Bronchitis keeps coming back

[jadedreams]

Hey guys, I'm really worried - I have been fighting bronchitis on/off since the last week of January. Been to the doc several times, twice this past week for bloodwork and chestxray - they all came back normal.

What has me worried is that I had it following a head cold at the end of January, fought with it for a few weeks then felt better for a week or so. Then bam it comes back for a week or two, then I felt better for another week. Then this weekend I start wheezing again and ending going to docs on Tues and yesterday. I have 2 inhalers and antibiotics with orders to get rest and plenty of fluids. I'm just really scared because it keeps coming back. Worried it's going to turn into pneumonia or get really serious. I lost a brother to pneumonia so my health anxiety is on high alert besides not actually feeling well. And my IBS which is stress-related is of course flaring up too. Not sure what to do, just feels like I'm never going to get over it.

Any tips for me and have any of you been through something like this? Thanks.

[netminder1976]

Not with bronchitis but heart worries. I too think of a family member that passed due to the issue I am constantly worrying about. Many years ago I went to my doctor to get my heart worries checked and was given a clean bill of health, that helped me for awhile but my anxious mind soon started questioning the doctor. Getting on here and discussing my issue seems to help a little and I genuinely hope that it can do the same for you.

[MyNameIsTerry]

It's very easy to read into situations like this when you seem to keep getting viral infections but you would be surprised how common it can be. My mum had a run like this and I've had a few years as a child where this happened. The sad loss of your brother obviously heightens this in your anxiety, which I'm sorry to hear about. :hugs:

But even if you ended up with pneumonia, it is very treatable. I had it when I was about 17. My mum had it last year. We both have asthma but she is in her mid seventies so hers is worse and she has blood pressure meds. She beat it though.

I think you know it's your anxiety making you focus on this, especially due to such a painful memory. Repeated infection doesn't automatically lead to pneumonia and you are doing all the right things with your doctor monitoring the situation. Try to keep rationalising it, including how even if pneumonia did occur your doctor would handle the situation and it's very common to the medical profession who are very adept at treating it.

Antibiotics will kill your good bacteria too. People often think this is "gut bacteria" due to how it is promoted by the companies selling drink products for it. It's not, that healthy bacteria starts in the mouth and ends at the anus. In women it even exits the anus and re enters the womb, after washing it's hands of course. :D

Good bacteria throughout the GI system is not only helping you digest your food but it also feeds off fibre in the colon, some of it works on your mood and some helps to get certain things out of our food. So, if it's getting killed off, you get problems like IBS even in people who don't normally have it.

My mum had bad diarrhoea when she was on all these antibiotics. Once she had stopped the stronger IV based ones this reduced somewhat but was still unpleasant. A few days of eating yoghurt and this improved. Yoghurt contains probiotic bacteria. This may benefit you.

[jadedreams]

Thanks Terry for all of the kind words and common sense approach to what I have going on. The bad memories of what happened to my brother are really making my worries worse, it is definitely a trigger. I ran a fever and had chills for a few days until Sunday, my doctor thinks I may have picked up a virus on top of the bronchitis and I had lots of head congestion for a couple days too.

I started wheezing a lot over the weekend and called my doctors after hour line, they had me go into urgent care where I got a breathing treatment and more steriods. I was able to breathe much easier after that but heard a little wheezing this morning again which has sent me into a mini panic mode. Got a message into my doctor and am waiting to hear back. I'm just concerned that it keeps returning. I've had bronchitis once or twice before, but nothing like this where it kept coming back.

I will work on getting the good bacteria back in my system, yogurt is a good idea. Right now I feel like a walking pharmacy with all my medications. Thanks again for the support, it means so much from someone who understands how anxiety adds to the fears & worries of being ill.

---------- Post added at 11:47 ---------- Previous post was at 11:42 ----------

Thanks Netminder for your reply, I actually lost my Mom to heart problems a long time ago, so that is also a trigger for me. I appreciate you taking the time to answer and if you need to talk I'm here, it does help to talk with people who understand.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Sounds like you were put on oxygen and a nebuliser. Nebulisers are great from when I had to use them when I had pneumonia. The steroid treatment will help by reducing the inflammation so you can breathe better. I went through a period when I was young when antibiotics just weren't doing enough for me and so I would have steroid treatment which always worked. Perhaps your doctor will consider something like this alongside the other treatment?

As an asthma sufferer I can empathise over how breathing can panic you. It's not like a panic attack when you have a real breathing issue and it can be very scary (not saying that panic attacks aren't, far from it) and it feels different to panic from my memory.

Keep using your inhalers. Relievers can make you jittery but this can pass after so many doses. So, if you are finding yourself a bit jittery after those, don't allow your anxiety to focus on this much because it will fade after a while, it's a well known side effect of those ones.

My mum's had things like this where they seem to reduce and then come back. I don't think you should worry, I've heard others who have been through such things too with recurring infection. My mum was constantly coughing for months too and when they x-rayed her they found some fluid on here lungs. The culprit turned out to be her water tablet!

[jadedreams]

Thanks again Terry, yes it was a nebuliser and it helped a lot with breathing that night. My doctor now has me on steroids for 10 days, they did do an xray on me but no fluid on the lungs. It's weird that a water pill caused fluid for your mother!

Still no fever so that is good, but I am coughing up more mucous now - not sure if that's because I started taking the steroids yesterday or not. Worries me, but I hope it means my body is trying to fight back and expel this infection. I did send a message in to my doctor, she is good about answering back - I'm probably being a royal pest with this unfortunately.

I am definitely keeping up with the inhalers, not getting too much jitteryness thank goodness. Trying to rest as much as can and drink lots of fluids too as well as take vitamins.

Thank you again for taking the time to answer, this bronchitis has been a real pain and a lot of worry for me. One good thing I have noticed is that my regular GAD is pretty much gone at the moment and I'm just focused on getting better from this. My intrusive thoughts are also pretty much non existent. I don't know, this whole thing started with health anxiety about a year ago, maybe it will end with it. My focus has definitely changed.

[jadedreams]

Still fighting the bronchitis, getting rid of lots of mucous the past few days so I hope that's a good thing. In general I feel really run down and tired. Have an appointment with my doctor again next week, she had some blood tests run a couple days ago and several of my numbers came back out of whack. I'm really scared about that to be honest, she has prescribed more steroids and antibiotics for me.

Just really worried this is serious, trying not to panic.

[jadedreams]

Hey guys, still having troubles with the bronchitis. To be honest the congestion is better than it was last week but I am still very worried. I wish I could calm my fears, I have a follow-up with my doctor in the morning to see how I'm doing and to go over things. I guess I've been worried most of the weekend about the bloodwork from last week that was out of sorts. I'll ask her about it tomorrow. It just seems like this has brought up all my fears and triggers.

I lost my oldest brother to pneumonia/ARDS and liver disease 10 years ago. He went downhill fast and all this respiratory stuff has brought back a lot of memories. I've had bronchitis before but never where it lasted this long, been 2 months now though I did have a week or two in the middle where I felt better.

Didn't sleep well the past 2 nights as I woke up kind of congested in the middle of the night and then I panicked thinking I couldn't breathe and had trouble sleeping after that. Any tips for me with that one, I really need my rest. Thanks everyone.

[jadedreams]

No thoughts anyone? I saw the doc this morning and they are calling it asthmatic bronchitis now, doc is kind of concerned I still have a little wheezing despite being on steroids and inhalers. So this has me worried in turn, she said she didn't hear any signs of pneumonia but is scheduling me for a ct scan just to double check. And I am supposed to see an allergist soon too. I don't have asthma so they are unsure why this is lingering on for over 2 months except my airways got very irritated with it. It all started with a virus in January.. I'm worried guys.

She did go over the bloodwork to explain it and that made me feel a bit better as there are no major concerns there, but I am somewhat anemic and they want to recheck that in a few weeks.

[jadedreams]

Wanted to add an update, I had been slowly improving the past 2 weeks. However this morning I sounded a little more wheezy on exhale and coughed up a bit of mucous. Sorry if too much info, but just worried as I don't want to get worse again! Have a message into my doc and am waiting to hear back, have an appointment on Tuesday that was scheduled for a recheck.

Has anyone ever dealt with bronchitis that keeps improving/relapsing? I'm taking all my meds, trying to get as much rest as possible but I've never dealt with it like this. Getting close to 3 months now this has been going on.

[bartin]

Jaderdreams, bronchitis is usually viral, so antibiotics don't likely help. It may last for several weeks...To know if you have pneumonia you would need to have an X-ray.

There's one type of pneumonia called atypical pneumonia caused by the bacterium Mycoplasma pneumoniae that is usually mild, so it is also called walking pneumonia and it's quite common. It may have a prolonged course, though.

http://www.ehealthstar.com/conditions/pneumonia/atypical-walking

You may want to ask a doctor about this.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Not bronchitis but my mum had months of constant coughing like I mentioned so it's certainly not something to indicate anything bad alone (I know the TV campaigns often hint at it being a sign of something bad). Your doctor is being cautious and doing tests so I'm sure they will get to the bottom of it.

Personally I don't think normal pneumonia. Bartin has suggested a milder form, which I'm not familiar with. But with normal pneumonia I think this would have escalated beyond inhalers, steroids, normal antibiotics, etc by now. They were doing that with mine and after a couple of weeks I suddenly woke up in the night feeling like my ribs had been broke. Like an elephant sitting on my chest. I couldn't get up in bed hardly.

My mum was in much the same pain with hers after a similar time.

The fact you've been improving shows something is working. I know my mum had had periods where infections seem to reduce and reappear. I guess it's a matter of an infection being substantially reduced but then treatment stopping so it starts to grow again. If so, I would think more treatment is needed for longer to finish the job this time.

Coughing up mucus is very common with check infection issues. I've had it many times with my asthma. Also, both my mum & I have found on some occasions that there is still some shifting mucus for weeks afterwards even though treatm has stopped and we feel fine.

I've just beaten another infection with just vitamin C. The mucus is lingering very slightly and it's taken longer than my parents who had antibiotics, but it had worked for me for a second time. You need meds and breathing support for what you are going through but some vitamin C will always be a help to the immune system. Animals actually produce their own and it increases when they are ill. We have lost that ability.

[bartin]

Bacterial and viral pneumonia, which are most common usually cause high fever, shortness of breath and coughing up mucus.

In atypical pneumonia caused by Mycoplasma, often the only symptoms is dry cough or occasionally with some mucus, but usually no fever or shortness of breath. It's not some exotic type, it's quite common and many people probably go through it without even knowing, because it does not put you in bed. Symptoms can last for few months and antibiotics can help (unlike in acute bronchitis).

[jadedreams]

Thanks guys, things are improving again - I had a couple off days but the past 3 or 4 were better. Overall I have seen improvement over the past 2-3 weeks so that is good. It has been about 3 months since this started, started with a cold and I caught another virus in the middle which didn't help. Saw my doctor this morning and she said things sound better, my CT/xray were also normal - no signs of pneumonia they could see. I am being kept on inhalers for a while yet as I still have a bit of wheezing, no shortness of breath or fever though.

Terry, I have been taking vitamin C as I figured it could only help! I didn't know ours didn't increase when we were illl, that's very interesting.

[MyNameIsTerry]

It's good to hear it's getting better. Pneumonia is pretty easy to spot on an x-ray. The inhalers are just a bit of support to keep you going, they will drop them off soon.

I hope your anxiety over this has reduced too (you do sound more positive).

Yeah, good old vitamin C. I've beat 2 infections with supplementation so far and not even large doses. Always needed antibiotics in the past so this is always worth trying for the minor things.