Has anyone had bronchitis?

[Lissy43]

I have had a cough for 3 (nearly 4) weeks now, I was diagnosed last week as having bronchitis as I suddenly felt awful and full of cold. I have taken 500 mg amoxyxillin and I am feeling brighter but my cough is really chesty and I have mucus in my throat all of the time its horrible, I still have a cold but its not as bad today.

I am just so paranoid about it turning to pneumonia but I don't have a temperature and I think I am improving slowly.

Can anyone offer any reassurance? I have a drs appointment tomorrow, the GP I saw didn't tell me to go back but I am seeing my regular GP tomorrow and I am hoping he will be alot more reassuring.

[Blackstar]

Hi Cherry,

I'm sorry to hear that you're poorly - I was following your earlier thread about having a persistent cough.

I think you've done the right thing going to your GP and taking antibiotics. Amoxycillin is a broad-spectrum antibiotic so will take care of pretty much everything that is or could be causing a problem! Pneumonia is highly unlikely if you are taking these, and specially if you are otherwise in good shape. My Dad had Legionnaire's pneumonia and was very poorly, but he recovered fully, so the worst case scenario is still treatable.

I would say that if you feel brighter, that's a VERY good sign. :D

Keep taking the tablets, as they say, and I'm sure your bronchitis and cough will clear in time. It might take a while to shake that cough, but try not to worry (easier said than done, I know). :)

*hug*

Good luck!

Anna. x

[eeyorelover]

I've had bronchitis several times and it sucks!!!
Sorry you're feeling poorly.
I you are a smoker then please don't smoke until it clears up!!! Learned that the hard way!! It irratates the bronchial tubes:ohmy: and can make it hang on alot longer!!!

Glad you are feeling a little 'brighter' today tho! It'll get better hun!!
In the meantime loads of fluids and rest will help a little and I'll be thinking positive thoughts for ya:yesyes:

:hugs:
xxx
Sandy

[PUGLETMUM]

:) hey cherry,

a good few years ago when i was a smoker i had brochitis 3 times!!! and i never developed pnuemonia, im assuming you have health anxiety? if you do then obviously every time you get genuinely sick you will worry that it will develop into something worse or that it is actually a sign of something more sinister?

but it isnt you just have bronchitis and it will go, put your feet up relax, eat well ,sleep well and dont do too much and youll be over it in no time:yesyes:

[Lissy43]

Thanks so much you 3:-)

I finished the antibiotics on Sunday, I think I started to feel a little less ill yesterday and today again abit better but still coughing. The GP did say I would have a lingering cough for a week or 2 but I have had a cough in total 4 weeks at the end of this week.

So when you had bronchitis your GP never mentioned pneumonia? my dr did the wrong thing and gave me a leaflet to read and it said it was a complication, wrong thing to give someone who suffers anxiety, lol! It wasn't my usual GP, he would of known better, lol!

Will I look silly going tomorrow to just have my chest listened to? I went to the dr last tuesday when i ws told it was bronchitis, wednesday to get an inhaler as I was very wheezy and friday because I just felt so crap, I was practically crawling into the surgery.

I never want to get this ill again. I had a full bloods done last week and when I rung for the results the receptionist said all were normal so I guess thats good:-)

[PUGLETMUM]

:D yes it is good cherry,

so now you can see you have had a genuine illness and you have survived?

what is the point therefore in worrying about illness so that you ruin the quality of your life? and in effect make yourself sick anyway?

the docs these days have to be very very careful because of all the people who sue them! i had a coil fitted six months after i had my daughter, then i had it took out about 2 years ago , but then after a while i changed my mind and wanted one fitted again (i had a early miscarriage, changed my mind about becoming pregnant and had a fast dwindling sex-life because wed been so spoilt and used to me having the coil - spontaneous sex is very good for a marriage!) anyway when i went back the nurse who i spoke to mentioned that it could perforate the uterus!!!!:ohmy: well guess what i cancelled my appointment and i never went back!! almost 2 years down the line my sex life still hasnt recovered!!!

so you wont be the only one who gets told all this scary stuff these days, but its the choice you make in how to respond to what your told, and if your anxious you will respond negatively like me. so really you need to deal with the anxiety first. there is always the chance that something could happen, but itss learning to believe in yourself, to believe in your ability to deal with it when it comes along, and remember that almost all of what we worry about will never happen, so why waste your energy?:winks:

[Lissy43]

Thanks Emma,

You talk alot of sense, I wish I could think + all of the time.

The thing is I worry worry worry but once im actually in a situation where I am ill or my children I do worry at first but then I learn to live with it and get on with it.

I am just rather down this year, its been illness after illness with all of us and its incredibly hard having 3 children who are passing all their germs onto me. I have never know us all to be so ill esp myself, I rarely got ill until the last year or so.

[PUGLETMUM]

:ohmy: cherry i know, but i didnt realise you had 3 kids!!!!! you poor thing:winks:

could you get yourself a copy of 'feel the fear and do it anyway' by susan jeffers?

i know im plugging this book big time at the moment, but the thing is that its all about ATTITUDE!!!! and i so wish id know this when i let myself slide into negativity after id had my daughter, i think id have saved myself and everyone else alot of heartache:blush:

or maybe youve got to be ready for a change of attitude and me telling you to read that book wouldnt change anything for you coz your not ready for it? i dont know but its worth a go isnt it to try to help yourself to stop feeling so miserable?:yesyes:

i wish you well as you have your hands very full:hugs:

[Lindalou64]

hi cherry yes i get that really bad cant do anything but your cough will last for awile if its coming up thats a good sign means infection is leaving dont mean to sound gross but make sure when u do cough it up you get it out ya know what i mean....hope you feel better..........linda

[Dying_Swan]

Hey Cherry.

Sorry to hear you're still coughing, but I think it's good that you got a diagnosis.

I had Bronchitis when I was a teenager....Felt like crap but it certainly never turned to Pneumonia. I don't even think I had Anti-B's...just an inhaler. It soon got better. Coughs do tend to persist for a while after the cold symptoms have gone.

I then had it later on when I had tonsillitis, was allergic to the Anti-B's, and so it spread to my chest as I stopped taking them. Again, I felt grotty for a bit but it cleared up pretty quickly (with different Anti-B's). It just seems like forever at the time.

If you don't have a fever, I really wouldn't be too concerned. It sounds as though it is starting to clear up.

If you are still anxious, then there is no harm in seeing the GP again just to make sure things are clear.

Hope you feel lots better soon :) xx

[Lissy43]

Thanks Emma, Oh what is that book about? sounds interesting.

Linda do you get bronchitis alot? how are you treated for it?

Thanks Dying Swan, your reply is very helpful. I appreciate your reply. I shall see how I feel tomorrow and if im still coughing I shall go and get checked out. I have a occupational health check next week as im going to uni soon (i must be mad) so I want to be better for that, lol!

[PUGLETMUM]

:D hi cherry,

its a really good book about getting your power back and it shows you how fear is holding you back, and that is all!!!!

with you going to uni i think it would be really good for you, you can get it on amazon its called 'feel the fear and do it anyway' by susan jeffers

good luck with it all and well done for going to uni:yesyes:

[Lissy43]

thanks so much, its very daunting what with having 3 children but im looking forward to it.

I shall buy it, thanks.

[Lissy43]

Saw my usual GP today, he was great about me coming back, didn't mind one bithttp://www.baby-greenhouse.co.uk/smilies/smile.gif

He listened to what I had to say about how I have been feeling, he said all totally normal for bronchitis. He then said he would listen to my chest, he went around the back and just put his hands on my back and asked me to breath in & out, put his hands on different parts of my back. He then put the stethoscope on my chest to listen in, I guess that was my heart rate. I was breathing in when he had his hands on my back he said 'yes very good' so I take it that its clear. I didn't understand exactly what he meant but I asked if it was ok and he said im obviously improving because I feel better but he did say something about chest infection and not needing anti bs. He said part of the course of bronchitis is the cough and that all that wil happen now is I will keep coughing up stuff until it goes, things will get better now not worse.

So is it normal for drs to check just with their hands???

I hope so, he chuckled when I said what the leaflet said about pneumonia, damn that other dr for worrying me, Julie and leaflets are a big NO!http://www.baby-greenhouse.co.uk/smilies/wink.gif he said 'bronchitis is very common, you will not get pneumonia'.

So lets hope im on the mend now. Its my mouth that hurts more than anything today, ive had a wopper of a filling, lol! I ache all over from being so tense in the chair, lol!

[eeyorelover]

Hi there hun :flowers:

Yep sounds normal to me!
I had the cough for probably 6 weeks total but it gradually got better.
As far as the listening to ya by the gp - he was listening for a rattle. If he had heard one then he would have ordered you to go in and get chest xrays to make sure that the antibiotics were doing their job.
Sound to me tho that they are and that you are on the mend.
It's really hard not to do the 'what if' thing when you are feeling poorly but just stick with what you're doing and you'll be fine:yesyes:

:hugs::hugs:
xxx
Sandy

[Lissy43]

Thanks Sandy:-)

So do you think that he hands on my back was enough to hear if I was getting over bronchitis? I thought he would use his stethoscope.