i was diaginosed with pleusry about a week and a half ago. i was told it was caused by a virus and it could take two weeks to go away. however i was up last night with extreame pain from it and i did a little research on it.
i fould out that not all cases r viral. some r caused by bacteria. also there r two types of pleursy one is where u dont have enough fluid around your lungs and when u breathe it causes friction and pain. the other type u have too much fluid and it put pressure on your lungs and can make hard to breathe. from what i understood the first is more painful but i could b wrong.
well since i am not sure which i have and i dont seem to b getting any better i was just wondering if anyone has ended up with the type of pleursy that is bacterial and how did u end up finding out. also if it was baterial did it start that way or start viral and end up bacterial.
i also read that in some cases they have to go in and drain the fluid from around your lungs. in some cases they would do a test to figure out just what type of bacteria was causing the problem b 4 starting antibotics.
i know i have read that several people on here have had plursey and if u could share your story and what u did to get over it i would b very greatful. i am not sure what to do right now. the pain kept me up all night last night and tonight as i write this i am almost in tears due to the pain.
i guess i should also mention that i am an asthmatic. my asthma does not seem to b bothering me at this time but i just thought i would mention it just. i dont know if having asthma makes pleursy worse or not. i wasnt told much about it from the dr except that it is very painful and i was told it just had to run its course. i guess i figured by now i shouldnt b in so much pain. usually with viruses torwards the end u feel better not worse. i am very confused and not sure what to do.
My advice: call the doctor ASAP. Or else make an appt to see him or else go to the emergency room. Maybe it's nothing BUT it's always better to be safe than sorry.
I'm sorry you're in so much pain and hope you can get this resolved ASAP. Be pleasant but insistent that that you are in pain and this is real.
thanks i do know i was not very nice when i saw the dr monday but it was cause she kept wanting to send me elsewhere and would not answer my questions and it seemed like she wasnt listening to me at all. i dont think i have even been like that to a doctor. i know i was very fusterated cause i waited an hour to see the dr and the appt was very rushed. but i am not like that. i am a very easy person to get along with. i am very easy going. maybe going through everything the past few weeks just has me acting different. i have considered going back to the er cause of what i have read. the dr at the er last thursday seemed to understand i was in alot of pain aand gave me something strong through the iv to help. the nurse i had was very understanding too she said she has had plursey and knows just how painful it can b.
i dont know that calling the dr will do much i have called the office many times and cant even speak with a nurse cause they r so busy. and cause of the type of clinic it is they dont write for pain meds very often. its like pulling teeth to get a script for narcotics there no matter what u r suffering with.
i will try to get someone to take me back to the er. to get myself checked cause at least they can do any imiaging needed as well as admit me if needed. i also wouldnt have to fight for pain meds. the er drs seem to know that pleursy is very painful and seem to want to help as much as they can.
I had pleurisy that developed into pneumonia. I guess it was bacterial because it was treated with 2 very heavy courses of anti-biotics. They cannot treat viruses can they, from what I understand. Pleurisy is an inflammation / infection of the lung lining and it hurts like hell because it rubs agains the rib cage when you breath. It does take a long time to get rid of and totally recover from.
I had it before I had fibromyalgia so I'm sure it is twice as painful / difficult for you. Are you on really strong anti-biotics? If so, which ones? It will probably take a few courses to totally clear it up and plenty of rest.
I don't think the pleurisy will help the asthma at all but if you can keep it under control then it will help. So dose up on meds and get plenty of rest and fluids and it will clear up. If you need more antibiotics when you finish a course or a day before, make sure you get them straight away before it starts getting worse again. Pleurisy is really horrible and needs a good medical beating.
I was told it was viral. So I am not on any antibiotics. Its been a week and half and its not getting better. I have been doing my best to drink lots of water but I am still sleeping alot cause my blood pressure and heart rate r still on the high side even with the meds. The dr did put me on a low dose of bp meds I may need a higher dose.I just started the meds Monday night so I will give them a few more days b 4 deciding if they need to b increased.
meanwhile it seems like I need antibiotics for the pleurisy. Thanks for letting me know what the drs did to treat u I will let them know so I can get the right treatment myself.
I don't know anything about pleurisy but would imagine that narcotics wouldn't be too helpful in fighting the infection...and couldn't they be problematic if you're already having respiratory issues?
ER sounds like a good place to go back to in order to get more help. Good luck on it!
the narcotics dont do anything for the infection. they do however make u alot more comfotable since breathing is very painful with pleursy. i am not sure about them making breathing worse i have never had a broblem. i was once admitted for my asthma and was recieving iv narcotics because i was having severe chest pain. the pain meds only made it to where i could breathe easier and b able to take deeper breaths since it was so painful without the meds. i guess maybe in some cases pain meds could make it harder to breathe but as for myself that has never been the case.
thank you for being concerned about the fact that narcotics could make me worse and let me know that it may happen.
you dont have to apologize. i have another blog that i started weeks ago because out of nowhere my blood pessure and pulse went up and continued to rise. i dont know if the two r connected in some way. my heart was working very hard for over two weeks before i was finally started on blood pressure meds. some of the ladies who have been responding to this had been following the other blog.
i am very upset that the drs havent done more about the plursey. not much i can do about the past only focus on getting better now.
You're welcome. I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to you from meds.
Next question: Shouldn't you be in the hospital being this ill? This really doesn't sound like something that you should be tackling on your own. You sounds pretty darned ill from what I'm hearing. I'm no doctor but...isn't this a pretty darned serious illness that needs medical oversight?
I do hope you contact someone medical ASAP to make sure you're okay!!!
i totally agree that i should not b at home with everything going on. however the medical dr seem to disagree. i thought for sure when i was taken by ambulance from my drs last week i would not have been sent home infact i argued i should stay. but i was told to go home and rest well with everything going on all i have done is rest i cant do anything else. how much rest do they think i need? i am either sleeping or laying down watching tv.
one problem i do have with getting to the er without having to call an ambulance is that my mom feels that i have been there so much in the last two weeks and she doesnt feel like another visit will change anything. my car us broke so i cant go my self. i will however figure out something because being here at home is nit helping
I had pleurisy once, the pain did take me to the ER, they said I didn’t have enough fluid around lungs so every breath was painful, it did resolve on its own in about 2 weeks , take it easy, rest, lots of fluid
Thanks I am drinking as much as I can. And due to not feeling good all I have done is rest. Did u have a fever? I started running one last night. It’s not been very high but a fever none the less.
OMG I have never heard of not treating pleurisy with antibiotics. That is both shocking and worrying. Can you see a different doctor? I would be terrified if I didn't have any antibiotics. You really don't want it to develop into pneumonia. Please see another doctor. You have me really worried about you.
The blood pressure etc is bound to go up because of the pleurisy too because your blood oxygen levels will drop because you can't breathe properly. Beeping doctors! I wish I could boot them up the ass for you
I don’t remember a fever, did they do a chest x-ray? Do you have any other symptoms ? Cough, shortness of breath or is fever & pain when you breath in the only symptoms?
my breathing has been hard at times but not something i have been battling through this whole thing. the pain has been with me the whole time and now a fever the last few days. i had a chest ct and x-ray last week when this all started but there were done cause of the whole blood pressure thing. the drs wanted to rule out a blood clot.
i know my sister wants too becausevthe drs at the clinic let my blood pessure and heart rate b so high for so long. i do wish u could b here to help me get the right treatment. i dont know if i am not firm enough or the dr around here just suck. i did notice my o2 sat was lower that it should b while in the er last week on thursday but i thought i was related to my heart. it wasnt horriable it was 95 but i was on the low side. one dr did suggest to my mom about getting a o2 monitor for me to have at home. having asthma it is a good thing to have but right now my mom doesnt have the money for one.
ok this thing they call pleursy really needs to hurry up and go away. not sure how more chest pain i can take. i am out of the pain meds i got last week from the er. i made 10 pills last as long as i could and my primary would not give me more. part of me is saying keep being strong this will go away on its own but then i as i am sitting here with no sleep it makes me think ok this virus is no longer a virus and i need to b on antibotics. i have only had this once b 4 and it wasnt this painful and it did go away on its own. this time seems completly different. i know i was a couple years ago that i had this but know it wasnt this bad. infact i dont think i have ever had any chest infection that has effected me like this.
people keep telling me that pleursy i very painful but i dont think its supposed to hurt this bad at least not for this long. i have done nothing but rest and drink lots of water for the past two weeks the 2 things i was told i needed for this to go away. but now i am in even more pain now i think then when this whole thing started. i know more areas r hurting than when this first began that i know for sure. in the beginning i only seemed to have pain in one area on my left side now my whole left side down to about the bottem of my rib cage hurts and now the right side is hurting too. having both in pain i think might b part of the reason i am having so much trouble sleeping. unlike most people i can sleep on my stomach,back and either side but no positon is comforable.
as i just tried to sleep for 3 hours my fever broke which made me all hot and sweaty. i am sure the fever will return since this is not the first time its done this in the past few nights. but it breaking to night only made tring to sleep worse cause i cant sleep when i am hot. so when it broke tonight i got cooled off then tried to go back to sleep but no luck.
what i cant figure out is the fibro making the pain of this infection worse than it should b at this stage since it should b almost gone or has this turned into some sort of bacterial pluersy? i feel that the fact the pain is now spreading is not a good sign and means that instead of the pleursy getting better it is just getting worse. i am so lost about this right now. i dont feel going to the clinic at this point will help cause they wont b able to do any type of x-ray ya the can send me for one but it takes forever for the results to get back to them.
i know i need to think of myself and probably just go back to the er but i fear that they may admit me if the infecion is bad and then my brother will not b able to work. he works at a resturant and weekends r where he makes the most and he was very sick all last week and missed work. i guess if feel like if i go in and dont come home he will miss even more work and my brother doesnt have many options beside me to watch his son. i am the only one who doesnt work. my sister who used to b the back up now works more hours and weekends at her job with it being summertime.
well i guess i should go back to bed and see if i will just pass out cause i have been awake for so long. being sick i know i need more sleep well at this point just to b able to sleep. my body cant stay awake forever. i just hope sleep will find me quickly as i try to go back to bed.
Please go to the ER (if thats correct? We call it causualty or A&E in England). It definitely sounds like it is getting worse. Trust me that is not good news. You urgently need new xrays to see how far it has spread. I am really concerned you will end up have pneumonia and if it is not treated immediately it may be life threatening. I don't mean to alarm you but it really is serious. Also you need more pain meds, so please go and kick them into touch. Take someone who will support you too who has more energy to scream at them lol. Don't worry about anyone else at the mo. I'm sure they are more worried about you. If they keep you in it will be a couple of days until they seen signs that it is improving. Let us know how you get on.
Very gentle hugs... I totally understand the pain. I cried the whole time sweetie because it is so awful, and that was before I had fibro.