My wife has potential pneumonia.

[Alwaysreading_46]

Hey everyone. My first post and I've been reading the threads. A brilliant place you have here.

My better half came down with what the doctors believe was a very bad (in their words) chest/viral infection. Coughing a lot. Could not get warm at points. Feeling sick at points. Coughing up green phlegm etc. I called 111 and had a doctor callback who told me this and prescribed some antibiotics. 500mg twice a day for a week.

About 4 days in a little sign of improvement. However. Finish the antibiotics about a week and a half later. She's still coughing but not as much. I call again.

This time she is given clarithromycin again for only one week. This worked a lot better but as the cough etc nearly vanished they said more wouldn't be needed and see how it goes.

Well, here we are again. Nearly 2 weeks from finishing that. 3 nights ago. Suddenly she's coughing again after dinner. Could not get warm. Coughing up mucus still and coughed so much she got tinges of blood in her sputum.

Called and made a doctors appointment which was this morning at 11am.

We have been told they won't give her more antibiotics, her chest apparently sounds clear 🙄 and has no temperature. Yet they have given her an antihistamine to see if it'll help dry up her cough whilst they have now placed a request for a chest xray onto the system.

They said there is no point giving more antibiotics when the others didn't clear it even though I made the point of her only having them for a week.

So now we have to wait for up to a week for this appointment whilst my poor better half is continually coughing, feeling tired and is exhausted from broken sleep and coughing up more gunk than could fill a swimming pool. They said it is to find out if it is pneumonia or what is going on and insisted a week of antibiotics should have cleared it. 🙄

I've never had 1 week of them. Always 2 minimum.

She is disabled also with a degenerative spine issue and I'm doing all I can to try and help her get some relief but at the moment it is like playing a game of pinball and hoping to hit the right result.

Sorry for the first long post. I guess I just needed to vent at how ridiculous it is.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Craig.

[Hidden]

I don't know who 'they' think they are or what "they' think that they know about respiratory infections. In the face of overwhelming evidence that the infection is still there and that she has been given too low a dose for too short a time I suggest that you get her to a doctor who knows what they are talking about now, before she becomes irretrievably ill. This is ignorance and neglect on the part of the people whom you have been talking to.

[Alwaysreading_46 in reply to Hidden]

Hi Littlepom.

That is certainly my intention. I just replied to Bevvy below with more information but I have zero intention of letting her go through this for potentially another week whilst she waits for an xray.

Sending someone home when they suspect potential pneumonia with zero antibiotics is ludicrous.

I've never known a chest or viral infection have one week of antibiotics and be fully cleared. Yet this doctor told me it was gone and came back even after I told her it had not completely gone and my better half was still coughing. Albeit a lot less after the second lot antibiotics.

[Tempo57 in reply to Alwaysreading_46]

The latest studies show that a longer dose of antibiotics is not necessary in the majority of cases. I have always take them (when needed only), for 4-5 days max and they have worked well when fighting bacteria.

Antibiotics knock one’s immune system anyway and make one more vulnerable to catching other diseases/viruses because one’s antibodies have taken a beating by using them. If the pneumonia is viral, as is often the case, then antibiotics have no effect whatsoever as I’m sure you are aware of. Obviously your wife’s doctors did not do a test to determine if her pneumonia was of a bacterial nature.

I had a bad case of Covid at the very start of the pandemic. I thought it was pneumonia as it had all the symptoms, the same as your wife is suffering from. I had a lasting cough for about 4 months. Couldn’t sleep, coughing up a lot of green stuff at the beginning. I took a 5 day course of antibiotics from my store cupboard and they didn’t do any good and they would have done had it been bacterial. I later discovered it was Covid. (2020).

The coughing has lasted right up to January this year, though not as constant, but very irritating and it sounded horrible and guttural. I did some research (as it seems a matter of one self doctoring these days), and discovered that a first generation antihistamine can solve the coughing.

I’d taken all the usual antihistamines to no effect but this 1st gen one called CHLORPHENAMINE has worked. They are sold over the counter (OTC), and are very cheap, (£2.95 for 28). I only take one at night and not every night either and it has solved my coughing because it calms the nerves which creates the urge to cough. I read about it on an Australian website by a renowned doctor so maybe you could head to the chemist and try some. Having said that, one has to be VERY careful about other meds which she may be taking so please do some research first before administering!

Good luck and I hope that her coughing eases soon and that she make a speedy recovery.

Best wishes to you both. T57

[alcgb in reply to Tempo57]

Your post is interesting. I have severe COPD & was having trouble sleeping. I was prescribed Chlorphenamine by my GP as she said sleeping tablets would not be suitable due to my respiratory problems. They do work, but I only take them periodically. Chlorphenamine was used as as initially many years ago as a treatment for anxiety, before other medications were introduced.

[Tempo57 in reply to alcgb]

Hi alcgb,

That’s interesting too. The tablets warn of making one sleepy, so I only take them at bedtime and they do help me drift off. However, I only use them if the coughing begins.

I believe, like many scientists do, that Covid was man made in the Wuhan lab because of all the many different symptoms it causes, apart from the obvious respiratory ones. My husband had severe skin rashes after catching it and I’ve suffered with what I can only describe as a long lasting nervous cough and Chlorphenamine calms that nervous cough. It was like night and day the first time I took one, my cough switched off. Anxiety is somewhat a nervous disorder of kinds, so I guess that’s why Chlophenamine was prescribed for that.

Thank you for your info. Best wishes to you, T57

[Bevvy]

Having had both pneumonia and pleurisy a number of times I don’t understand the doctors thinking. I have certainly had antibiotics for far longer than a couple of weeks. Especially when those weeks have had a break apart from the medication. Can you speak to her own gp on Monday because calling 111 seems pointless? It sounds like you need an urgent face to face appointment and she needs some stronger antibiotics for a much longer period of time. It may even be that after being messed about with for so long that (unfortunately) she needs IV antibiotics. It may also be that she would benefit from steroid tablets to ease any inflammation?

Hope she feels much better soon.

[Alwaysreading_46 in reply to Bevvy]

Hi Bevvy.

I hope you're well. Believe it or not this face to face was when trying to book with her regular gp and told the only available appointment was today at the walk in centre.

This doctor tested her chest. By placing a stethoscope to her back on her left over the top of her t shirt and exclaimed her lungs were clear as she couldn't hear anything. Even when before she coughs I've heard a rattle on her chest. Not always but there.

She gave her some antihistamines. To. "try and dry up the phlegm". To see "if that helps" yet didn't want to prescribe anything else until an xray is done at which point she can see her doctor and then we can ask for the antiobiotics.

She is in bed sleeping now. It is beyond a joke.

[Alberta56]

So sorry your wife is feeling so bad. It is hardly rocket science that chest infections need more than one week of abs to knock out the persistent little blighters which lurk in the depths of our lungs. A short course will set them back a bit, but then they start to grow again. I hope you can get the medics to recognise this. Good luck and best wishes to both of you.

[Alwaysreading_46 in reply to Alberta56]

Thankyou Alberta. I appreciate your kind words.

You wouldn't think it is rocket science but clearly for some it truly is. The fact it was more of a not wanting to dispense more antibiotics until the xray is done is one thing but not even listening to what happened and then telling me what she believed to be the case is another.

To be sent home with antihistamines to try and dry up her phlegm is ridiculous.

[Gladys27]

Have they taken a sputum sample as this should point them in the right direction as to what the problem is and what antibiotic to use. I am sorry you are having such a challenging time . I had 3 weeks of steroids and antibiotics over Christmas and none of them worked and they insisted my chest was clear. Ask them to do a sputum test whilst you are waiting for a chest x-ray. In the meantime see if some steam inhalation helps and warm tea and honey. I was given this advice from others on here. Best wishes

[Alwaysreading_46 in reply to Gladys27]

Hi Gladys. Thank you for replying it is much appreciated.

Sadly not no. As per my post and replies already the only things done so far are what I have posted.

My good lady has managed to get some much needed nap time in today and as of now so far at least is sleeping. Something she hasn't done a lot of recently without waking and coughing or sleeping sitting up.

First thing Monday I will be calling her GP and refusing to be fobbed off for a walk in center appointment. Less coughing today since we got home but still bouts of sounding like she was coughing up a swimming pool and then OK again for a while.

I'm not sure how they said her chest was clear given the doctor only tested one side and through a t shirt let alone saying "you don't have a temperature which is a good thing"

The doctor didn't see her 2 nights before when she couldn't get warm in bed and had extra blankets on and a hot water bottle. The absence of a temperature doesn't mean someone isn't sick or they don't have an infection.

Sorry to hear about your Christmas with the steroids and antibiotics. I hope you are doing much better now. If my wife had the right medication and dosages over time I'm sure her outcome would be a lot different rather than take this for a week and then give it time after and see how you go.

All the best Gladys and I hope you've recovered from your bout of this illness.

Craig.

[Trishe in reply to Alwaysreading_46]

Hi Craig,You must take amputee sample now your wife has been off antibiotics, it won't show what the infection is while on antibiotics, I would also insist they send it off to the lab, I went through this a few years back, the xray showd pneumonia, another 6 weeks later I was clear, but with 10 days minimum antibiotics and I refused steroids, I not taken them since, as I believe they open us up to more infections.

Good luck with the GP, snd hope your good lady is well soon. X

Trish

[Lol1944]

my advise for what it is worth is get her to the nearest hospital and explain you are there because of negligent and useless gp. I fear that failing this your dear other half is going to end up as a hospital inpatient. being at a stage of "almost pneumonia! needs urgent correct meds.

[Alwaysreading_46 in reply to Lol1944]

Thanks Lol.

Believe me. I am going to be doing all I can to make sure the issue is raised whilst also doing my very best to make sure my wife can rest and get the medication she needs so she does not get worse. She is sleeping now whilst I am up. I am a night owl anyway but it means I can listen out for her and make sure she is as well as she can be whilst I do what I can at this time.

Thankfully at the moment she is getting some rest which is sorely needed.

Many thanks for your reply. It is deeply appreciated.

Craig.

[garshe]

I would take your wife to A&E . If she has Pneumonia she needs treatment immediately. I always have at least 2weeks of antibiotics when I have an infection. My Emergency pack of Arithromycin and Steroids is for 2 weeks Does your wife have a Respiratory team she can contact. Hope you get help soon. XxSheila 💕⚘

[anng18 in reply to garshe]

Hi Always and Garshe,

I absolutely agree with Garshe. I was very ill, but had a clear chest! I went to outpatients at hospital on a Sunday and after they had taken my temperature and done an x-ray, they kept me in. I had pneumonia, and had had it for some time. I was given both intravenous antibiotics and tablets. Once my temperature had come down, they sent me home with at least two more lots of anti-biotics. I would ring 111 and or go straight to the hospital, if you can. I lost a lot of weight from having such a high temperature - that was another problem in itself, but if your wife has degenerative spine disease, she really does need help to get over the coughing.

Take care

[garshe in reply to anng18]

Totally agree anng18. I always wait until after my surgery closes then ring 111 and ask for appointment with out of hours doctor. The dr rings me back and usually arranges for me to see him or her at hospital .no waiting as go straight in. Many times been admitted to hospital ,not always but given correct medication. If you dont get Joy then just turn up at A&E only problem is thesedays theres always a long waiting time.

I havent been to A&E or hospital for over 5yrs .I now have a fab Respiratory and Copd team. They call at my house and can call another specialize team out The Acute Medical team .these call 3 times a day. Are trained to take blood, to set up strips and administer antibiotics intravenously. They get the blood results within an hour. Also they have scanners and all the top equipment so you can be managed from home.

I know this isnt available everywhere so I am blessed. . Once I was flabbergasted as my Consultant called to my house. Didnt know they did house calls. All the teams work closely with my Consultant.

I wish everyone could access this sort of support .

Take care xxSheila 💕⚘

[alcgb in reply to garshe]

I absolutely agree. My rescue packs are two weeks of antibiotics & two weeks of steroids. My respiratory consultant said that two weeks is the minimum I should take.

[slram]

Do you have Urgi-Cares or Emergency Rooms?

[Bean_Counter]

I’m surprised your GP or 111 didn’t tell you to take your wife to A&E. I have had several bouts of pneumonia and severe chest infections in the last 18 months, always accompanied by a severe asthma exacerbation and when everything crashes I go to A&E who will do a chest X-ray and blood tests. They will check infection markers, probably take a sputum sample for testing as well. It sounds as though things have progressed beyond waiting for a GP appointment hand it sounds as though your GP is not listening to how poorly your wife is). I too have found that my chest is not sounding crackly and wheezy 24/7 but have been able to feel when I’m breathing that it feels bubbly. Sadly I have usually ended up as an inpatient for a week or so until they get both the pneumonia/infection and asthma under control. Hope you manage to get some proper treatment for her, but I think you perhaps should consider A&E to get her some help. Hope things improve soon for your wife (and you).

[Phill1]

Sorry to hear what your going through

I think you should get a sputum pot from your GP & insist a that sputum analyzis is done to determine what bugs are growing . your wife needs to get the right antibiotic to zap this nasty infection she has. ..

[Mooka]

I’m not sure what the doctor is expecting from the x Ray. I had pneumonia in December. I had one week of antibiotics but I had two broad spectrum antibiotics together. A month later at my respiratory appointment I had another x Ray. The area of pneumonia stilled showed. Apparently this is usual. It’s miserable to feel like your wife does. Can you encourage her to control the coughing? Hold the little coughs until she has one big one that is more productive. I hope she feels better soon.

[Morrison10]

I.was.born.with.PCD,have.chest.issues.all.life,now.87.on.permanent Azithromycin. Sputum.sample.urgent.Best.wishes.Jean

[Timberman]

Hi Craig - what a sad saga and I really hope things get better. It does sound as if your partner has something in the COPD area but the lack of 'crackle' in the chest, the lack of infected sputum and the lack of a temperature are odd. I would agree about the antibiotics. Too often a seven day course is given when most advice suggests 14 days. I use doxycycline but clarithromycin is also very good (it just wrecks my palette!). The X-ray will be important but cannot really show detail relevant to all respiratory ailments I am told. In fact some are best identified by a biopsy, which is how I was diagnosed. I would strongly urge, as do others, that you seek some specialist respiratory advice - it does no need to be at doctor levels; my best advice comes from experienced respiratory nurses.

[Alwaysreading_46 in reply to Timberman]

Hey Timberman.

Many thanks for the reply.

Hopefully this will clarify a few things. She has had a temperature. Being cold and can't get warm. Headache etc.

Her sputum has been almost consistently green on and off since this started. A few times been clear when she's coughed but mainly yellow to green.

We are following what the Dr said on Sunday evening yet we are only 1 day into her new antibiotics but she is on 3 x 500mg per day of Co-amoxiclav. So until we have the sputum pot or the xray date. We are taking it one hour at a time to see how it progresses but obviously if anything changes then I will do whatever is necessary to have her seen to.

Thanks for replying it is deeply appreciated.

[Gloria_L]

I agree with you regarding length of treatment.

- are they doing sputum analysis / blood tests to try and identify the pathogen(s) involved in your wife’s infection?

- are you monitoring your wife’s O2 saturation levels at home (with a simple oxymeter purchased online)?

- Autogenic drainage might help her breathing; there are numerous online tutorials teaching the techniques.

- Proning position at night might help her breathing.

I hope your wife soon gets the medical care that she needs and that she gets better soon.

[JulyAugust]

Hi Alwaysreading, my response may be contradictory to some of the other posts, but doctors are reluctant to give antibiotics out on a long term basis these days. As you know antibiotics are for a bacterial infection and will do nothing for a viral infection. Maybe that’s why they had little effect for your wife’s illness. In my experience antibiotics clear up a bacterial infection within five days. I am very hesitant to use antibiotics unless it’s absolutely necessary as once I took antibiotics for a week and even though I had been on the mend from the illness I suddenly became very ill on the seventh day and also got some major gum problems, and my doctor told me to stop taking the antibiotics immediately and in two days the ‘second illness’ and my gum problems subsided. She explained that antibiotics kill the good bacteria as well as the bad bacteria so you might want to consider that when pushing for your wife to have a further course of antibiotics.

I do hope she starts feeling better and also gets the X-ray soon, something I think I would insist on if it was my husband in same position. Best wishes, Jan.

[FewThereBe]

May I ask which antibiotic was given at the first, the 500mg dose twice/day?

Was it amoxicillin by any chance?

My wife (with COPD) was given an emergency supply of antibiotics (amoxicillin) at one time to have on hand and was instructed to it use for seven days in time of trouble; if she still had symptoms after seven days, then continue for an additional seven days.

I guess my point is that she was given a 14-day supply of antibiotics.

God bless your wife, and you for taking care of her.

[Alwaysreading_46 in reply to FewThereBe]

Hi Few.

Indeed it was. The dosage was 500mg but it was one twice a day for a week.

It started to subside albeit slowly after a few days.

So as my wife felt better decided to not call back. 🤷

So about 10 days pass and as she's coughing but not as much it snowballed again.

This time one week of clarithromycin. These worked better but again only a weeks worth. Almost gone. Same as above.

I called 111 Sunday evening and got a lovely doctor who told me because it hadn't completely gone it latches on again and grows. A chest x Ray appointment is on the system so we are waiting for when that will be.

In the meantime my wife has called to order a sputum pot and has been given 500mg of Co-amoxiclav aka Augmentin. One 3 X per day for a week plus a salbutamol inhaler.

She took the first doses yesterday and is hydrating as much as I can have her do during the day.

So we are now playing the waiting game again.

Thanks for replying it is much appreciated.

[Alwaysreading_46]

Hey folks. Just a quick update.

I called 111 again on Sunday evening. I got hold of a lovely doctor who confirmed what I thought that the course of antibiotics was not long enough so each time one was finished, some of the infection lingered and took hold again, essentially grew.

He has prescribed Co amoxyclav (augmentin) 1 3 times a day for a week to see how she does at 500mg. We are still waiting to hear about the chest Xray.

My better half has slowly been improving, very slowly in some regards. Less coughing, phlegm lightening in colour and has been able to eat and is drinking copious amounts of fluids to help thin the phlegm. Plus an inhaler for when she needs it.

Apart from a coughing fit earlier after eating and little sporadic coughs since that she is starting to feel better slowly.

We are going to keep an eye on it and continue what we have been told whilst waiting for the Xray appointment and if needs be back to the doctor on Monday who would want a sputum test whilst monitoring her antibiotics.

It's a slow road but at least there are more good signs now than bad ones. Hoping it is just a bad chest infection which the doctor thinks as it came on quite fast with the temperature etc.

I will continue to check in, thanks to everyone so far for their advice help and kind words.

Craig.