New to site, recently Diagnosed w/ Pleurisy. Wow. Shockingly shortly of breath. Painful chest, ribs and back.
Usually deal well with the pain and stiffness ( pain meds, hot shower, positive outlook ..blah blah blah...)of PsA but this had laid me low. On antibiotic, prednisone. Using inhaler and Vick’s vaporub. Thought I’d feel better in a day or two. No such luck. So much to do! Freaking out!
I had pneumonia over Christmas ended up in a&e on Xmas day. Took ages for me to feel better & at least six wks to get my fitness levels back. Look after yourself.
Thank you for the thoughtful response .
Poor you, I’ve had that, and it’s very painful and rather scary. Take care.
Thankyou
Your poor thing, Pleurisy is horrible, I’ve had it once, maybe 35 years ago. Looks like you have the right Meds. Patience Grasshopper - the only path is rest those lungs 
cheers Deb
Ugh! Thankyou for the kind response!
Sorry to say but it took me two months, not two days to start feeling better! I've had lung infections (pleurisy, pneumonia and bronchitis) too many times to count and have learnt that you can't rush it. Rest, rest and then rest a bit more.
Thank you for the response... not what I want to hear
You could be different! It can be much quicker but I got pneumonia at the same time, so took forever.
Pleurisy is an inflammation of the lining of the lungs and it usually involves the cartilages of the ribs called costochondritis. It is not an infection and therefore antibiotics are not needed nor is Vicks or inhalers. You need an antiinflammatory ibuprofen or naproxen or something along those lines. I had this many years ago and it is very painful. The Vicks may help if you rub it into the chest where the pain is and not the throat. Or heating pads to the chest may also help.
You are right that the word pleurisy does mean inflammation of the lining of the lungs. However this is frequently caused by an underlying infection, often a bacterial one, so antibiotics can be appropriate.
It can also be as a result of having RA, as can costochondritis. Which can be good news as can clear up much more quickly....
Not being medically trained... or know Farmgal's full medical history, we're not in a position to say what she should or shouldn't be taking or using. You're correct in that it's inflammation of the lungs but treatment depends on the root cause. Certainly the chest pain should be eased by taking NSAIDs/pain relief but if it's root cause is bacterial then antibiotics are usually prescribed. Vicks vaporub will help if there's congestion causing coughing, you really don't want to be coughing with pleurisy! Rest is really important, not doing anything nothing that causes excessive breathing, that will just floor you & be even more painful. A heat pad helps, placed on the chest. Pleurisy can also be viral & in that case antibiotics wouldn't ordinarily be prescribed, maybe when you had pleurisy it's cause was viral. Unfortunately with having RD, PsA etc it does make us more prone to lung involvement.
In cases of RA most pleurisy is neither viral or bacterial and is autoimmune and I was speaking from an autoimmune perspective.
There is that of course, that wasn't clear. If that was the case & it's PsA inflammation I would expect it to be treated rather than hoping it will resolve itself, or, if there was untreated infection it turning into pneumonia & a possible hospital stay. NSAIDs would help with inflammation but I would think that as her prescriber has decided steroid treatment & antibiotics are appropriate there is underlying infection.
Also if severe shortness of breath develops you may have developed a pleural effusion and it would need to be drained.
Hi Farmgirl1958🌸🌺🌸
I have pleurisy often. It just takes time. It does leave. Try not to stressed out over it if you can. I started my first episode over 40 years ago and I’m still here 😊. I’m sorry that you have it and hope you recover very soon💕🌸🌸🌸🌸🌹🌹🌹🌸🌸🌸Sending you hugs love and kisses
😊🤗💕😘
🙏😘
Hiya & welcome Farmgal1958. I'm pleased you've found us, we have members with PsA who I'm sure you'll be able to swap experiences with. I'm sorry your first post is regarding such a horrible thing. You have my sympathy. Pleurisy can be blinkin painful. It sounds as though it's being treated appropriately, now you just have to wait unfortunately. Lying on your side can ease the pain if it's getting too much at times.
I am amazed by the kind words of encouragement, thankyou!
Hope things get better soon, just take some well earned rest
Thankyou
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Worst Pleurisy of my lifetime - Does anyone have any wisdom for getting through this?
