Chest/Viral infection...is there a difference?

[lesleya]

Apologies for posting about feeling ill again but i am so itred of feeling like this....id give anything to feel well even for a few days...
Does anyone know the difference between a chest infection and viral infection..is there much difference?
Ive been ill since sunday evening. I went to bed on sunday night with a little bit of a sore throat but woke up monday with the whole lot!!.....streaming eyes...streaming nose (4 boxes of kleenex since monday), sore ears which felt like they were full of water, sore burning chest which hurts like hell, sore throat, and a hacking cough, eyes caked up, pressure in my head. I had that norovirus a few weeks ago and i felt about as bad as i thought i could feel...but no this is the pits. My chest is wheezing burning and crackling...but the crackling goes away for a while when im able to cough up some of the green crap thats on my chest (not nice)
I gave in and went to drs wednesday and saw the nurse practioner, she said my chest sounded clear eventhough i could hear it crackling? but she also took a water sample and that showed up i have a water infection!! so she sent it off to see which type it is, she offered me an inhaler for when i felt wheezy, and off i went home. I woke up early hours of wednesday feeling like i was choking and could hardly breathe, and i was burning up but i felt a bit better after an hour or so coughing to clear my chest of whatever is there. But im ashamed to say i ended up having to call the dr when surgery started out because i felt so ill and i just couldnt have dragged myself to the health centre to save my life. Anyway dr eventually came out and she examined my chest etc and said that my chest was clear too? but when she saw what i was coughing up she said i had a chest or viral infection and took a sample away??....gave me some doxycycline which is the only antibiotic up to now im not allergic too. But she said if its viral then the doxycycline wont do any good anyway?
Call me dim of you like but what i dont understand is how can they say your chest sounds clear...then say you have a chest infection or viral infection?
I thought if you had a chest infection they could tell by listening to your chest? My drs always make me feel like i shouldnt be wasting their time...but honestly i do only go if im desperate id love it if i never had to go.
Will these constant bugs/infections ever go away:unsure:

[linesman]

Hi,

I'm not a doctor so i can't give you the answers you're after, however. i can tell you i've been ill 3 times since november, chest infection, sinuisitis and now some virsus-flu thing.

When the chest infection cleared and then had sinusitis immediately afterwards i was still bringing up green pleghm.. I had my chest listened to about 4-5 times by the docs, they suspect it was my sinuses dripping gunk down the back of my throat andrthis was what i was bringing up..

I think this seems to be a particularly bad winter for bugs, near enough everyone i know has picked up one thing or another, even the people who don't normally get stuff have...

[lesleya]

Yes that true linesman.
I suppose if i didnt have the anxiety i wouldnt focus on it so much or worry about it. I think thats a lot of the problem too the sinuses dripping, which ive noticed a lot of people suffering from this year too that dont normally.
I just hope the weather clears and improves and we all feel better very soon.
Take care
xxx

[mick_uk]

Hiya,
I'm the same as linesman. Doc said it's been a really bad winter for viruses. Goes from chest to throat and then sinus and then back again.
It will go away soon, just a matter of getting through it I guess

take care

mick

[lesleya]

Cheers mick
Makes you feel bit better i supose to know your not the only one suffering. I just get tired of feeling like crap it depresses me, but im now just hoping for a nice warm summer to make me feel better..its amazing what a little bit of sunshine can do isnt it.:)
Cheers
xx

[mick_uk]

That's what we need SUNSHINE :shades:

[lesleya]

According to the long range weather forcast on tv were supposed to be going to have the warmest summer for 5 years ??.....:yesyes:

[Kaybee]

With chest infections etc. some people are just more susceptable to them and can get them all the time. I don't think there is any major differences in them except that a chest infection is more treateable with anti biotics.. but I am no doctor!!

I am currently suffering from my 5 viral/chest infection since December. This one though, is more painful than the last one which was more exhausting. Could not move. The pain and nausea sent me to the drs. because I honestly thought there was something more serious wrong with me.

You can imagine my face when he told me I had a viral infection. I was just stunned.. Again?! And why bother giving me anti biotics that aren't going to help anyway?! Best thing to do, is just sleep it out of your system, drink lots of water and.. when the sunshine hits.. get outside LOADS!

[lesleya]

Oh my god....Kaybee you poor thing having this 5 times in the last few months.
I know exactly what you mean though you do begin to wonder if theres something else wrong apart from it being a chest or viral infection..if thats not bad enough of course.
Its the difficulty breathing with blocked tubes that gets me most because i have to cough so hard to clear it of gunk and it hurts so much i am exhausted most of the time. The only antibiotic i can use up to now is doxycline but if its viral then its waste of ime takiing it because it wont do any good, so i will have to wait till next week for results of samples they took.
But this time im staying in and going to rest more to try make sure i get rid.
Hubby can go whistle im going to look after me for a change.
That sounds selfish doesnt it....sorry i dont mean to be but i normally only give myself a day or two then go back to running after him but im going to have to let him fend for himself for a couple of days for a change.
I hope you manage to steer clear of any more infections too kaybee.
Long may the summer last:)
Take care
xxx