Bronchitis question

[Syrreal]

I did get the pneumonia shot. Hopefully it'll keep it away for that long

I hate Mucinex. I literally might as well just be taking some sugar pills when I take it.

 

[NotUrsula]

I had bronchitis last winter. I got a shot in the hinny, put on antibiotics for 10 days, and was told to spend as much time in bed as possible. I had finals that week, so sleeping was out of the question. It took almost a month before I felt completely well. I remember it really hurt to breathe, and my lungs sounded like crumpled cellophane every time I drew a breath. Lots of coughing and lightheadness too. No one else I knew had it, so mine didn't seem to be contagious. The next month I caught the flu though; it was a looong winter.

Those two symptoms are the hallmark of dry pleurisy. (Inflammation of the membranes surrounding the lungs.) Are you sure that wasn't what you had? It tends to be worse than ordinary bronchitis, and takes a long time to heal up properly, as it is usually viral.

I get bronchitis regularly, at least once every three months. (Not a smoker; I was just born with bad lungs.) It sounds really scary, but doesn't slow me down much as long as I take a lot of expectorant. I've only had pleurisy once, and it knocked me on my heinie for the better part of two months.

 

[JessicaR]

Can be, might not be.

It's important for them to find out what it actually is, before prescribing something. Our pediatrician *always* did that; he had a lab right in his office. It was very good, b/c he was never treating us for something inappropriately.

Not exactly.
There are no reliable diagnostic signs or laboratory tests, so the diagnosis of acute bronchitis is essentially a clinical one. I went through this for years when my son was younger. There is no practical test to distinguish between bacterial and viral bronchitis.

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2278319

 

[Macca1111]

As a pre-med student and someone who has had Bronchitis many many times, I can tell you that Bronchitis is typically viral but can also be bacterial. There is actually a type of Bronchitis caused by a very similar bacteria to the one that causes pneumonia. Its not unusual for someone with a bad case of bronchitis to end up getting pneumonia. The z-pak or zithromax is a very common strong antibiotic that is commonly used to treat bacterial respirtory infectons such as bacterial bronchitis or pnuemonia.

Hope this helps.
Matt

This is what I always ended up with. It's been described to me as a secondary infection of Bronchitis - not just an inflammation of the tissue, but gunk growing in the lungs. That's why it could be treated with antibiotics, because it was actually bacterial. It's just what happened to me when I got a bad cold - once a year it would turn into Bronchitis. Not a smoker (though they always ask) it's just how my body is built I guess. It started before I can remember, and it's only been in the last few years when I finally gave up and started using an inhaler and saline irrigation when I have a cold. Gross, but I haven't had that terrible barking cough in 4 years. *Fingers crossed smiley here* OP, you would know if you had the kind of bronchitis that needed antibiotics. Cough medicine doesn't stop my cough when I have bronchitis - prescriptions are the only way to go then.