I've had asthma all my life. Every winter around January - February I get sick and have a lot of chest congestion & coughing with phlegm. This year on day three of being sick I went to the emergency room after I had taken ibuprofen and my fever had gone up. They did a strep test & throat culture since I was also having a sore throat. Those test were negative so they assumed I had the flu with no test, and told me to take ibuprofen & that it should be gone by day 5-7. So on day 8 with a fever, chest congestion, a cough, & pain when breathing I saw a doctor who did a flu test which was negative. We also did chest X-rays which determined pneumonia in both lungs. I had a shot of rocephin before leaving the office, then she sent me home with antibiotics (z pack) and an inhaler. Now I'm on day 10, I woke up this morning with out a fever (finally). But my chest still feels just as congested, a lot of phlegm, pain breathing, I'm still sleeping on the couch sitting straight up so I can breathe. Not sure what to do here. Am I just over thinking because I've been sick for 10 days and it feels like forever? Or should I be worried?
Casey
I am so sorry to hear you are having such a hard time.You are so young to have to cope with all this .I am asthmatic and aged 42.I had pneumonia in March.was kept in overnight with sepsis (lovely mother's day present) then discharged following day with double antibiotics for treatment of the pneumonia.what a horrid illness it is.I felt as though I could have slept endlessly had it not been for the hacking cough.I defo felt the sweats for a considerable time later.a couple of weeks down the line I felt my throat sore and lymph nodes swollen (that was after I had finished the antibs) doc reckoned that was a sign of my body's natural defence to fight back .even now I get some element of pain (not anything to shout about) in the region where the pneumonia was .that's despite 2 chest xrays and a CT scan. I didn't actually bring up a lot of phlem from my chest with the pneumonia .before I was diagnosed I was convinced I had a bad sinus infection but that was before I looked green and my body was trembling all over.nearly a year down the line I am a lot better but there is a still a tiny part of me that isn't 100% I feel.i was off work sick for about 6 weeks.my mother is chronically ill with chest problems and is on round the clock oxygen.she has had pneumonia at least 4 times thats been confirmed in the last 2 years.she was told by a nurse once that it takes a healthy person 6 months to get over pneumonia so bare that in mind given you have the underlying condition of asthma.try not to run before you can walk.I'm sure you will fully recover given you have youth on your side.make sure you get further xrays etc if your not content.it's your body after all.take care.wishing you a speedy recovery
Casey,I don' think 10 days re too be fighting pneumonia in both lungs. I think you need to ' give in' to this for several more weeks's and just hunker down and give your medicine and rest help give you complete healing and keep an exasperation of your asthma at bay. It's going to be slow and frustrating, but hopefully you will be better is a few weeks
Go back to the doctor! A Z pack. Is probably not enough and you may
need prednisone and about 10 days of antibiotic. Having to sleep straight up and feelings of chest congestion whether it is loose or dry needs to be addressed. Ttaking generic form of Mucinex along with drinking lots of water will help.
Wow hope you are feeling better now. I wouldn't have waited so long to go to the doctor, I go at the first sign of getting sick so I can prevent this. I usually get antibiotics and steroids. I am so surprised they sent you home without antibiotics thinking you just had a flu. Also musinex helps break up your phlegm you want to cough that up.
Hi!sorry to hear of your ongoing condition.i too am a asthma sufferer,get shortness of breath,can get really fatigued,always catching colds.recently,i would say the last 8 month I’ve been suffering with a lingering chest infection.coughing,finding going for walks really hard.just feeling generally lousy.rung the docs had my chest checked all ok no crackles so i thought alls good.a week last friday i was in the bath and i was violently sick,sorry not nice.came out of nowhere.went to bed,woke up Saturday morning feeling horrid,cold sweats,struggling breathing,zero energy.i couldn’t even get up,if i walked to the bathroom i was struggling to breathe so basically laid down all Saturday.after a wretched night,Sunday morning i felt even worse,Mrs checked my sats and they were down to 86.i then started coughing up blood.my missus said right we’re going to a and e.basically after checks I was diagnosed with pneumonia.i was in hospital a week on the high dependency unit and respiratory unit on oxygen and antibiotics.i felt terrible.i’m now out,been out for 4 days but i feel crap still.walking a short distance is a challenge.this has been my 4th bout of pneumonia and they took more blood to do tests in hospital to try and find out why and they’ve put it down to bacterial so basically I could get it again anytime.feeling really p’d off that they couldn’t find any underlying cause but they’re in the know.got to go back in six weeks for a chest x ray to see if it’s cleared up.it was in the right lung.it was fully covered in pneumonia.if you don’t feel right go to a and e and get checked out,don’t rey on docs,you know your body,better to be safe especially having asthma.pneumonia can suddenly creep up on you and it really is a nasty thing.take care