Pneumonia - how long to recover?

[elaine amj]

I was pretty run down and not sleeping well before my Disney tent camping trip over Christmas. My guess is the cold, the rain, the damp and the constant go-go-go did me in and I cut short my trip to come home early on Jan 4.

On Jan 6, I had an xray which showed fluid around my lungs and doctors said it was some kind of lung infection, possibly mild pneumonia. Had zero other symptoms other than terrible back spasms and some shortness of breath. Went on antibiotics and showed definite improvements over the next week.

But the fatigue...oh the fatigue. I was exhausted for a month. I was super careful and went on almost complete bed rest. After 4 weeks, I had a follow up chest xray and it was mostly clear with just some lingering stuff that they think is just pleural thickening.

Now it is almost 2 months and I still get fatigued when I do too much around the house. Definitely no workouts (and I am used to working out a couple of hours a day!) UGH!!

Anyway - any personal anecdotes on pneumonia recovery time? Anything you did that helped or hindered the process?

 

[mom2rtk]

The fatigue was crazy. I was shocked at how long it took to feel energetic again. I had to take a nap every day for weeks. And it was just a mild case.

I hope you get past it soon.

 

[lynxstch]

My husband had it 2 years ago, and got it again this year, and he's going on a little more than 2 months of the fatigue and shortness of breath. It takes him a long time to get over it. The crazy changes in weather here aren't helping much either. 60 degrees for a few days, then down to 30 the next few. Hope you feel better soon!

 

[Micca]

You need to be careful with pneumonia, it lingers and if you push it too much it can hit you with another round. I'd probably put in a call to the doc just to let them know about the fatigue continuing, but I don't think that is unusual.

 

[cabanafrau]

Pneumonia fatigue -- if someone told you to come on, hurry up, the building's on fire and your response is, give me a minute and I'll work up the energy. Absolutely depleted.

 

[ZTator]

 

[elaine amj]

Pneumonia fatigue -- if someone told you to come on, hurry up, the building's on fire and your response is, give me a minute and I'll work up the energy. Absolutely depleted.

ROFL!!! That was hilarious and oh so true! I was in a wheelchair at various points to conserve my energy. One night about 3 weeks in when I was recovering, I was better so I attended a pasta fundraising dinner. I was so careful. Sat the whole time, only talked quietly. After a couple of hours, I got extremely fatigued and was drooping in my chair. Was so happy to go home.

I think each individual person is different but regardless who you are pneumonia takes a long long time to get over and even then it still shows up on xrays years after. This is my story with pneumonia , my daughter got it back in 2009 she went rounds with it and came out the winner, after that she was very weak for almost a year after. And also after that it seemed like even the common cold would start turning into pneumonia, she had to be very careful after that to take care of herself. Pneumonia is a beast , just give yourself as much time as you need to get over it completely. Good luck and God speed!

Ouch. A year?! Looking back, is there anything your daughter did that might have hindered the recovery process? Did she rest a lot or go back to her normal activities fairly quickly?

I have been really trying to find out what I can do to improve my odds of recovering quicker.

I stayed on almost complete rest for 4 weeks even when I started feeling better so I didn't hinder my recovery. I went back to Orlando during week 5 and had an amazing week at WDW. I took it slow with daily naps and just meandered the parks. By the end of the week, I was out of the wheelchair and walking all day. I was so excited to feel "normal tired" and not the awful fatigue.

But the fatigue has been returning since I have been home. Maybe the cold weather is not helping? I stepped up on housework the last few days (and reorganized my kitchen) but as of yesterday, the fatigue returned (thankfully very mild fatigue right now). Am in bed with a mildly aching back today and plan to stay mostly in bed this week.

 

[wenrob]

Took me a good two, three months. I had to take a break going up a single flight of stairs. I remember just sinking down to the floor in the middle of cooking dinner and I’d sleep 70% of the day. It was awful. In retrospect I tried to do “normal” way too soon. Listen to your body, rest when it tells you to.

 

[ZTator]

ROFL!!! That was hilarious and oh so true! I was in a wheelchair at various points to conserve my energy. One night about 3 weeks in when I was recovering, I was better so I attended a pasta fundraising dinner. I was so careful. Sat the whole time, only talked quietly. After a couple of hours, I got extremely fatigued and was drooping in my chair. Was so happy to go home.



Ouch. A year?! Looking back, is there anything your daughter did that might have hindered the recovery process? Did she rest a lot or go back to her normal activities fairly quickly?

I have been really trying to find out what I can do to improve my odds of recovering quicker.

I stayed on almost complete rest for 4 weeks even when I started feeling better so I didn't hinder my recovery. I went back to Orlando during week 5 and had an amazing week at WDW. I took it slow with daily naps and just meandered the parks. By the end of the week, I was out of the wheelchair and walking all day. I was so excited to feel "normal tired" and not the awful fatigue.

But the fatigue has been returning since I have been home. Maybe the cold weather is not helping? I stepped up on housework the last few days (and reorganized my kitchen) but as of yesterday, the fatigue returned (thankfully very mild fatigue right now). Am in bed with a mildly aching back today and plan to stay mostly in bed this week.

Yes she did have some things that hindered her. Sounds like you are moving along nicely.

 

[Ides315]

It stays for awhile. I had it in January. I just slept a lot. Took about a week to feel normal again, but the cough was around for about 2 weeks. Had a 2nd chest X-ray at 8 weeks to make sure all the fluid was gone. Good luck and rest up

 

[Kitty 34]

It does take awhile. Just take it easy and like other posters have said.........listen to your body.

 

[sjrec]

A friend’s son had it-30s, fit and no other health issues and it took him almost 3 months to get over the fatigue. I was extremely lucky-Dr caught it early, took antibiotics, steroids and used an inhaler and I was better in two weeks. But that week I felt so fatigued was awful. Cabanafrau’s description was spot on!
Listen to your body and take care of yourself.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

Just be patient with yourself, rest when needed, don’t push yourself beyond what’s comfortable. Try to eat healthy to keep up your strength and see the doctor again if you’re not feeling better in a few weeks. Your body heals while you’re sleeping so make sure you get enough sleep and make sure you’ve finished whatever antibiotics they gave you, and take a probiotic with them to prevent unpleasant side effects. Sorry, I do this for a living!

 

[elaine amj]

A friend’s son had it-30s, fit and no other health issues and it took him almost 3 months to get over the fatigue. I was extremely lucky-Dr caught it early, took antibiotics, steroids and used an inhaler and I was better in two weeks. But that week I felt so fatigued was awful. Cabanafrau’s description was spot on!
Listen to your body and take care of yourself.

Ack - 3 months is awful.

I just never dreamed it would take me so long as I am fit and healthy (or was!) And am only 40.

Just debating if there is anything else my doctor can do. I got the course of antibiotics from him in the beginning and that helped tremendously. And he was happy when my followup xray was so good at 4 weeks.

But now at 2 months, I am still not all the way better. And today, am dealing with that dreaded fatigue again (thankfully on the milder side).

On top of that, the pain moved from my lower back in the beginning and is now in my shoulders - a dull ache. I cannot lift my arms well, particularly my left arm - when I lift it about halfway up, it hurts. And both arms are weak and I cannot lift heavy things - I even have trouble closing my van's side doors!

I thought for sure I would be back swimming and running again by now. But no way. Thank God I am not working now so can take as much rest as I need to recover.

Just so weird as I had practically no symptoms for this pneumonia. Was hopeful it meant I would recover extremely quickly - but nope

 

[elaine amj]

Btw - all these anecdotes are helping so so so much. I have been researching like crazy but there isn't a whole lot of detail about the recovery period other than that it can take weeks or up to 6 months. I like hearing what other people have gone through and dealt with.

 

[TheIncredibles!]

Ugh. I had pneumonia in between my first and second chemo. I have no way of knowing what was chemo and what was pneumonia but I was hospitalized for 4 days, released from the hospital on a Friday and got on a plane Sunday to fly to Chicago for my next chemo. The ER/Hospital Docs thought I was nuts but NFW was I skipping or delaying chemo.

it all went really downhill after that naturally.....lol. Just Rest. Drink PLENTY of fluids. Stay as active as you can. Repeat and one day you will notice that you are ok.

 

[elaine amj]

Ugh. I had pneumonia in between my first and second chemo. I have no way of knowing what was chemo and what was pneumonia but I was hospitalized for 4 days, released from the hospital on a Friday and got on a plane Sunday to fly to Chicago for my next chemo. The ER/Hospital Docs thought I was nuts but NFW was I skipping or delaying chemo.

it all went really downhill after that naturally.....lol. Just Rest. Drink PLENTY of fluids. Stay as active as you can. Repeat and one day you will notice that you are ok.

Oh that is DREADFUL! Chemo is awful enough and then throw in pneumonia and ugh ugh ugh. When DH had chemo 2 years ago, the fatigue was no joke. Thank goodness he is stable now and so far, so good. Are you all clear now? Hope it is all a distant memory now.

 

[VandVsmama]

I had a really bad case of pneumonia once that involved a 5-day hospitalization. I was on supplemental oxygen for 3 weeks afterwards. Take care of yourself.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

Pneumonia can really knock you out!

I was hospitalized for a week with pneumonia and I’ve never felt that sick or weak. It was several months before I was completely myself again

Feel better!

 

[Sherrkel]

Elaine I've had a lot of experience from parents who suffer from pnemonia; the fatigue is real.
I just wanted to say hang in there; somedays you think you're moving forward and then the next day you're exhausted again.
I know it's really stressful, make sure you take care of your emotional needs too.
Be well soon!