Hey guys, i was wondering if anyone out there can give me some advice about the long term effects of pneumonia.
about a month ago i was training for a fight and developed what i thought was a cold. i took a couple of days off to rest and resumed training only to become worse several days later. i took a few days off work, went to a cheap ass medical centre (i'm in Australia) to get some antibiotics and rested for the next few days at home. after a few days my condition deteriorated considerably so i went to my proper GP who told me i had developed pneumonia and pleuricy (sp?). i spent the next few days in hospital on an IV where they administered all types of antibiotics (i'm currently finishing my 5th batch of which every one has been different). my condition improved and i was sent home. now it has been about 2 weeks since i was sent home and have only just returned to work. i can't train for about another month and still feel quite weak.
i am going to do whatever it takes to rid this thing from my body e.g eat healthy, drink lots of fluids, rest etc. my questions are; can it come back months or years later?, can there be long term damage to my lungs?, can i prevent it by looking for 'warning signs'?, will i be able to get back to my previous full strength/health?
i am 34 years of age, am a full time personal trainer and prior to developing this i was the fittest i had been in years.
my GP has answered a lot of these questions but i am looking for other opinions.
thanx for anyones time. Dave
Once you get it your suseptable on getting it again. Look for dry coughing, naseau, night sweats, fever, and chest pain and back pain.
best thing to do is to get a pnemonia shot every year
I've had it a couple of times, but not as bad as you. No hospital stays and cleared up by round 2 of an antibiotic.
Had it when I was 18, and again around 22...now 35 and haven't had it since, so while I may be more likely to get it having had it a couple of times, (knock on wood) it hasn't nailed me in quite some time. Their is a pneumonia shot you can get like the flu shot. I think it's a once every five years thing. You can talk to your doctor about whether or not he'd recommend something like that for you given the severity of your particular case.
It can cause permanent lung damage depending on the severity of the bout that you had. I believe that most of the time that isn't the case, however, especially in the young and healthy parts of the population.
Good luck and work hard at rehab'ing yourself.
cheers guys.
yeah i spoke to my gp about the pneumonia shot and he said that it is really only for a specific type of pneumonia, apparently one of the nastiest strains. he stated that like the flu there are many types of pneumonia and it may or may not work.
anyway my recovery is going pretty well, back doing some weight training and light pad work and rolling.
bring on 2009.
stay healthy : )
had pneumonia twice. left lung at 15, right lung at 39 - i'm 42.
dr says pnemonia changes the lung tissue so its easier for the bacteria to start growing on it.
he suggested a pneumonia shot and yearly flu shot. the idea is, don't put myself in a weakened position where i can catch something (flu, cold) that wears down my immune system making it easier to develop pneumonia.
so i've been doing all that, and eating like a horse and making sure i get enough sleep and scaling back/skipping workouts if i don't get enough sleep.
i also went to an allergist and got my (severe) allergies under control.
i also take the following:
1g vit C after every workout
garlic supplement during cold/flu season
multi vitamin during cold/flu season
in the last 2 years, i've had exactly 2 colds during the cold/flu season - 1 each year.
so far so good