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Have Mild Bronchitis, Fever And Chest Pain While Coughing. Took Medicine. Worried For Pneumonia

Posted on Thu, 21 Feb 2013

Question: Hello, i saw my doctor yesterday and have a mild Case of Bronchitis which I caught from my son...we both had a short flu before the bronchitis set in. He told me I would be contagious for the next 48 hours and to take an expectorant and fluids. Today we felt somewhat sicker with a 101-102F degree temperature. What I am concerned about is if I could have pneumonia...my chest and body ache from coughing, although right now I am coughing much less than before and drainage is clear. What scares me is when I talk or try to laugh I feel wheezy, sort of get a little chest spasm, and my lungs feel a little "raw" (don't know a better way to describe the feeling) when I do cough. It feels like a XXXXXXX cough in my chest. A few times I got a split second sharp pain in my chest and back pain but doctor said it was due to coughing. I can move about, up and down the stairs, take XXXXXXX breaths, etc. and do not have any breathlessness. I jog 4.5 miles every day so I feel my lungs should be strong. I also just had a complete physical with no health problems and I take no medications except a very small dose of xanax as needed. I do suffer from anxiety and OCD over health issues and right now am very nervous. Except for the fever I don't feel too sick at all and right now my coughing has almost stopped. Are my symptoms typical of acute bronchitis or should I be concerned about some awful case of pneumonia? I have to say I am a nervous wreck!!

Answered by Dr. Om Lakhani (19 minutes later)

Hi XXXXXXX,

First and foremost, take a XXXXXXX breath and relax. Just tell yourself whatever you are dealing with will pass, and doctors (online and offline) will help you get well ASAP.

As far as you having pneumonia is concerned, a rule which I use is one respiratory symptom (cough, chest pain or shortness of breath) plus abnormality of the vital signs (temperature >38 °C, heart rate >100 beats/min, respiration rate >20 breaths/min, or pulse oximetry 101 F .. you run into the risk of having pneumonia. I would suggest you to report to your ER. They may carry out an X-Ray, some blood tests and sputum examination to confirm the diagnosis. They may start you on some antibiotics. Dont worry XXXXXXX pneumonia is a easy to treat and easy to manage, and you should be fine in no time

Hope I have answered your query. If you have any further questions I will be happy to help

Regards
Dr. Om Lakhani, MD
Consultant Physician & Diabetologist
WWW.WWWW.WW (online expert Medical & diabetes care consultation)

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Om Lakhani (13 hours later)

Thank you, I did follow up with the doctor for further testing and do not have pneumonia, just the bronchitis and a slight sinus drainage. He gave me a Z pack, although the last 2 times I took that antibiotic it made the condition much worse and also I have a very difficult time tolerating antibiotics in general. I am going to try a holistic approach which got rid of my sinus infection quite nicely in the past. My fever has climbed to 101 again, it was 99 this morning, but the doctor said that can happen with bronchitis. I guess the fever is what is making me nervous, I very rarely have them.

Answered by Dr. Om Lakhani (7 hours later)

Hi..

Thanks for the follow up. In my opinion you must not ignore taking the antibiotics since fever is a sign of possible bacterial infection. You may take it with some food if it is causing some discomfort. You can try holistic approaches ... However it can only resolve your symptoms but nor eliminate the bacteria which only the antibiotics can.

Hoping for your speedy recovery.

Regards
Dr. Om

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar