Cough related to CCF

[scchalmer]

Hello,

I am seeking help to understand the link between Congestive Cardiac Failure and coughing.

I am caring for my 83 yr old Mother who has COAD, having been a smoker for more than 55 years. Mum is now on supplemental Oxygen 24/7 from an Oxygen concentrator (4L/min).

Mum used to cough all the time which i put down to her chronic Bronchitis. However since her Furosemide has been increased, her coughing has greatly subsided, which makes me wonder if her cough is more related to fluid build up around her lungs and heart as a result of her heart failure.

10 weeks ago Mum's doctor increased her Furosemide to 60mg mane and within days the cough subsided, and this lasted for about six weeks.

4 weeks ago Mum developed a stasis ulcer on her ankle and to treat the oedema and because mum was beginning to cough more, the Doctor increased Mum's Furosemide to 80mg mane, and again the cough subsided.

A few days Mum's cough returned and the her Doctor increased her lasix (Furosemide) to 100mg and again the cough subsided.

Of all the medications my Mother is taking, Furosemide seems to me to be the one that is giving her the most comfort in her last days.

I would like to understand the link between excess fluid around the heart and lungs and how this causes Mum to cough. I am having trouble finding this information. Could somebody provide me with a link to either journal articles or where this is explained online?

[dianah, ASN]

There is a lot of information out on the web about CHF in general, and the relationship between a dry cough and CHF:

http://www.chfpatients.com/CHFinfo.htm

http://www.heartcc.com/chf.htm

are just two I found when I entered "dry cough CHF" into the search engine.

Please note to all responders (and OP), medical advice is not to be given.

Kudos to you for the care you give your mother!

I hope she remains comfortable.

[HamsterRN, ADN, RN]

Coughing is one way the body removes excess fluid from the lungs, lasix helps do the same thing through a different route.

[scchalmer]

thank you for your replies, and the information contained within.

May i add that i was not seeking medical advice but rather an understanding of the physiological link between excess fluid and coughing. I do accept that the biomedical model is more the domain of medical practioners rather than nursing practitioners.