I can see why this would be so frustrating, but I doubt that you have had any permanent damage. For sure, having anything that makes you cough and cough during recovery is cause for concern and results in a spike in anxiety, but you're probably bouncing back even now.

I would suggest trying to keep windows open this weekend as much as possible to further air out your house.

Also, it might be worth checking in with the doc and perhaps asking about an inhaler (or similar) to help your lungs. Or even just seeing if he/she has any other suggestions to make things easier for a while.

I've had a couple issues this year. Horrible, horrible cough in March when I was really sick and also aggravating my asthma (and lungs) while steam-cleaning the carpets in my house over the summer. In both cases, I had increased symptoms/trouble for a few days/weeks but suffered no long-lasting effects. With the steam-cleaning, especially, getting the house aired out ASAP (to get the steam-cleaning chemicals out of the air) helped a lot.

My guess is that although you probably feel cruddy now, you'll recover faster from this than you would have had it happened a month ago. I also suspect you'll have no long-lasting issues, but no way to prove that.

Hang in there!

Thanks for the input, Toss. It's hard to air the house right now, because it is close to freezing outside (something else that is hard to cope with: I've always had problems breathing in the winter as cold air hurts my chest), but I do step out as often as possible, and this works out because I'm trying to increase my stamina by going for frequent, though short, walks.

I am going for a post PE check up on Thursday and was planning on bringing up the possibility of a inhalator, especially since there is major construction going on in the building where I work: the floors immediately below and immediately over my floor as well as on the main floor.

And you're right: better that it happened now than when I was first home from the hospital: I probably WOULD have ended back in the ER at that point.

I'm fully recovered from my PEs and it's been 5 years, but some things still aggravate my lungs, like smoke. Last year there was a large fire in MN that due to the winds, you could smell across the state into WI where are I live. This is hundreds of miles away and my lungs were irritated for days. Even the furnace kicking in lately has given me a cough. Also cold bothers my lungs. I live in a 100 year old house and our kitchen doesn't have vents that I can open when cooking. I have to open windows so I don't set off my smoke detectors. The fresh air from open windows even in winter doesn't affect my lungs. It's more when I walk in the cold.

I think being so upset and being a bundle of nerves over this is likely exacerbating things too, so please try to just take some time to relax and be kind to yourself. It's not a set back. Part of the recovery process is having really good days and not so good days and it doesn't mean you're back at square one. Mention your concerns to your doc but please try to not let things get to you. Stress is not healthy, physically or mentally.

Hang in there and take it easy, try to relax, try to regroup. It's going to be ok.

Thanks rmb, I'm trying to relax. It's hard though: I'm not used to being sick and vulnerable. I'm always the strong one!

I know it's hard. Most of us have never had such a big health scare prior to our PE so we're not very good at it, ha! But being amped up doesn't help anyone, not you, and not the people in your life. Sometimes, you just have to take a step back from your normal role and just take care of yourself, your whole self, body, mind and spirit.

You don't win any prizes for always being the strong one. That's quite a load for anyone to carry, PE or not. It's ok to let your guard down and just decompress.

I agree with the other ladies, it's so unlikely you have any further 'damage' from this. It's not really a set back, more of an irritation. Sure, you want to feel better every day, and this set you back to feeling worse, but it doesn't mean that you're truly physically worse off. It's extremely annoying for sure, to think that you've put yourself in a bit of misery for not being vigilant about what's on the stove, but hey, it's just part of getting back to regular life. You likely at some point in time would have experienced something similar anyway, if it hadn't been this, then it would have been someone who was over-perfumed when you went to the store or having to walk through a wall of cigarette smoke outside of a public building or using cleaning products while trying to take care of your own house. My lungs get set off a lot more easily than they did before, and I have to just learn to work with it. Granted, I'm much better now than in early recovery, but I'm still sensitive. So really, it's not so much a set back as just a rite of passage post PE.

And definitely, it's normal to be a little more sore for a couple of days after a bad coughing episode, but it's not that more damage has been caused, so try to not worry about that. Our bodies are incredibly resilient. Once during recovery I aspirated food and seriously that was the worst I ever had in terms of coughing and coughing and coughing for ages - I didn't think I'd ever get it calmed down, and I was super sore after. But nothing was injured as a result. If I were in your situation I'd mostly try to spend time in whatever is the least affected room in the house if the smell is lingering, but honestly if it's just more of an odor, there shouldn't be too much more coughing I wouldn't think. But if you need to, maybe you could air out the bedroom or something while you spend time in the living room (so you don't get too cold), then once that's aired out you can close things up again, warm it up and spend time in there until the rest of the house airs out.

Hope you feel better soon.

The house IS aired out: we opened everything that evening. I've just kept on coughing a little more than usual and having some pains I haven't had in weeks.

As for being strong, it's hard for me and others in my household, especially my mother-in-law who is not doing very good: she had pacemaker surgery a month before I got sick and there is nobody close to help out. The kids will, but, as evidenced with the Taco experience, not the most reliable. Teenagers!

I've enlisted the help of volunteers, but she resents that she has to pay for the visit and any parking fees. Since I ran out of leave at work, I told her it would be much more than $15.00 were she to pay ME my time. Sigh.

And I am really concerned about permanent damage to my lungs and heart, as it is something they were concerned about in the hospital. But I am doing everything to protect them.

I am calming down: drinking tea, going for walks, etc.

Thanks for the help and advice: I know that recovery from this is long, but it's hard t sink in.

Hi Danielle!
We had a TERRIBLE fire season here this year, and the valley I live in was completely smoked in for over a month. I had a miserable time, and finally broke down and let my doctor talk me into using an inhaler. She said people with no previous problems with their lungs were coming in because of the smoke, so I really shouldn't be too surprised to be having trouble too. I probably coughed for a good couple weeks after the snow finally helped get the fires under control. I have a terrible time with ANY smoke now, if my neighbor burns wood, I still struggle. I also have more trouble with chemicals than I used to... I've always been sensitive, but now I can't even be in the house if someone is using most cleaners. It's so hard, everytime I feel like I'm making progress I encounter another unexpected obstacle and get frustrated all over again. I only used my inhaler when I felt really awful, but it did help, and at least I have it if I need it in the future.
Good luck! Slow and steady... was never my motto before, but I guess I don't have a choice now! :)

Thanks, Jenner, much appreciated.

I've always had a bit problems with my lungs: for instead, going up a hill when biking would have me wheezing terribly and having a really hard time catching my breath, so it's little surprise that I'm having these symptoms now.

Asking for an inhaler is on my list of points I want to bring up at my appointment on Thursday.

I hope you're feeling better today!

Since my PE, I have noticed that many things really irritate my lungs. So many of the things others mentioned: cigarette smoke, wood stove smoke, household cleaners, very thick heavy perfume,... I really think I will now always have this sensitivity~~but I try to look at the big picture and be grateful that I still have my life. The side effects are nuisances, but compared to the blessing of still being alive~~they become very small.

I know you said you want to stay strong, because you always have to be the strong one. I get that. But you have been through so much!!! Everyone needs time to rest, relax and heal after a PE. I really hope you will cut yourself a lot of slack for as long as you need to. It's not showing weakness to take it easy~~it's just showing that you're human and it's what we ALL need to do to heal and recover.

I really hope you are better soon! Please keep us posted.

Blessings and peace to you!