Sorry to hear about the distress you've been through — high fever for about a week. Also remember, however, that the pains sustained by a believer wipe out sins — hope that consoles you a bit.


Did your doctor tell you that you've got TB? Or were other tests done that confirmed TB? Or do you assume TB just because you've been given "TB medication"?

I ask this because neither the "102 F fever" nor the short duration (6 days) or the "lower zone" opacity are very common features of TB. These features are rather more compatible with pneumonia. A TB patient would more often have "low grade" fever in evenings for quite some time.

And in fact, there is no such thing as "TB medication". These are simply antibiotics that have been reserved for TB because of some of their special properties. But at the end of the day, they are antibiotics, and would work against many other types of infections.

So, I think your doctor prescribed you some of those reserved antibiotics when he found that your pneumonia did not respond to regular antibiotics.

To confirm whether it is TB or not, I think firstly you can ask your doctor whether he'd TB in mind when he prescribe you "TB medication". Then, if you feel like, you can go for tests like "sputum for AFB", "sputum for AFB culture", etc.

Hope that makes things clear and relieves your worries.

Wishing you all the best.

Dear friend, welcome and thanks for entrusting your query here at HCM!
I am Dr. Prasad Akole (Critical Care Expert- http://bit.ly/Dr-Prasad-Akole) and am glad to address to your query here.

If the Xray has shown CP angle obliteration, you should undergo an ultrasound of the thorax to confirm the presence of fluid there as the cause of opacity and it should be drained (tapped) with a needle under local anaesthesia and sent for lab to confirm infection or otherwise.

Infections (including TB), cancers and lot of other conditions can cause this.
But short duration of high fever is more likely to be due to infection.

Did you have cough, expectoration, breathlessness, blood in sputum, weight loss?

Needs to confirm by a good physical examination, labs, CT scan if needed, tests for TB like sputum exam etc.

If you could detail up your symptoms, other tests, reports, Xray here on the site using the uploader available below the text box, I would be more than happy to help you precisely.

We should always give TB treatment only on confirmation. I advise you to be properly evaluated for the exact cause.
TB meds do cause side effects like jaundice and some times serious.

I hope you are fully satisfied with the guidance I gave.
Hope I have answered all your questions. I would be glad to answer any further queries. Please ask for any clarifications before closing and rating this answer.

Thank you and Good luck!