Still Fighting Pnuemonia-Could I end up in Hospital?

Hey Lady,

I have not had pneumonia myself but my nephew did need to be hospitalized so he could have IV antibiotics and eventually needed a chest tube. I don't wish to scare you by saying that and want to add that he was very short of breath so your lungs are probably not full of fluid to the point of needing one. He couldn't even carry on a conversation without becoming winded.

Why I am really writing is to say don't fool around. Please make this doctor who said you should be feeling better by now aware that you are not feeling well at all. Don't worry about it being the weekend- this is a situation where it is a necessity not a nuisance call on a doctor's weekend. We RA patients are especially vulnerable to having complications from things that the general population would not.

Take care of yourself, hope you get well soon and keep us posted. I wish you all the best.

Thanks so much for sharing your experiences. I know I need more way, way, more rest, but I keep having all these stinkin' medical appointments! Last week I had 6! And none of them were optional-I had to go to them ALL to receive the treatments, prescriptions, whatever that makes it possible for me to function as well as I do (that's sort of a joke considering my current state). Not having a car anymore makes everything way more difficult. Like yesterday & today: yesterday I hustled a ride across town (about 18 miles 1 way) & stopped at my pharmacy to fill my scripts on the way home-but they ran out of my meds and because they're heavily controlled narcotics for my chronic pain, I spent 2 hrs calling pharmacies to find where I could get them filled, and by then my ride was long gone, so I HAD to get them filled today & long story short, it took 4 hrs of activity to get them filled & get home when all I wanted and needed to do today was sleep!

At least I can rest all day tomorrow. I know I should call the lung specialist as weary suggests, but I just want to rest so much!!! Mon, Tues, and Wed I'm supposed to see my psychiatrist, lung specialist, and rheumy, in that order. I have no idea what the lung dr or rheumy will have me do, but I really hope it involves finally getting to just rest-that's all I want, well, obviously along with getting over the pneumonia, I just want rest! I took my last antibiotic today, so if a miracle happens and I wake up well tomorrow, that would be great. But depending on how I feel & my temp, I'll probably call the lung dr who prescribed this round of antibiotics, let him know what's going on with me, and see what he wants me to do. That seems like the most sensible course of action. Thanks for the idea, weary.

I sure hope you able to get that rest today...
Prayers and healing hugz

Lady,

I have found that sometimes family understands the least....come here and tell us all about it. We can relate. Good Luck with the doctors.

I had a rather strange visit to the lung specialist's this morning. I was extremely tired from only sleeping 4 1/2hrs last night, having to get up at 5am to catch my ride, and the fatigue I've had since coming down with pneumonia. My mind is very foggy & has been the past few weeks, so I had to ask the dr to repeat himself a couple times, and he became irritated with my questions and told me he realized I needed pain meds for my chronic pain, but he thought I was overmedicated (which I wasn't) and then said the reason I came down with pneumonia in the 1st place was because the narcotic pain meds kept me from coughing up the infected mucous, so basically he blamed me for making myself sick! What a JERK!!! I felt horrible when he said that. I mean, I already feel like crap, and he accused me of being stoned on pain meds when in fact I took fewer pain meds today before my appointment-I was just exhausted from being sick and not having enough sleep! He said he wanted me to get a chest x-ray in 3-4 weeks, and will have some radiology place contact me to have it done, and said I could make an appt with him so I could see the x-ray but I said for him to just look at it and call me if there was anything wrong. After some of the things he said to me today, I don't l don't ever want to see him again!

I didn't take any decongestants or use my inhaler before the appointment so he could hear exactly what was going on in my lungs, and he said they didn't sound too bad and he didn't hear any wheezing, which was a good thing. My temp was only 98.0, even though I was sweating like crazy. I told him my temp has been low-normal in the mornings, and goes above normal every day in the afternoons and evenings, and he seemed unconcerned. He said he wasn't putting me on any more antibiotics, to use the inhaler he prescribed last week, and that I would get over this in about 6 weeks. And that was it.

I was so flustered by the things he'd said to me & so tired that I forgot to tell him that I couldn't get my infusions or take my methotrexate as long as I had an elevated temperature, no matter that it's just low-grade. So I really dropped the ball there-but after I left I was just so glad to get away from him that I didn't want to go back and ask him any more questions, because he was treating me like a darned drug addict & I wanted nothing more to do with him. It was an awful experience-I just cried when I finally got home!

I see my rheumy tomorrow, and will tell him all about my experience today with the lung doctor. If my rheumy needs anything from the lung doctor, he can call him himself-I'm certainly not going to. Hopefully, things will go better with my rheumy. He's always treated me with respect, no matter how sick and/or "spaced out" I've been. Today was just a big disappointment. It'll be good to go to sleep tonight and start a new day tomorrow. Wish me luck, and thanks much for listening. I don't know what I'd do without all the support and good advice and prayers and hugz I receive here! Thanks from the bottom of my heart!!!

So sorry you had such a horrible visit.

Sometimes doctor's really get high and mighty!

he should walk in your shoes and see if he feels the same about pain meds-jerk!

I hope your RD call him and gives him a piece of his mind.

I (knock on wood) don't get sick but my GP got mad at me when I refused the flu & pneumonia vaccine. I said- I don't get sick- do you ever see me here? (I was in for a physical) she said just the same- do you know because you have an autoimmune disease and are on immune suppresants if you DO get sick with the flu/pneumonia you are 10 times more likely to end up hospitalized or maybe die?

Pooh pooh said I. Such the rebel I am. Hope I didn't shoot myself in the foot.

Finally, I have some hope again! Still feeling physically crappy, but it's not AS bad-I'm slowly getting better. I saw my rheumy today, and he & his staff treated me so well-like they always do. I told my rheumy about my experience with the SOB pulmonologist yesterday, and my rheumy is so great-fantastic positive attitude-he said, "OK, we'll just move on-some people just aren't a good match-Life is too short to worry about things like that," so he's referred me to a pulmonologist with better "people skills" & he validated my feelings about some specific things Dr SOB said (that were either wrong or just plain inconsiderate) so he did, and that's all I really needed to hear. Mentally, I feel 100 times better, and with me that's half the battle, and physically-I'm still a work in progress. Tire so easily, still feel like there's lead in my veins weighing me down, but a bit better on the crappiness scale-it's just slow going.

When doc listened to my lungs w/his stethoscope he heard some noise in there, so I had chest x-rays today, and they showed clear lungs-YAY, but something's still making me feel crappy-just not quite as bad-it is improving, break into sweats at the littlest bit of activity, and have a slight low-grade fever that starts every afternoon, so something's going on, but I'm not so worried or scared anymore. I had extensive bloodwork done today, and have a follow-up appointment next week. Doc didn't put me on antibiotics today (waiting for labs to come back to decide) so all I have to do now is rest, rest, get blessed rest! And pay my bills-I've been too sick and mentally foggy to even attempt to balance my checkbook but I'm going to give it a shot today-or maybe tomorrow-wish me luck! Everything's late, but sometimes they waive the late fees when I explain how sick I was (and still am), but bottom line is that I'm sloooooowly getting better! Much thanks for all your support!!!

Thanks golitho-I think I may have spoken too soon, though. My Rheumy had my bloodwork done STAT & he saw something that made him call a new Pulmonologist for me, and this new Pulmonologist called me today and wanted me in his office TODAY! I didn't set any alarms, so I didn't get the message til 12:30pm & w/no car I couldn't get there today, so they squeezed me in tomorrow. No one is saying what the urgency is all about, which makes me a little nervous, but I'm trying not to worry too much. Right now I'm nearly done balancing my checkbook, and I'll be catching up on bills (so many overdue cos I was just too sick & couldn't focus), just trying to get my ducks in a row in case they want me in the hospital for IV antibiotics. See how my mind works? I just automatically go to the worst possible scenario, and it probably won't happen, but I go into panic mode & prepare for the worst...It'll probably be ok (I tell myself-hoping to convince myself), and at least I'm finally getting my most overdue & soon to be taken care of. Part of me is still kinda nervous, but I won't know anything until tomorrow.

I've cut back from smoking 1 1/2 packs a day (cigarettes) to a half a pack or less a day since I got sick, but I'm seriously thinking about quitting completely 1st thing in the morning. I've tried unsuccessfully several times, but I've never had such motivation as I do now. I think it's finally, really, seriously time! I'll keep you posted. Wish me luck & thanks to you all for understanding!!!

Fantastic news from new pulmo doc-my lung xrays don't show signs of pneumonia anymore, so no hospital IV antibiotics-YAAAAY!!! I was really scared s**tless of that, but it's not going to happen. At least not now! And I have to say that although I still feel pretty crappy, I'm actually feeling a bit better than I did Thanksgiving Day, when I couldn't even sit up in bed, so there is some improvement-not much, but some. It's just happening soooo sloooow. Trouble is, I'm still pretty sick, weak (feels like lead in my veins & can't stand more than 5-10 min), low-grade fever, no appetite, and started having nausea late in the day (kinda weird, because I don't eat much, but I eat something 3 times a day) and every day the evening nausea gets worse. I've tried several things for relief (ginger ale, antacids, Pepto-Bismal, plain bubbly mineral water, & even chewing candied ginger) and they all help a little, but just for a short time. The only thing that really makes it bearable is laying down in bed on my side w/my oxygen on. Weird, but the nausea disappears after 10-15 minutes. I have absolutely no idea what's going on in my body right now, but I'm way tired of it & ready to feel ok again. It just seems like it's never going to happen!

My joint pain is increasing, probably because I haven't had an infusion in nearly a month, & haven't been allowed to take my weekly methotrexate. So, something's definitely not right, but I see the pulmo doc again Mon for a longer visit & see my rheumy Wed next week, so maybe between the two docs, they'll figure it out. I just want to get rid of the low-grade fever so I can start my RA treatments again! I feel like I'm starting to lose ground when my progress was going really well (with infusions & methotrexate) until I got this crud! It's so hard to stay optimistic, but I'm giving it all I've got!

Hi momto3,

Nice to hear from you again, and thanks for your support! Your pneumonia experience sounds way worse than mine, but I was kinda touch & go there for a while. It's the 1st time I've had an infection last this long, so my rheumy explained me how very serious this could get-not to scare me but to let me know I need to be more vigilant about keeping him informed & up-to-date when I do get an infection.

I didn't realize this until a few days ago when I looked through my medical calendar, but I noticed the 2nd week of my infection he requested I call him on a certain date (a Friday) if I still had an elevated temperature (which I did), and I noted in my calendar that I called and left the message with his MA, but he never called me back (so it wasn't really my fault), but I just assumed that because my temperature was under 100 it wasn't that big of a deal, and that's why he didn't call me back. I didn't know the infection could become very serious very fast, so I didn't know that I should have kept calling back to make sure he got the message before he left for the weekend.

Because of the miscommunication with his office, I waited over the weekend & kept getting sicker until I called him back 3 days later, that Monday. Well, I learned not take anything for granted, and if he tells me he wants to hear from me by a certain date, I'll make darned sure he gets message on that exact date-especially on a Friday. There's no way to know exactly how much worse the pneumonia got by waiting those 3 days, and I'm not playing the blame game.

I'm just grateful I'm starting to get a bit better now! Don't want to make premature predictions, but I think I'm through the worst of it. Still feel crappy, but a bit less today, my temp is closer to normal, and I got out for 2 and 1/2 hrs today-brunch w/dad & quick grocery shopping. Course, I had to rest 4 hours when I got home before I could do a simple chore, but it's still improvement. I'll take it, even if it is an inch at a time ; ) Now, to get over the elevated temp & lead in my veins feeling, so I can get back to my infusions. Patience, Lisa...



What a difficult few weeks it's been. I swear I'd have lost my mind if not for all the kindness & support from all the understanding, encouraging people here!

Lady,

So thankful to hear you are on the mend, and you are right, you do need to take it easy! It can come on so fast! I went from making dinner that night, and having shortness of breath, to waking up in the night gasping for air. When you are taking medications to supress your immune system, it does become more serious, so I understand you rheumies concerns. It sounds like your body is still craving plenty of rest, so try to do as little as you can get by with for a bit longer.