurance so I don't get sick and miss work. Right now there are NO JOBS in california!!! It is unreal. So I have to stay positive and upbeat, yeah right. But if I don't my health will take a dive. There is alot of mind-body connection to the immune system, I believe.

Man sorry about feeling sorry for myself, but when I get emotionally stressed it exacerbates everything. Everything is going to be fine. I'm having a pity party right now.

party away we are here for you! we all need one every now and again

Yahoo! LOL!

Oh yes ... Mucinex ... I almost forgot that! Thanks for mentioning it, Mark. It works very well for those coughs and the phlegm situations that tend to linger.

I've found that Sudafed is good for the nasal/sinus congestion if you can tolerate the side-effects. I only take the 4-hr dose though because I'm very sensitive to it.

@Stimpy, PCon is right...we all need to feel sorry for ourselves here & there. There's no need to apologize for what you said. Hugs coming at you! :)