pleurisy

[chappy111]

hi new on here .i have been on antibiotics for 5 days to day'' for what i was told by a doctor'' as pleurisy, i,m in a lot of pain so (1) is there any think i can do to help the pain. i can not take ibuprofen , just useing paracetamol but they don't do much for the pain . and (2) how long can it last for . ANY help or inffo will be much appreciated . many thank's

[Bkin]

Welcome chappy

It may help you to read all the other posts on pleurisy :

healthunlocked.com/search/p...

or you can view just a few top right of this page

Also NHS page: nhs.uk/conditions/pleurisy/

In addition there is a search box top right which will allow you search the whole of HealUnlocked including BLF forum.

Chat again with your doctor to see if they can prescribe you some alternative pain relief and definitely contact your GP or 111 service if your symptoms get any worse.

Hope you are feeling better soon.

[peege]

Hi, how did the doctor diagnose pleurisy? I can't help wondering because it can only be diagnosed through a stethoscope. It makes a rasping sound when the pleural membranes cant glide nicely as you breath.

If it is pleurisy, I've had it 3 times, it only hurt excruciatingly with movement, coughing or sneezing. The pain was very very similar to fractured ribs in that if I didn't move it didn't hurt so much, last time I did ribs (last September) it took a lot longer than the suggested 6 weeks for them to heal. Docs were not helpful but by chance I met a young physiotherapist on a walk. She gave me the best advice, place a rolled up towel under arm of the affected side - that helped enormously with pain in restricting movement - and very important keep breathing as deeply as you can because if you dont it's quite likely that you get a chest infection. For the pain I took 1 co-codamol + 1 paracetamol every 4 hours.

Co-codamol is stronger than plain paracetamol although I'm not sure if you can take it whilst on blood thinners. If you can take it then you need to eat extra fibre & drink plenty of fluids because it can cause constipation.

Pleurisy can take weeks to heal, the first time I had it it led to a serious pneumonia......a very warm welcome to the BLF forum.

[Nik5769]

I had it several times and yes was only through doctor listening. I was on the floor a lot in pain a lot swearing and used a firm cushion to press on where it hurt. I was given co- codromol but it worked only for an hour and made me sick if I took two. Perserverence worked it lasted only a week or two but felt like a year. I think I took ibuprofen when advised not to but it worked longer for over four hours and with parecetomol. It was confusing because also broke ribs personally was not sure which it was apart from it did feel like a very sore bone and it clicked loud. One comment here is also right one time I was told it turned to pnemonia. Everytime I got this it started with stormy weather. Really ill when there's storm or heavy rain. I have severe copd. To end this comment all I can say is it does go away thankfully. However my left lung feels damaged and have chest infections nearly twice a month now have had every anti biotic there is and now have bad reaction to the meds. Only ever had 2 ct scans and one of them I demanded my lungs are very bad. Ask for ct scan when you feel able to move. Xrays always show up clear with me. Also colour of the mucus keep an eye on it for infection.