Health issues

[m3at]

Im just wondering if anyone here has had pneumonia that eventually led to pleural effusion?

I was diagnosed with waking pneumonia October 18th. The dr gave me the zpack. After two weeks my symptoms grew worse, so the doc put me on levaquin. Again, two weeks and no improvement. Next up, amox for 10 days. With no improvement and low grade fevers since Nov 19th, two X-rays and a ct scan later, turns out I have a pleural effusion.

I'm still having low grade fevers off and on, but I actually feel really good and where I couldn't walk up the stairs in my house two weeks ago, it's now not a problem.

I guess I'm just wondering if anyone else has experienced this.

 

[HeavenHarris]

never heard of it. is it similar to bronchitis?
are you coughing? if so, try to get some cough syrup/pills. codeine or vicodin or tussionex or somehting like that. will make you feel better bro trust me. if you're not coughing, pretend you are. try olive leaf and echinacea pills and vitamin c pills to naturally boost your immune system. also taco bell. and coconut water (NOT milk!).

 

[m3at]

Pleural effusion is water between the the lungs and the membrane around the lungs.

 

[HeavenHarris]

water? hmmm sounds like you could use some draaaaaaaainage. mucinex d bro.
plus whatever the doc says. you really should listen to a doc more than some £¥£ like me. whatd doc say.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q_SHlu9haw

 

[Dr. Jones]

Get well, M3AT, we need you here, bro.

Get checked out, don't self diagnose/medicate.

 

[JAG]

Had something similar when I was like 5. I also had fluid around my heart. I suffered from the stuff you described for about a month before they caught it via x-rays - and even then they weren't sure what it was. They checked me into Primary Children's and was in ICU for awhile and then they had to go in and remove the sac and fluid. Then they put me on antibiotics. This was about 15 years ago though so hopefully medicine has improved!

 

[m3at]

Get well, M3AT, we need you here, bro.

Get checked out, don't self diagnose/medicate.

Thanks! I've been working with my family doctor, but I'm schedule to see a pulmonary doctor next tuesday. I'm a little worried. My family doc did a cbc, everything looked normal. He also did a UA. Found a bit of blood and protein, but that could be due to an infection. My family doc did mention Rheumatoid Arthritis as a potential cause, however, I've had pneumonia since oct. 18th and it appears to be gone, judging by how I feel lately.

Had something similar when I was like 5. I also had fluid around my heart. I suffered from the stuff you described for about a month before they caught it via x-rays - and even then they weren't sure what it was. They checked me into Primary Children's and was in ICU for awhile and then they had to go in and remove the sac and fluid. Then they put me on antibiotics. This was about 15 years ago though so hopefully medicine has improved!

I'm pretty worried about the drainage part. I'm also worried that it could be something more serious, like autoimmune. I should hear from my doc tomorrow about the blood cultures and urine cultures.

 

[HeavenHarris]

what are ur symptoms besides the on/off low grade fevers?
you took really strong antibiotics and lots of different kinds so i dont think u have anything bacterial bro.

 

[Dr. Jones]

Thanks! I've been working with my family doctor, but I'm schedule to see a pulmonary doctor next tuesday. I'm a little worried. My family doc did a cbc, everything looked normal. He also did a UA. Found a bit of blood and protein, but that could be due to an infection. My family doc did mention Rheumatoid Arthritis as a potential cause, however, I've had pneumonia since oct. 18th and it appears to be gone, judging by how I feel lately.


I'm pretty worried about the drainage part. I'm also worried that it could be something more serious, like autoimmune. I should hear from my doc tomorrow about the blood cultures and urine cultures.

We love you bro and are thinking awesome thoughts and praying!

 

[m3at]

what are ur symptoms besides the on/off low grade fevers?
you took really strong antibiotics and lots of different kinds so i dont think u have anything bacterial bro.

my very first symptoms were not being able to breath during exercise. After an xray the doc confirmed it was (walking) pneumonia. I had no fever, no cough, nothing really. Just couldn't breathe. About a week after the zpack, my symptoms were not being able to breathe walking up steps or going to the bathroom. So the doc put me on levaquin. That's when it started to get worse. No fevers at that point, but my joints and muscles started to ache, plus zero energy. I think I was in bed for almost two weeks. When the doc put me on amoxacillan, I noticed that I could barely use my hands and my knees hurt like hell. I also started having low grade fevers a couple times a day. They would get to 100-101 and then I would take some ibuprofen and they would go away.

Now, my breathing is better. I can walk up both flights of stairs in my house without being too short of breath. My hands/knees are feeling better and the fevers are not quite as frequent.

 

[HeavenHarris]

hmmm. kinda sounds like you had a viral infection that kinda got worse. also kinda sounds like a form of asthma but im no doc. its good that u are feeling better bro. i was in a accident and got some pretty bad injuries and thats why i am here trolling it up instead of outside enjoying the world so i know being less than 100% sucks bro. you also sound just tired/stressed. you think so? i find lots of people can fix alot of problems just by getting more sleep and drinking lots of water. also try the 3 things i mentioned earlier to boost ur immune system naturally...antibiotics should only be used to treat bacterial infections...use herbal stuff to prevent it. and also get ur flu shot. of course take this stuff with a grain of salt bro im not a doc i just play one for the JFC.

 

[JAG]

Thanks! I've been working with my family doctor, but I'm schedule to see a pulmonary doctor next tuesday. I'm a little worried. My family doc did a cbc, everything looked normal. He also did a UA. Found a bit of blood and protein, but that could be due to an infection. My family doc did mention Rheumatoid Arthritis as a potential cause, however, I've had pneumonia since oct. 18th and it appears to be gone, judging by how I feel lately.


I'm pretty worried about the drainage part. I'm also worried that it could be something more serious, like autoimmune. I should hear from my doc tomorrow about the blood cultures and urine cultures.

From start to finish (including ICU time) I was in Primary Children's for about 2 weeks. I think I only had the drainage tubes in for about a day. As I said, hopefully they know more about it now and have better ways of treating it. On a good note though, they told me that I would get pneumonia a couple times a year from then on but I have never had it since.

Good luck tomorrow though. Hopefully they can get things figured out and get you the best treatment possible.

 

[m3at]

hmmm. kinda sounds like you had a viral infection that kinda got worse. also kinda sounds like a form of asthma but im no doc. its good that u are feeling better bro. i was in a accident and got some pretty bad injuries and thats why i am here trolling it up instead of outside enjoying the world so i know being less than 100% sucks bro. you also sound just tired/stressed. you think so? i find lots of people can fix alot of problems just by getting more sleep and drinking lots of water. also try the 3 things i mentioned earlier to boost ur immune system naturally...antibiotics should only be used to treat bacterial infections...use herbal stuff to prevent it. and also get ur flu shot. of course take this stuff with a grain of salt bro im not a doc i just play one for the JFC.

I agree. The antibiotics didn't really do much. However, it could be mycoplasma pneumonia. Mycoplasma can cause some problems too. Mycoplasma is a bacteria, but it's really hard to kill with antibiotics due to the lack of an outer wall. Thanks for the suggestions. I hope you get feeling better too. Thanks for the comments, it's super helpful to talk to other folks about this stuff.

 

[m3at]

From start to finish (including ICU time) I was in Primary Children's for about 2 weeks. I think I only had the drainage tubes in for about a day. As I said, hopefully they know more about it now and have better ways of treating it. On a good note though, they told me that I would get pneumonia a couple times a year from then on but I have never had it since.

Good luck tomorrow though. Hopefully they can get things figured out and get you the best treatment possible.

Thanks JAG. You were so young, do you remember much of it? Funny thing, I had pneumonia as a 2 week old baby. The dr. said I would have pneumonia a couple times a year from then on. This is the first time I've had lung problems and I'm 40.

 

[Hotdog]

Do you smoke, drink or do drugs? What kind of diet are you on? Have you been taking prescription medicines before this?

 

[m3at]

Do you smoke, drink or do drugs? What kind of diet are you on?

no, no, and no Fruit for breakfast, my company pays for a Sous-Chef for lunch and then whatever my wife makes for dinner.. I stay away from gluten as much as possible as well as milk/dairy. I've been known to drink a lot of soda, but I cut that out two months ago.

 

[m3at]

We love you bro and are thinking awesome thoughts and praying!

I really appreciate the kind words. Thanks so much.

 

[Scat]

So the doc put me on levaquin. That's when it started to get worse. No fevers at that point, but my joints and muscles started to ache, plus zero energy. I think I was in bed for almost two weeks.

Dude, that was the levaquin that kicked your ***. It has a high rate of serious side effects.

The dr. put me on it for a sinus infection about 6 years ago. Within 3-4 days I had the same symptoms; extremely sore joints (walking up the stairs damn near killed me), short of breath, extreme lethargy, low grade fever. I wanted to die. I did some research and found that this reaction is quite common with this drug. I stopped taking it but it took nearly a month to recover. The drug was 10x's worse than what it was supposed to cure.

Too add, walking pneumonia is a viral infection. Antibiotics won't do anything for it. What the hell is your doctor doing?

 

[m3at]

Dude, that was the levaquin that kicked your ***. It has a high rate of serious side effects.

The dr. put me on it for a sinus infection about 6 years ago. Within 3-4 days I had the same symptoms. Extremely sore joints (walking up the stairs damn near killed me), short of breath, extreme lethargy, low grade fever. I wanted to die. I did some research and found that this reaction is quite common with this drug. I stopped taking it but it took nearly a month to recover. The drug was 10x's worse than what it was supposed to cure.

Too add, walking pneumonia is a viral infection. Antibiotics won't do anything for it. What the hell is your doctor doing?

I think you're right. My joints/tendons didn't start hurting and the fevers didn't start up until I started taking the Levaquin. I'm pretty sure that the Levaquin is to blame for some of these symptoms as my blood culture came back negative today.

 

[Scat]

Extreme low back pain was another side effect.