Still have tightness in chest after pneumonia

Posted , 11 users are following.

I am recovering from bacterial pneumonia. I had to take two lots of antibiotics one was co amoxiclav and the other was amoxicillin plus prednisolone to see it off. The thing is my chest still feels tight, i have a really annoying cough, i get breathless when doing the any thing and i am so tired. My doctor wanted to admit me to hospital as my heart rate was 125 beats per minute this is when i got the first antibiotic. Blood tests were carried out on Friday the 13th what will they show ?.   All in all i do not feel any better. I also have a pulse oximeter which was showing an blood oxygen level of 64 and my heartbeat was 88, yet last week my heartbeat was hitting 150 what is going on i am worried   

0 likes, 13 replies

13 Replies

  • Posted

    Blood oxygen of 64 sounds terrible, did your doc do oximetry as well, cow if they had got that level you would be admitted immediately? Do you have COPD as well? You need to ask your Dr what they were testing for, only then will you know.  Have you had a chest X-ray?
    • Posted

      Hi A xray was mentioned when i saw the doctor for the first set of antibiotics but that was all. My oximeter is now showing oxygen level of 98 now and bpm 80 so for now it is alright. I do not have COPD and i am a non smoker. I get the blood results tomorrow.
  • Posted

    Pulse oximetry sometimes is wrong! Seems strange that you have one if you don't already have lung disease. Doctors use it as a guide when examining patients and is not 100% reliable. If you are still breathless then ask the doc if they think an xray might be helpful. Doctors can be a bit twitchy if they are ' told' what to do! Be inquisitive and ask the doctor what blood tests were done and what they mean. I often get a print out of my results so that I can analyse what they are.
    • Posted

      Yes they can be wrong. They can be off 1-2 pts depending on the finger. And they can initially take a false reading until it stablizies. Having one of these is good if you are sick and having issues with low oxygen that can get to a dangerous level. Otherwise, they become a crutch on your recovery making you worry when the O2 stat is not where you'd like for it to be. They can make you an anxiety case. That little meter is a Godsend for many people but they can't change anything. On shortness of breath just sit down, relax and take some slow, deep breaths. Source: Experience when I had a bad case of pneumonia.
  • Posted

    Hi,  I had double pneumonia last year, started on antibiotics then four days later I worsened and ended up in hospital for 2 weeks and in a critical condition.  I feel that if after four days on antibiotics you are feeling worse than when you started on them, then I suggest you go to the emergency department of your local hospital and get checked out.  Sometimes the first antibiotics dont work and if that happens you really need to go to hospital, have more tests done and find out which antibiotic is best for the type of bacteria you have in your lungs.  It can take a very long time to recover - weakness and breathlessness with the slightest exertion and coughing.  Coughing is good as it helps bring up all the gunk in your lungs.  I hope everything takes a turn for the better for you.  If you are worried then its best to get checked out again at a hospital so more tests can be done quickly.  Hope this helps.
    • Posted

      I am so tired this morning, i had a bath dried my hair , cleaned the bathroom  got dressed and sorted out some washing, and it wore me out,I have sat in my chair for the rest of the day. I am due back at work next week i am a cleaner and i cant see how i am going to manage when i cant clean my own house. I have to go back to the doctors on Friday to be reviewed and get another sick note, Blood tests came back and were described as satisfactory, I have no crackles in my chest the only problem i have is tiredness when i do anything and this tightness in my chest  
  • Posted

    Hi again,  I can understand what you are going through.  It took me ages to recover from pneumonia.  The doctors had me off work for 8 weeks and after that I was still having coughing and a bit of chest tightness with breathlessness.  The key to recovery is not to worry about housework during the 8 weeks off - just plenty of rest with your feet up so that your body can heal - this is very important.  Some people can take 10 months to fully recover.  Just take life easy while youre off work - your body heals quicker that way. When you do start back at work it helps to take little rests - even just a few minutes of a sitdown now and then- that helps. Hope all goes well for you soon.
  • Posted

    I thought I would post here because as of a couple of months ago I was getting pretty distraught about having severely reduced lung capacity 3 months after my pneumonia infection was gone and my lungs were officially clear on an xray, (getting winded walking around the block, brief fainting spells, sleeping way more than usual etc., basically becoming a hermit!) and I was spending a ton of time on forums like this and generally researching online, in large part bc there's a 9mos wait for pulmonary function tests without which the doctors can apparently do nothing…  and anyway, I found some info about singing and lung strength so I took some lessons and joined a choir and it's made such a big difference. I’m getting way more oxygen these days, and it really helps keep the lungs cleared out. Pretty much back to normal. Maybe breathing-focussed yoga would help too? Thought it was worth mentioning that there are ways to proactively strengthen your lungs (or speed up the process?) if they are otherwise healthy but just weakened. None of them were suggested to me in the doctor’s office, though. I mean thank goodness for antibiotics, but MDs had shockingly little to offer as far as rehabilitation.

    • Posted

      Hello, I had a chest infection back in mid-July, with a bit of temperature, mighty cough, dizziness, the lot. I just sat on it for nearly 3 weeks then at the end of July I saw the doctor who listened to my lungs and declared chest infection. He gave me amoxicillin for a week. That did absolutely nothing to it but the worst symptoms sort of cleared by Mid- August. After that I was left with a dry cough for another month, and now I have some sort of dry tickly throat but not really producing a cough anymore unless I forced one out. Does that sound familiar for any of you? 
    • Posted

      Hi Yes this is because the infection lingers and will show up as an “inactive” or “dormant” pneumonia infection, for example chlamydia pneumonia. Doctors won’t see this as a problem, but it is. For me, I got it as a baby and was eventually diagnosed with asthma and put on daily asthma meds all my life. I knew it wasn’t asthma. Whenever my chest was tight I had that dry cough even more. I’m now on antibiotherapy treatment for chlamydia pneumonia, mycoplasma pneumonia and also rickettsiae and I’m 100% sure that my asthma diagnosis as a kid was incorrect. I was diagnosed at the A&E at age 4 btw because I was minutes away from dying from the lack of oxygen. 

  • Posted

    Hi. Hope you have fully recovered from pneumonia. Like you were I am currently struggling to recover. I was diagnosed six weeks ago with pneumonia and to cut a long story short I was on antibiotics for over three weeks and steroids ultimately ending up causing acute liver dysfunction. I feel like I've been through the wars and whilst I'm still not back at work I'm struggling with the constant shortness of breath and cough still my doctor has prescribed me and inhaler which really doesn't help. I'm going to take your advice and try find online some exercises to try and improve my lung capacity.

  • Posted

    I'm thinking you got the two numbers turned around and that your oxygen level was 88 and pulse was 64.

  • Posted

    Okay this log is 3 years old but if your oxygen saturation level is 64 how are you even alive?

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