Just diagnosed

[Evelyn65]

With Pneumonia. I attended GP on Friday , got an emergency appointment luckily, as had had a very bad cough all week and just didn't feel great. My plan was to nip into GP , get a script if necessary for antibiotics and continue with my weekly food shop. Well, if ever a plan went pear shaped ......................

I walked into the GP room, explained my symptoms as above, meanwhile he was putting on a BP cuff, attaching an oxygen saturation monitor to my finger and doing my temperature all at the same time, who says men cant multitask . It seemed to take forever, then he said, I have to tell you you are a very sick woman and you need to go immediately to A & E as I think you may have pneumonia . To say I was shocked was an understatement.

Equally shocked husband drove me straight to A & E and I handed in my letter to the receptionist and sat down preparing for the inevitable wait. I should have realised something was amiss when I was called almost immediately, and all the obs repeated. Next thing there is a canula in my arm, IV fluids running, IV antibiotics, Oxygen specs up my nose, and blood samples, lots and lots of blood samples. I had a chest X-ray and then there was talk of sepsis, but thankfully that was ruled out .

After eight long hours in A & E I eventually got admitted to the ward. Where I have spent the last four days/ three nights.I had a couple of bad nights but last night was the best . Was started on to oral antibiotics and allowed home tonight . I felt great getting out , but now feel dreadful. Obviously the trauma and tiredness is catching up and I am still coughing a lot. Reading through other posts I realise this is very common but dreading the coughing that will accompany my nights sleep as I don't have access to nebulisers at home.

I am quite shook up by the whole experience. I have never smoked nor have asthma or any other lung condition. I consider myself extremely healthy and haven't ever had anything like this before. On reflection I just am so thankful I got the emergency slot as I would have just powered on taking day/night nurse and dread to think of the outcome . To go from totally well to hospital and seriously unwell in five days is quite scary.

Any tips on what to expect over next few week truly appreciated.

[hypercat54]

Hi sorry to hear about your pneumonia and I hope you are feeling a bit better very soon. Fortunately I have never had it but know what I have read on here that it can take a least around a month or six weeks before you are back to normal. As you don't have lung disease it will probably be quicker for you. Meanwhile rest and taking it easy for a while is the order of the day. Don't try and do too much or it will take longer.

I remember when I was young and fit having very painful cramp of my heart muscle which came on without warning and I ended up in hospital. I worried for years that it would return but it never did so this is probably a one off so try not to worry x

[Evelyn65 in reply to hypercat54]

Thank You so much Hypercat for your reply. I never have had anything like this in my life so think that gave me a bit of a fright. I will try and focus on recovery and not all the what if’s

[powderpuff]

Overwhelming fatigue is part of recovery from pneumonia Evelyn so be sure not to try & overdo things, get plenty of rest & eat as well as you can.

Recovery really can be very prolonged whether you have COPD or not but as you felt so fit beforehand you’ll be much better placed.

Do take care to be on the ball when you’ve finished the antibiotics as it’s not uncommon for pneumonia to be stubborn & needing more than one course/combination before clearing up completely.

Hoping things improve for you soon.

[Evelyn65 in reply to powderpuff]

Thank You for your reply and all the good advice powderpuff. Feel worse today for some reason. I’m sure I wouldn’t have been so keen for home if I’d felt like this yesterday. Husband has just made me soup and toast. My comfort food !

[hallentine47]

I echo Powderpuff after having had Pnuemonia which took me into ICU fr 19 days and a months Hosptal stay I found that it took months to recover and in my case with Emphysema and COPD I have never fully recovered. I find that most peole under-estimate Pnuemonia and so little realise that the many many varieties are all nasty. Take it easy and do not expect too much if yourself.

[Evelyn65 in reply to hallentine47]

Thank you so much for taking time to reply. So appreciate it.

[Mooka]

All good advice above. Do remember to rest as being a hero will just make the recovery period longer. Drink plenty of fluids and eat healthily. You may find it easier to sleep with the cough if you are propped up a bit with more pillows than normal. I have slept in the armchair in the past just to alleviate the coughing. I wish you a speedy recovery.

[Evelyn65 in reply to Mooka]

Thank you Mooka. The cough is worse now than when I was in hospital but maybe that’s due to not having the nebulisers at home.

I just panicked a bit but now realise this is the nature of the illness.

[Mooka in reply to Evelyn65]

Look after yourself and if the cough doesn’t improve go back to your doctor. It may be that the infection hasn’t gone away completely and you need more antibiotics.

[Evelyn65 in reply to Mooka]

Thanks. Yes I finish the course tomorrow so will see how I am by Friday.

[watergazer]

Hope you're feeling a bit better now. Your experience is similar to mine- A&Estaff were running around me like bees in a hive. - x RAYS, CANULA, HEART MONITOR , OXYGEN MONITOR were all done in minutes. Whipped up to ICU for overnight then a ward for a few days and all just a few days before Christmas.

I can't fault the NHS at all for their care .

It took me at least 4 months to be anything like normal but still a few more months to recover. My problem was the scarring on my lung didn't help me recover too quickly. As I has pleurisy as well, I was on a lot of painkillers as well as anti biotics. At least 26 tablets daily at first. Do take it easy for at least a month then gradually build up your activity level. If you still feel ill after finishing your anti biotics then go back to your doctors- I presume your doctor who was on the ball in sending you to hospital will keep an eye on you.

Rest and drink lots of fluids. Take care. Anita x

[Evelyn65 in reply to watergazer]

Anita your experience as you say almost identical to mine. There was talk the first night of transferring me to HDU as they couldn’t get my temperature down and my heart rate was very high but thankfully all settled.

Thank you for your reassurance.

[ssafa]

I had a similar experience but I was at home. I spoke to someone on 101 and as I was talking she told me an ambulance was on the way, the next thing the paramedic arrived and decided that I was deteriorating and when the ambulance arrived I was taken to hospital.

it is a shock to the system and getting back to feeling reasonable took a long time.

Hope you are feeling better but take it easy.

[ssafa in reply to ssafa]

doing ok thanks but had ongoing infections since then just finished a course of meds. fingers crossed. hope you are getting better.

[Ergendl]

What an experience. Hope you're starting to feel a little better at home. Let time take its time.