150 Days of Pertussis

I could always survive the day, that wasn’t the worst time. At night the coughing got a lot worse. And going to bed was a nightmare. No sleep at all! I was coughing to the point that I threw up, and it was an endless run to the bathroom. 

After a few weeks of this I was so “loose” that I couldn’t hold back anything and I would be leaking “downstairs” on both ends. More than one time I had to choose if I could throw up, take a dump or urinate first! And sometimes I would do all three at the same time! No choice to hold anything back! I had to get incontinence pads from the doctor so I didn’t ruin my clothes, bed or couch. 

I also got fatigue. I was constantly tired and wasn’t able to do much due to no sleep and all the coughing. After a few weeks I started hearing about whooping cough on the news (I live in Norway), and they said that more and more people were getting it.

Have you gotten your Tdap booster?

A friend of mine asked me if I was vaccinated and I was confused. What do you mean, vaccinated? He told me I am supposed to get a shot every ten years to be protected from this, and honestly, that was news to me! 

I was pretty angry that my doctor hadn’t said anything about this!  And I learned that this cough could last for weeks! I went to see another doctor and she gave me a long nice sick leave from work and told me not to worry. I could come back later to get more if I needed to because this could be a long and bumpy ride!

In June I was still not all the way well, but better, and I got a booster shot at the doctor’s.

It’s September, and I still don’t feel like I have finished this story. I have been coughing for 5 months, and I am more sensitive to air pollution, strong smells and perfume. Sitting on the bus or train can be a nightmare! If I smell someone wearing perfume I will start coughing and keep it going for a while. I still need pads because I have “accidents” every day. I will probably never be the same again because of my age too (47 years). As a woman this is the right time of life to start getting problems with incontinence. I don’t know if I’ll ever stop being sensitive to smells either.

Pregnant Women at Increased Risk

Today I saw my neighbor whom I haven’t seen in a while. I congratulated her and she asked me how I had been. I told her about the whooping cough and asked her about her vaccines. She was very lucky.

She told me that the principal of her son had sent a letter to all the parents at his school explaining that several of the pupils had gotten the whooping cough.  She went straight to the doctor (she was pregnant at the time), and he told her to get isolated at someone else’s house and keep away from her children for a while. She also got the vaccine. So she returned home a month after she got the vaccine.

Get your Tdap booster!

I would strongly suggest everybody take this vaccine because the whooping cough could derail your life for months! The lasting effects later seem less enjoyable right now since I don’t know how long I will suffer from them. It’s absolutely worth it to go back every ten years to get a booster shot. 

On the news they tell you it’s deadly for children, but I can assure you it’s no walk in the park for adults either! I hope this story inspires just one person to get the booster shot. It’s quick and easy and can save you months of coughing and no sleep.

Eva Werkland lives outside Oslo with her husband and works for the railway company Vy. Her story, like all others on this blog, was a voluntary submission. If you want to help make a difference, submit your own post by emailing us through our contact form. We depend on real people like you sharing experience to protect others from misinformation.