Now they think I must have pneumonia to explain why I am so very short of breath. At first they suspected the heart since I had that tachycardia episode right before Xmas. My doc put me on 40 mg prednisone for 5 days then nothing, and he put me on antibiotics. He thought I wouldn't have to taper if I was only on it 5 days. So I just want to know if you guys agree?
..they ruled out the heart this time. And I had a chest xray both yesterday and today, and they saw something there maybe getting worse. Ah gee.
Have they checked for pulmonary embolism
Hi noninoni, sorry to hear you're not feeling too good. Are you actually on prednisone as a long term medication or were you simply put on prednisone for the 5 days? Christina
I am ordinarily on 7. 5mg prednisone for PMR. Yes the chest xray would check for pulmonary embolism; I am also on blood thinner since I have had deep vein thrombosis from surgery in the past. I was told last year to stay on blood thinners for life. So pneumonia seems a reasonably good diagnosis.
Xrays often don't show pulmonary embolism ask for ct scan
if you look up wells formula 2 from nice guidelines you'll be able to see if you have any points but staying on pred means at least what ever you have means you won't get a dangerous clot I have to admit I'm erring toward a thrombolytic diagnosis as they have advised you to stay on thinners for life and as you have had a dvt I suspect your tachycardia was possibly caused by a small clot think you should dig a bit more!! Ask them what your d-dimer results were?
Hi noninoni, I'm thinking that if you did have pneumonia maybe there would be 'something' on the chest x Rays?
So did you have a week at 40 mgs then straight back down to 7.5 mgs?
christina
you know, it seems to me you have been on TOO LARGE a dose of prednisone....I have had this PMR for over 5 years, and yes, it is almost impossible to come off the prednisone....they have tried taking me off three different times, and it came back with a vengeance!!! So I am on 2mg of MEDROL, instead of regular prednisone. But understand I will probably be on it the rest of my life. GOOD LUCK TO YOU NONINONI......
If you've just been on high dose pred for 5 days you shouldn't need to worry about tapering noninoni. You're on the same sort of dose that your body would make anyway so there isn't a lot to owrry about in that sense. If you feel ill in a different way to the breathlessness though do tell them.
Noninoni lives in the USA so NICE guidelines aren't terribly applicable to her!
I'm a bit confused by your reply - being on pred won't prevent a blood clot.
I just started on the 40mg pred, then I am to return to the 7.5mg after 5 days. I didn't get a good description of what they saw on the 2 chest xrays, but I think they mentioned a pooling of liquid somewhere. I am just beginning to feel I can breathe slightly easier. Since the tachycardia, my bnp has returned to normal, which is good. and I think the troponin and potassium did as well. Things were really going haywire for a bit. I had many blood tests at the beginning of the week. Didn't see a d-dimer.
Could be good old pneumonia I've had it terribly hard to breathe and have any energy
that would show up
hope u get better soon
Thank you all!!
Ah, I do feel a wee bit better after a lie down. And yes thanks again everyone. I am glad to know I won't have to worry about tapering if I am on the high dose for only 5 days.
Funny- this began 3 days after a 3 hour plane flight, and the doctor asked if I had gotten up during the flight. Ah, if one is on diuretics, one gets up!! But the 2nd time I got up the plane hit some really bad turbulance, and as the stewardice gave me her hand to help me to my seat, we got thrown to the seats on the other side, and then I got thrown back with a hard thud into my seat. The stewardice ended up on the floor. I hope she wasn't hurt. I couldn't stop laughing. that's one way to get up during a flight.
When I was having trouble breathing I had a pulmanary embilism, and went to my lungs within 7 days, do mess around with it.
This is true, I am on blood thinners now and so no doubt at least it won't travel if it was.
Was referring to blood thinners
Even more suspicious it's pe after In jury
plz get it checked
Thank you for all your supportive worries! I forgot to mention my horrid cough, which I am pretty sure is much more indicative of pneumonia than a pulmonary embolism. This morning they handed me a face mask as soon as I walked in th clinic, so at least I wasn't coughing all over the doctor. The cough is partly why I am still awake, on top of being very short of breath!! That first high dose of pred taken around noon could be another reason. But, hopefully, all will vanish in a few days and I can get back to being me!
Thank you for explaining that - that wasn't what you said though: "...but staying on pred means at least what ever you have means you won't get a dangerous clot..."