# AUGH! Pleurisy- I'm sick and I can't get well. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 19, 2008, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/augh-pleurisy-im-sick-and-i-cant-get-well/438200 "2008-02-19T01:31:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![katie1341](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/91b2a8/32.png) [@katie1341](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/katie1341)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2008, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/augh-pleurisy-im-sick-and-i-cant-get-well/438200/1 "2008-02-19T01:31:58Z")
I have what is apparently an unusually bad case of pleurisy. It’s an inflamation of the lining of the lungs that causes friction and lots of PAIN when I breathe, cough, sneeze, move… since Jan 7, I have had 4 Drs appts, a visit to the ER, and as of today, 16 prescriptions. It’s just not getting any better. I can’t get comfortable enough to get a decent night’s sleep, so I’m exhausted on top of everything else (although I do find that I sleep better in the recliner, so I’ve started sleeping there). I have been literally driven to tears by the pain when I cough, and I have a pretty high pain threshold. I just want to feel better. This SUCKS. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2008, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/augh-pleurisy-im-sick-and-i-cant-get-well/438200/2 "2008-02-19T01:48:06Z")
Holy cow, **Katie** , that sounds awful!! Are you taking off work/school (or if you’re a SAHM, are you getting help with the kids??) I’ve never had asthma or even pneumonia I couldn’t imagine having to go through this. Best wishes to a speedy recovery. ---
**Author:** ![Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophistry_and_Illusion)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2008, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/augh-pleurisy-im-sick-and-i-cant-get-well/438200/3 "2008-02-19T02:18:56Z")
Sounds awful. I periodically get a sharp stab of pain in a lung where it is extremely painful if I inhale. They are common, I think. Except they last for around 10 seconds. Sounds like you have had about 3 weeks of this. Which would drive me to the brink of madness, and then over the brink. Where’s the morphine pump? ---
**Author:** ![katie1341](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/91b2a8/32.png) [@katie1341](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/katie1341)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2008, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/augh-pleurisy-im-sick-and-i-cant-get-well/438200/4 "2008-02-19T02:23:00Z")
I’m the supervising attorney in a Public Defenders office- I’ve taken several days off, but today my Dr said he wants me to take another WEEK, which I just can’t do. Unless I can convince a bunch of people not to get arrested for a week. Happily, the judges have been very cool about it, and teh other attorneys in the office are going above and beyond. I am going to have to buy them all lunch or something when I get better. ``` Maybe it just seems worse because I never get sick. I get a cold every couple of years or so, but this is truly awful. ``` ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2008, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/augh-pleurisy-im-sick-and-i-cant-get-well/438200/5 "2008-02-19T03:14:12Z")
You have my sympathy, for what it’s worth. I’ve had two mild bouts of pleurisy, both cleared up in a couple days after taking Prednisone. It’s a truly miserable affliction, even the mild variety. ---
**Author:** ![Nightingale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@Nightingale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightingale)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2008, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/augh-pleurisy-im-sick-and-i-cant-get-well/438200/6 "2008-02-19T03:55:30Z")
YUCK! You have my utmost sympathy. I had pleurisy 4 years ago (along with a horrible bout of pneumonia) and I still say it’s the most painful thing I’ve ever endured. Felt like having a chest full of hot coals. I hope you are better soon! ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2008, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/augh-pleurisy-im-sick-and-i-cant-get-well/438200/7 "2008-02-19T11:40:07Z")
No fun. Sending healing thoughts your way! ---
**Author:** ![Audrey\_Levins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Audrey\_Levins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Audrey_Levins)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2008, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/augh-pleurisy-im-sick-and-i-cant-get-well/438200/8 "2008-02-19T12:37:51Z")
OUCH! I had a wicked cough several years ago wherein I pulled a chest-wall muscle (I didn’t know this til someone told me) and that alone had me in a fetal position every single time I had to cough. Straining and tightening every muscle I had just to reduce the chest-stabbing agony. I bartend and I was crouching in corners and hoping nobody saw me crying in-between serving drinks. My boss said “You may have pleurisy!” and I thought “I’m in so much pain that he’s probably right!” He was wrong. I had “merely” pulled a muscle. (The one right below and behind your boobs. The pharmacist told me to treat it with heat and ice, just like any other pulled muscle. Um…I’m sorry. There’s a boob in the way! Owwww!) I can only imagine what actual pleurisy is like. Jesus. It may not alleviate the pain but you have earned my most heartfelt sympathy. Here’s to getting well very-freakin’-soon **Katie!**