Anyone ever had Pneumonia?

[bluck]

Just got diagnosed with it. Funny cause I thought it was the flu which it probably started from. Anyone ever had it? How long does it take for you to start feeling better with antibiotics?

[DAN0383]

I've had it twice, once when I was 1 (nearly died) and when I was 12 or so...the one I remember (12 obviously) was horrible, such a high fever, could barely move. Take care of yourself!

[taco.vidal]

Originally Posted by bluck

Just got diagnosed with it. Funny cause I thought it was the flu which it probably started from. Anyone ever had it? How long does it take for you to start feeling better with antibiotics?

What did your doc tell you?

Theres lot of factors that will dictate your recovery. Did you have a chest x-ray? That would show how bad the infection is.

[Rhettzky]

Originally Posted by bluck

Just got diagnosed with it. Funny cause I thought it was the flu which it probably started from. Anyone ever had it? How long does it take for you to start feeling better with antibiotics?

For me it was very quick, like two days. They do mess you up a bit so after the course is done I'd take lots of probiotics for a week or so. Live culture is best.

Also drink lots of water.

[Komskies]

I had it in grade 7. Missed 2 full weeks of school. Hope you beat it quickly.

[btimbit]

Get it about every 2 years. Lasts about 10-15 days for me

[bigtmac19]

My close friend had a very bad case, probably should have been hospitalized. She was off work full time about 3 weeks then could only work 1/2 days for two after that. She was only in her mid 30's at the time. It can get very bad.

[BloodFetish]

I had it several years ago. It took 13 days for the pustules to develop, and another 3 for all the spores to leave my body. After that I felt much better.

[RyZ]

I had it bad when I was 17-18. I missed 2 full weeks of school and dropped over 20lbs in those 2 weeks. It landed me in the hospital for a couple of days with an intravenous in my arm because I couldnt keep any fluids in my body. I remember puking up pure bile for days when it was at its worst, it was probably the sickest I have ever been.

Best of luck, I hope you dont have get it as bad as I did.

[Kjesse]

I got it last year. I was initially misdiagnosed with a gall bladder infection. So I power through for a while and am so I tired I go to work, come home and fall asleep right away. Eventually I couldn't even make it up the stairs. Call ambulance.

They say I was misdiagnosed, and I had it bad. They had to cut a hole in. Y back and drain 5 litres of fluid from around my right lung.

It was awful. Hosprtailozed for 11 days.

[cracher]

Yeah, had it last spring. The diarrhea from the clarithromycin was worse than the pneumonia in my case. Took 3 days for the pneumonia to let up, but a month of yogurt to get my stomach right.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by bigtmac19

My close friend had a very bad case, probably should have been hospitalized. She was off work full time about 3 weeks then could only work 1/2 days for two after that. She was only in her mid 30's at the time. It can get very bad.

Oh man that was me, too. In 2008 when I was 31. Didn't work a single full day for a month and it took about five months before I felt good again. I would come in late and leave early for a couple of months and I lost so much weight. I had a bunch of scar tissue in my lungs after.

If the OP has viral pneumonia antibiotics won't do anything. If he has bacterial he stands a good chance of beating this quickly and he'll probably start feeling better in a few days.

Getting really sick completely changed my life. To this day I eat way healthier and I do cardio before work six days a week. The thought of being that sick again scares the crap out of me and it motivates every single morning to exercise.

Good luck, Bluck and do what needs to be done to get better. Depending on your responsibilities and how many people count on you it can be hard to let them down, but you may have to if this drags on. You can't mind over matter pneumonia, so just ride out the sickness and eat healthy. Hopefully you have some friends or family that can bring you some meals to reheat or something. If it gets bad you'll need help.

[Sluggo]

Was diagnosed with it 3 days ago -technically I still have it- It felt like a mild cold, walked around with it for 3 weeks started to get a bad cough so made a appointment with the Dr. After day 1 of the 5 day treatment I felt much better.

[nixon45]

I had it twice last year and it was awful.

Turns out I actually had lung cancer and the pneumonia was because the cancer had collapsed my right lung and the antibiotics were basically useless.

I lived with pneumonia for multiple months while I was waiting for surgery. Awful time in my life.

[Caged Great]

I had it when I was 8 or 9, something like that. It was a fun stretch where I was sick with a fever, then a cold, then a flu, then pneumonia. Missed 2 months of school because of all of that. It wasn't a fun experience, but it wasn't that bad overall.

[DoubleF]

A year ago, I was told I had pneumonia and given antibiotics. I had two rounds of antibiotics (10 days each I think it was with a week gap in between the antibiotics) and ended up using a puffer for nearly a month after the antibiotics. I wasn't sick enough to miss too many days of work, but I did end up with ridiculous coughing fits that affected breathing and sleep. Minus the crazy coughing fits, it wasn't too much worse than a cold for me. I felt ok within weeks of finishing the second batch, but the coughing lasted for probably 2 months from beginning to end.

I had two rounds of chest x-rays and blood tests which IMO were a nuisance. Warm bean bag on the chest was the best relief while I was going through it. Cough medications that soothe or block symptoms didn't help.

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think pneumonia is somewhat like a cold but higher level. Sliver mentioned it in terms of the viral vs bacterial pneumonia. Bacterial can be treated, viral, no. There also seems to be different levels. Anecdotally, some of us are reporting "meh" it was pneumonia. Others are reporting, "OMFG it sucked".

[Sluggo]

I think the second or more severe level is going through a cold/flu beforehand so the immune system has already taken a hit and has to fight a serious condition in the lung(s).

It could also be the difference between contracting double Pneumonia where both lungs are infected instead of one in my case where my right lung only had visible signs of infection.

[Ashartus]

I had it a couple of years ago. Was on antibiotics for a week and off work for 2 weeks, I could hardly get out of bed most of that time (partly my own fault for not resting enough the first few days, I was treating it more like a bad cold/cough). For another week or so afterwards I still had to take it a bit easy and would start coughing if I exerted myself too much.

[Northendzone]

I had it a number of years ago. I must have had a very mild case as I was off of work for a full week. I too thought it was a bad cough, went into a coughing spell at work and had to ask a coworker of mine (via email) to call my doctor and make an appointment for me because I could not talk.

Diagnosed on Monday, took all the way to Friday to feel better. I think I did some kind of excercise stuff on the weekend

[Vulcan]

There is a vaccine.