6 weeks on and still suffering with chest infections

[Vm006]

My cough started mid January, it was chronic to a point of vomiting at times. Felt so unwell I finely gave in to concerned hubby after 4 weeks and saw a gp. Diagnosed with a chest infection and prescribed antibiotics. 5 days later I developed a horrible pain in my chest stretching down my left side and back. My coughing is still very bad so chest pain was insane! I put it down as muscle strain and lived on pain relief. 1 week on and it’s on my right side now and the pain takes my breath away. Still coughing too and feeling so tired and developed an indigestion feeling or tightness in my chest . Saw GP and given stronger antibiotics and sent for chest X-ray. I was baffled when told at the hospital that I would have to wait 7 days for results. I am still heading to work everyday which doesn’t help I’m sure. Never had this before so wondering. Can chest infections/ coughing fits commonly last for 6 plus weeks ? Should I stay off work? Didn’t ask the gp that question.

[Hidden]

You need proper treatment for this chest infection asap. Allowing it to spread by being a martr and trying to ignore it is frankly, ridiculous and dangerous. The antibiotics which your GP gave you obviously did not do the job. Another week to wait for an xray result and you could be in serious trouble. Please get your sensible and long suffering husband to take you to A&E.

[Vm006 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks Littleton. A kick up the backside is what I needed I think. Not gone to work today ! I am ringing to docs today to push for my X-ray results. The second doctor I saw said it could be chest strain from coughing but the bolts of pain from front to back tells me otherwise

[Hidden in reply to Vm006]

Keep pushing until you get the right treatment. We really do have to be proactive in our own interests and vociferous in sourcing the right treatment. Good luck

[Nula2 in reply to Vm006]

Hi, as Littlepom says I think best bet is A&E. I went (at a friends insistence) and they gave me loads of tests and an Xray. Had the results immediately. Turned out I had pneumonia. Couldn't praise them highly enough. Take care & hope you get better soon xxxx

[Coolcat6103 in reply to Nula2]

Now sue your doctor for misdiagnosis.....you could have died! Almost five months of calling the surgery, spoke to five doctors eventually got a lung x-ray shows the reason I can't breath is fibrosis on lungs (terminal) third doctor told me if I can't breath and walk at the same time....."walk slower" ALL pushed me over to the asthma nurse, NONE wanted to see me, ALL said it was asthma. So far I've had one telephone call with nurse. Looked at my x-ray gave me fostair n said I'll see you in 6weeks!! Luckily I didn't have a clot or collapsed lung! If we don't start holding GPs to account they will continue to brush us off with impunity. I'm fed up with their attitude towards all things chest related. I hope you are ok and well. You've come to the right place here, I've recently arrived and the support is like nothing I expected. I haven't got round to replying yet but felt I had to send you a quick text.

[MrsP70 in reply to Vm006]

If you go to A& E they will have your X-ray straightaway this happened to me the other week , had a chest x ray on the Friday and on the Monday my gp sent me to A&E as I still wasn’t well he said they will have your x ray now instead of waiting a week . I am still not well after having three lots of anti biotics and two lots of steroids this is ongoing since beginning of Jan I am seeing gp again on Monday. Hope you get sorted I think you have to keep banging on about it till you get the right treatment.

[Vm006 in reply to MrsP70]

Hope you feel better soon. Is a chest infection you also have along with the insane pains ?

[MrsP70 in reply to Vm006]

No I didn’t have any pains in my chest

[Vm006 in reply to MrsP70]

that’s a relief. Like you I’ve had this since January.

[B0xermad]

It's quite painful if your infection turns to pneumonia or pleurisy so littlepom is spot on get to a & e incase it has developed into something else

[Lutontown]

In 2014 I had a chest infection that went on from the end of March to mid November. This was the bug Staphylloccus Aureus, and was not responding to the antibiotics I was prescribed. Eventually, when my allocated doctor came back from having a new hip, he arranged an appointment with the lungs consultant at the hospital. He got me a CT scan which found I now had bronchiectasis on top of COPD, and I then had an intravenous AB which sorted the bug. However, a week or so later, I had another chest infection, which was sorted with oral AB. I believe my surgery let me down, having seen 2 or 3 other doctors, who should have got me scanned a lot sooner, and maybe not have endured the lung damage, bronchiectasis. In Nov 2019 I had pnemonia and pleurisy, which put me in hospital for 10 days. This was painful, caused be fluid on the lungs. Three-quarters of a litre of infected fluid was drawn out of my chest cavity. My waste products, that chest fluid, my wee and my poo were bright yellow. Lovely.

[Vm006 in reply to Lutontown]

wow sounds awful. Are you better now or do you get chest infections more often now ?

[Med75]

Please please take the advice from Littlepom & get yourself to A&E, my husband had a dreadful cough in December. As he had a doctors appointment 14 days after the cough started he waited to get diagnosed.

He was on the point of it turning to pneumonia by the time he saw GP, had very strong antibiotics & told in no uncertain terms not to leave it so long next time.

He was somewhat better by Christmas, it was only by the middle of January he truly felt better.

Be kind to yourself please stay home from work & get yourself properly better, hope you’ll heed all this advice & your health improves.

[Vm006 in reply to Med75]

sounds like my situation. Hope he is completely better : )

[katieoxo60]

If you have a lung condition coughs can hang about , how ever a course of steroids often clears it . It does take between a week and 10days to get a chest X-ray back unless your GP emphasisies its urgent. You should not be going to work and risking getting iller or spreading germs to your colleagues. Most infections require rest to recover even the covid virus. Your Gp should be concerned about the length of time you have been ill, as I understand it you can self certify for work for 7 days, but your Gp could say there is a risk of virus and it being spread via your cough these days. Of course the constant cough can cause muscle strain too. Try taking warm drinks to soothe the cough or sucking throat pastilles. Hope this helps . Take care a persistant cough can be the sign of many things.

[Vm006 in reply to katieoxo60]

Thanks so much for your advise. This forum is new to me and so far it’s been so helpful! I ended up in A&E as the stabbing pains on my right side of chest was unbearable. Worse when I spoke. A thorough examination and 4 hours stay the doctors confirmed it was pleurisy. I’ve slowed down with work, I’m a curtain maker so a bit tricky as it’s very busy.

[katieoxo60 in reply to Vm006]

Glad to hear you have a diagnosis , take care and stay warm . given a little more time I am sure you will be fully recovered soon Best Wishes.

[Lutontown]

No, Vm006, Apart from that pneumonia and pleurisy event, since eradicating black mould in our bathroom in April 2018, I've had no chest infections at all. In 2017 I kept a diary and recorded 18 chest infections. That was pretty well continuously being on antibiotics. Worth checking for mould; mould will grow anywhere that is damp. Our's was due to a leak in the bath drain, which we found when we had the bath replaced by a walk in shower. Three-quarters of the floor under the bath and floor tiles was covered in the growth. I'm also on medication which keeps me quite reasonably ok.

[Patk1]

U should put a specimen of mucous in for testing to see if u need antibiotics+ which one.the coughs in healthy people r lingering the winter, really bad,up to 12wks.my dil is one of them x

[BionicLady]

Gosh, this sounds like what I go through every time (and currently going through again!) where my chest sets off, vomiting first for days on end then the thick sputum!!!

It looks as if you have received some fantastic advice from our other buddies on the forum.

When it comes to our health, we should definitely not play the martyr as we will suffer, everyone else will be getting on with their lives!

I really hope you manage to get the right help and treatment and you and your family are able to seek some comfort from getting the right help so you are well again.

This weather isn't helping any of us, it has been the worst!!!

Take good care of yourself 💐

[Blackbird9]

It might be you have pleurisy .. but definitely take time off work and do not return until better ...A lot of good advice given please follow up on things and feel better soon you won't be doing yourself any favours if you leave it to go on its own 💜

[poppyshola]

I think many of us have been so fed up trying to get an appointment with our GP we have resorted to try to resolve our own ailments which is pretty worrying ... its just as well Google is able to answer many of our questions because unless you have Covid you don't matter.. even then the message is Don't come to the surgery if you have a cough etc etc... please never assume you've got a strain if you have chest pain especially if it hurts when you breathe in or out or you have an indigestion feeling ...

If you're fortunate enough to get an appointment, make sure you get all the information the doctor needs to diagnose you properly... that means however little you think some things might be unimportant and not linked to your real problem they might be ... a good tip is to get a sheet of paper and write it all down, from the time you started hurting to the date you see him/her .. because you can guarantee they have a time frame for each patient ...

Don't be hurried though and if you don't understand or don't think their diagnosis ties up with your suffering, say so..

And when you are prescribed antibiotics and they haven't eradicated you pain and coughing etc try to get an appointment or get them to get back to you to continue treatment otherwise it'll just get worse..

If you are coughing stuff up ask for a sputum check to be sent for testing...

to check you have any bugs in it.. especially as the hospital can't xray you for a week .. don't be afraid to be pushy ... you're the one that's suffering..

I don't know if your GP automatically gives you a certificate now or whether you have to ask but you don't need to be going to work if you're so poorly.

A bit of self help advice would be to get yourself some cough linctus (I always have Buttercup Syrup which you can get in some supermarkets, pharmacy or next day delivery at Amazon..) just a teaspoon of linctus and a couple of tablespoons of hot water will soothe your chest a bit ... a couple of times daily

Make a drink of lemon squash, honey and hot water, to soothe your throat for 2 or 3 times a day .

Snuggle up with a blanket and hot water bottle ...

I do hope you feel better soon x

[Vm006 in reply to poppyshola]

snuggling up with a blanket sounds so divine something usually reserved for Sundays so feels so weird to be doing this on a Monday. The busiest day of the week at work. I have a decor business and thankfully have amazing help so can stay away but will struggle to …

The doctor recommended a codeine based cough syrup which has been a life saver surprising my hacking coughing at night. Cannot recommend that enough for persistent coughs.

[Vm006]

Thanks so much 😊. It is pleurisy so downtime for me .. or at least reducing my work load for a bit. 😊