Harriet Vane Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 Dd has bilateral pneumonia (iow in both lungs). Will she be well enough to go to TeenPact not next week, but the week after? She will be expected to do a TON of walking for this. I was planning to send dd with a friend. If she is well enough to go, should I plan to go too so that I can control her schedule and energy output? How can I ease her coughing and breathing without giving her a cough suppressant? Any general advice? I am feeling a little tight in the chest, just a wee bit of a tickle. I have been coughing a little, no phlegm, and otherwise living normally, though tired because I have lost so much sleep taking care of dd. I do not normally take that very seriously at this time of year because I have seasonal allergies. At what point do I panic and see a doctor myself? Should I beg dd's pediatrician to write me a prescription too? I DO NOT want to take antibiotics as I am almost sure to get a yeast infection (VERY prone to this). I also don't want to get as sick as dd--there is a TON on my plate right now. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butter Posted April 11, 2012 Share Posted April 11, 2012 I can't say for sure. She might bounce back quickly. But I had pneumonia last year and it took me a solid two weeks in bed before I felt good enough to get up and around. It took several months before I felt like myself again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennynd Posted April 11, 2012 Share Posted April 11, 2012 I can't say for sure. She might bounce back quickly. But I had pneumonia last year and it took me a solid two weeks in bed before I felt good enough to get up and around. It took several months before I felt like myself again. :iagree: It took me about 2 weeks to recover too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan C. Posted April 11, 2012 Share Posted April 11, 2012 I had viral pneumonia, the doctor said if it was bacterial, you wouldn't be asking if you needed a doctor, you would be heading to ER. It took forever for it to go away, ds had it too, he was elementary aged. He couldn't do PE at his coop class for a month or more, and I got winded easily. My parents came to visit (even though I asked them to delay) and they couldn't believe I was sleeping 16 hours a day, but I was that tired. Antibiotics don't help viral, I think you just have to ride it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welovetoread Posted April 11, 2012 Share Posted April 11, 2012 My daughter had pneumonia on her 10th (she is 14 now) birthday. It started with a stomach ache and by day 2 had 104 fever, vomiting, headache, dizziness, etc. Her coughing didn't start until about day 5 or so. She was on antibiotics and had breathing treatments for her cough. It took her about 8 days before she was off the couch and another 5 or so before she had energy again. I'd be okay with NEVER seeing her that sick again Hope she feels better soon Chandi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welovetoread Posted April 11, 2012 Share Posted April 11, 2012 Forgot to mention she was out of Karate for about 3 weeks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaKinVA Posted April 11, 2012 Share Posted April 11, 2012 It really does depend on the type of Pneumonia and how bad it is. She may feel fine, but be prone to coughing fits. She may tire easily. She could feel better now, and worse later. My kids have all had "walking" pneumonia -- never really acted sick, just coughed, with some wheezing (it's a special cough...). For you, if you breathe deeply 3x and start coughing hard during any one of those three breaths, it's time to go to the doctor. Don't wait until you feel like you have an elephant sitting on your chest and have to sit up to breathe, and even that is difficult. If you are worried about abx, you can ask them to do a culture (will probably require blood) to determine if it's viral or bacterial. If it's viral, the abx won't help it. However, you could at least get a nebulizer and some good cough syrup to help with the symptoms. My guess is that she'll probably be fine for something like that, but you won't know until you see how the antibiotics affect her (sometimes pneumonia gets worse -- sounds/feels worse -- before it gets better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna Posted April 11, 2012 Share Posted April 11, 2012 Kids sometimes bounce back pretty quickly. Last year my oldest had pneumonia and was very sick but after a couple days on antibiotics he felt much better. He was out of school for 2 days then a weekend. He was back to winning wrestling matches after 6 days with only a bit of a cough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted April 11, 2012 Share Posted April 11, 2012 I wouldn't plan on her being well enough to go anywhere in two weeks. It's not just the coughing, it is the total energy and strength meltdown. let her get well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lea1 Posted April 11, 2012 Share Posted April 11, 2012 I wouldn't plan on her being well enough to go anywhere in two weeks. It's not just the coughing, it is the total energy and strength meltdown. let her get well. :iagree: Especially as she has it in both lungs. BTDT myself, hospitalized with it twice. It really took me down for a while, especially my energy level. Kids respond so differently though, it's not really a good comparison. I'm sure each child is different and it depends on how bad the case is but I would plan on her not going if it was me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted April 11, 2012 Share Posted April 11, 2012 Three of my children have had pneumonia, and all of them recovered quite quickly once they were on good antibiotics for a week. By the second week, I'm quite sure they were pretty much up to their usual routine. But, it sounds like others have had a different experience, so I guess it's not something you can predict. As far as yourself, you certainly don't want to mess with pneumonia. To play it safe, you could start taking probiotics or eating yogurt, now. (I've heard that can counter a yeast infection from antibiotics.) When you have a chest cold, a cough, or pneumonia, I've been told that you want to avoid cough suppressants if you can, because they don't allow you to "cough up" the illness (the mucus, etc.). I've been told by a couple of long-time doctors who I trust that the only cough medicine that allows that to happen are cough medicines with the word "tussin" in the name of it, such as Robitussin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momling Posted April 11, 2012 Share Posted April 11, 2012 I had bacterial pneumonia as an adult and it was * rough *! I think I had to take about 3 weeks off of work and still wasn't back to my regular self for a few months. The pleurisy and out of breath feeling lasted for a long time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SailorMom Posted April 11, 2012 Share Posted April 11, 2012 I've have pneumonia three times - once it was bacterial. All three times it took me a month to recover - and even then I still felt somewhat drained. She'll certainly feel better in two weeks, but not "better" enough.... I would not plan on her going. ETA - I think it has a lot to do with how fast any sort of treatment starts, and how much each lung is infected Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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