I'm not a medical professional but perhaps a look into iron levels, thyroid, other possible definciencies bears looking into.

Also a heated blanket while working might be more energy efficient than a space heater.

"Meaner than a sore-tailed cat"

"I told you to leave it alone, that's what you get for messing with it." - could be anything from an unsafe thing to climb to a dog or animal lol, if you were told and did it anyway, it's your own fault.

This sounds like it could possibly be illness triggered mild asthma where swelling in the airways triggers coughing which triggers more swelling etc etc etc. This happens to me as well. I was prescribed an inhaler that I only need to use to get it under control and not again unless an illness or allergies cause another flair-up. A surprising remedy is thyme tea... steep 1 tsp of cooking thyme in boiling water or broth... it works remarkably well as a cough suppressant. Otherwise a doctor might be able to help you trouble -shoot it a bit better.

Nature centers that have live animal exibits as well.