Lanesra
27-07-13, 15:08
I have been treated for a UTI with an antibiotic called Nitrofurantoin and had a reaction to it on Tuesday night where I woke up in the night not being able to breathe properly which really scared me.
I looked up the side effects and it stated that it could cause serious lung injury and to visit the GP ASAP if you had difficulty breathing. As I've been busy moving to another part of the country I had to visit a medical walk-in centre to change antibiotics but they did not seem to worried about my breathing as I had stopped taking the medication.
I made the mistake of Googling and read that it can cause a fatal disease called Pulmonary Fibrosis for which there is no cure and usually occurs in people who have been taking it for months and who are usually between 60-70 but not always. I'm concerned that because I've taken it twice before in the last year, this may affect me and it's totally taken over my fear of cancer.
In some people the reaction can occur straight away and usually goes away within a week of stopping treatment but in others the reaction is delayed which can be fatal and this is what I'm scared of.
I'm now on a different antibiotic but am still having difficulty breathing. Yesterday I rang NHS Direct who told me to go to A&E within the hour.
A senior practitioner asked me a few questions and was surprised to hear that difficulty breathing was a side effect as she did not believe it was a typical side effect (despite the warning on the accompanying leaflet and all of the cases I read about on Google) so I was a bit unsure about her awareness.
However, she listened to my lungs which she felt were clear and took my oxygen level which is 100% but like the typical HA sufferer, I am not totally reassured by this as the lung disease can take months/years to show up and due to the fact that she did not give me an x-ray.
Has anyone experienced anything similar and it has gone away or turned into something worse?
Can the practitioner really be sure nothing is wrong or my lungs aren't inflamed or scarred just by listening to them? I know I should trust the professionals but have just been let down by so I can't even allow myself to be reassured.
The practitioner told me that she was not worried and that it may just be one of those things but to go to my new GP if it carries on.
Also just a warning - GPs use Nitrofurantoin as a second-line treatment for UTIs so if you are concerned about lung issues, speak to your GP.
I would be a lot less anxious if I could go to my new GP right away but they said registration would take 3 days to process and I am off on a long haul trip so am terrified it should get worse when I'm out there and have to be hospitalised :-(
I have hyperventilated in the past but this is a lot more frequent and feels different. Also, apart from the first night, it hasn't woken me up so I'm assuming my breathing is ok while I'm asleep?!
All this because of a UTI....!!
I looked up the side effects and it stated that it could cause serious lung injury and to visit the GP ASAP if you had difficulty breathing. As I've been busy moving to another part of the country I had to visit a medical walk-in centre to change antibiotics but they did not seem to worried about my breathing as I had stopped taking the medication.
I made the mistake of Googling and read that it can cause a fatal disease called Pulmonary Fibrosis for which there is no cure and usually occurs in people who have been taking it for months and who are usually between 60-70 but not always. I'm concerned that because I've taken it twice before in the last year, this may affect me and it's totally taken over my fear of cancer.
In some people the reaction can occur straight away and usually goes away within a week of stopping treatment but in others the reaction is delayed which can be fatal and this is what I'm scared of.
I'm now on a different antibiotic but am still having difficulty breathing. Yesterday I rang NHS Direct who told me to go to A&E within the hour.
A senior practitioner asked me a few questions and was surprised to hear that difficulty breathing was a side effect as she did not believe it was a typical side effect (despite the warning on the accompanying leaflet and all of the cases I read about on Google) so I was a bit unsure about her awareness.
However, she listened to my lungs which she felt were clear and took my oxygen level which is 100% but like the typical HA sufferer, I am not totally reassured by this as the lung disease can take months/years to show up and due to the fact that she did not give me an x-ray.
Has anyone experienced anything similar and it has gone away or turned into something worse?
Can the practitioner really be sure nothing is wrong or my lungs aren't inflamed or scarred just by listening to them? I know I should trust the professionals but have just been let down by so I can't even allow myself to be reassured.
The practitioner told me that she was not worried and that it may just be one of those things but to go to my new GP if it carries on.
Also just a warning - GPs use Nitrofurantoin as a second-line treatment for UTIs so if you are concerned about lung issues, speak to your GP.
I would be a lot less anxious if I could go to my new GP right away but they said registration would take 3 days to process and I am off on a long haul trip so am terrified it should get worse when I'm out there and have to be hospitalised :-(
I have hyperventilated in the past but this is a lot more frequent and feels different. Also, apart from the first night, it hasn't woken me up so I'm assuming my breathing is ok while I'm asleep?!
All this because of a UTI....!!