excessive coughing

Hello. Mother recently had a confirmed diagnosis of ALS from a certified ALS clinic. She has bulbar onset and is limited to one word answers of questions. She has been having awful coughing fits lately. Is this common in ALS patients? Is there medication to relief these symptoms?

Hello, and welcome to the forum--and we're sorry that you need it and your mother has this diagnosis. I expect you'll get some bulbar folks answering your question, but here's one place to read, and if you use the search button for "Cough" which is a white word above in a blue bar--as well as look below at the threads, you should get a head start. https://www.alsforums.com/forum/people-als-pals/13975-feeling-awful.html

Hope you find help,
Ann

cperdue, sorry about your mom. ALS sucks and bulbar especially so. Is her coughing because of a lung issue or a throat issue? I hope that she is seeing a respiratory therapist to help deal with this problem. I've been gagging, choking and coughing for months and all I can say is make sure that she has a suction machine to suck out the mucous.
Good luck

Is it coughing or is it gasping that starts off with a cough/gag? If it's the latter, it may be a laryngeal spasm. My husband takes Clonazepam for spasms and is now down to about one laryngeal spasm a day.

Hope your mom can find some relief.

brooksea said:

Is it coughing or is it gasping that starts off with a cough/gag? If it's the latter, it may be a laryngeal spasm. My husband takes Clonazepam for spasms and is now down to about one laryngeal spasm a day.

Hope your mom can find some relief.

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I used to get those spasms too, but they have almost totally stopped now. Maybe the muscles are too gone to spasm now. I hope your hubby's goes away too. The spasms really suck!

I haven't had any spasms in a while either and I don't miss them one little bit!