I have a chest infection and I never knew!

[SeasideSusie]

Last week I had a check up with the nurse at the COPD clinic to see how I was getting on with the changeover from Ventolin to Spiriva. Because I was still getting chest discomfort if I used the Ventolin (the pressurised one) she changed it to the handihaler dry powder type in case it was the propellant causing the discomfort. She also asked me to do a sample of mucous in case there was any infection. I said I didn't have a chest infection (know it all aren't I), or certainly no symptoms of one, I wasn't producing any more mucous than normal (which isn't very much but some days more than others) and it was the same colour as normal when I can actually cough it up and see it. She said she'd still like to test it and I said well don't hold your breath (ha ha) because I really do have great difficulty in coughing any up.

Anyway, I did manage to produce a sample in the little bottle a couple of days later so left it at the surgery last Wednesday afternoon to be sent off to the hospital for testing the next day.

I had another appointment yesterday to see if the Ventolin handihaler was any better than the pressurised type and I was told the test result wasn't yet back. I told her no problem, the mucous was the normal colour and I didn't feel as though anything was wrong other than I was still having this chest discomfort. She made an appointment for me to see a GP (in three weeks time!) to see about changing the Ventolin to Bricanyl in case it's the Ventolin causing the discomfort, and also to discuss whether it could be the lazy/possibly blocked heart valve the cardiologist discovered when I originally had all my tests but dismissed it as being low risk.

So today I had a phone call from the surgery telling me the test result is back and I have an infection and they've sent a prescription to the pharmacy for Amoxycillin for me to pick up this afternoon.

So apparently I've got my first chest infection since being diagnosed in March. No symptoms such as a cough/cold or anything else. I'm just wondering if this discomfort I'm feeling in my chest (sort of like an indigestion type thing or a weight on my chest) is caused by the infection. I'm still very new to all this and still learning. I can't remember when it started but it must have been pretty soon after starting the Ventolin following diagnosis so I'm guessing sometime in April. Ah well, seven days' worth of Amoxycillin and it will be interesting to see if the discomfort disappears and was due to the infection after all.

[azaard]

U say you have faulty heart valve as well as a chest infection, did your gp not send you for an egg ?

[SeasideSusie in reply to azaard]

That was all done at the beginning of the investigations Azaard. ECG at the Dr. surgery then when I saw consultant cardiologist (sent to him rather than lung specialist because of poor heart history in family and GP thought maybe that was the cause of my breathlessness) I had another ECG, heart scan, then on second visit I had echocardiogram (suppine bike test and more heart scans) and full lung function tests. The echocardiogram showed the heart valve problem, consultant said it was either a lazy or a blocked valve and that it was low risk so it would be left. He concluded my problem was COPD caused by smoking (which he knew I'd stopped over 30 years before).

I saw one GP three weeks ago to get the Spiriva prescription and told her about the chest discomfort, she insisted it was indigestion, I insisted it wasn't and we just reached a stalemate. She gave me some Omeprazole which I haven't taken because I've never suffered with indigestion before and this discomfort wasn't caused by food as it just came and went without any pattern. Both Spiriva and Ventolin can have a side effect of indigestion so it may be that's what's causing it but at least the nurse is taking me seriously and has put me in with a different GP after I refused to see the same one again as she wouldn't list to me.

[Hidden in reply to SeasideSusie]

SeasideSusie, has anyone checked you for GORD? Gastro Oesophageal reflux disease.  You could take the Omeprazole when you have the pain and see if it goes away. Besides my lung disease I do have GORD. The spincter muscle in the oesophageal track becomes slack and doesnt close, it causes pain, sometimes enough to make you clutch your chest, just below the breast bone.

[SeasideSusie in reply to Hidden]

Goodness me Hidden  I posted this thread 3 years ago. All sorted since. I am very sensitive to a lot of inhalers, I need to have dry powder ones as the propellants in the metered dose ones cause me problems. Even dry powder Seretide when I needed the addition of a steroid inhaler temporarily caused me many unpleasant side effects. I can't use Ventolin dry powder inhaler, I have to have a different brand with Salbutamol, I assume it has different excipients and I am fine with that one.

As for GORD, I have no problem with reflux or excess stomach acid. I don't need meds to suppress excess acid as I am hypothyroid and most of us with that condition suffer from low stomach acid so omeprazole is the last thing we need. Low stomach acid means nutrients can't be absorbed so if anything us hypos need to increase our stomach acid with something like apple cider vinegar or lemon juice before a meal, or Betaine HCL.

[Hidden in reply to SeasideSusie]

Three years ago? Wow, it was the first thread I saw after logging in.

I tried those dry powder inhalers, no good they made me cough, I think they were irritants. Good that we are all different, but can throw ideas around.

Do you have Pro-Biotics there? They are the good bugs for the gut taken in capsule form?

[SeasideSusie in reply to Hidden]

Yes, I regularly take probiotics, also Prebiotics to feed the probiotics.

I've just had a course of antibiotics (I'm just getting over pleurisy and pneumonia) so have quadrupled my dose of probiotics for the amount of time recommended on the pack.

[KingoftheCocktails]

Even now 16years on I still get my medication changed due to side effects.

Keep smiling

KOTC