I went to the doctor’s office today. I have a severely sore throat and I was a bit afraid it was strep throat. Well, the diagnosis was walking Pneumonia. She gave me a nebulizer treatment, but my pulseox was hovering between 90-95.No wonder I feel tired. This site has some information about it. Reading through, my symptoms match up pretty closely. One thing is says is “Do not eat oily food”, which has me quite curious as to why. I do know that oily food has not agreed with me this week and I have taken to avoiding it. I feel awful, but not so ill I can’t work. I do have a note saying don’t go to the office at least, so I will work at home most of the week. Meanwhile I am trying to avoid giving it to anyone at home. I am glad that when I went to the doctors for a mammogram, I did wear a mask. I hope I am not making others ill.
I keep thinking about people who think getting sick is a matter of character and wonder what part of my character is lacking that I got this. Perhaps immaturity as mostly children get this.
Yuck. I had this, some 20+ years ago, and felt pretty wretched for a few days (in my case the coughing was so severe I was unable to sleep, which didn’t help). On the plus side, since it tends to be caused by something that is susceptible to antibiotics, once medication is started you feel better pretty fast.
I’ve had pneumonia five, maybe six times. Never had to be hospitalized, so it was technically “walking pneumonia” all times – although that is a rather useless diagnosis. More helpful to know what caused the pneumonia.
Moreover, “walking pneumonia” does not mean you should get up and walk around, ‘cause otherwise you’ll die. My mother believed that old wives’ tale, and first time I had pneumonia made me walk the dog. I got out of sight of home, plopped down for about thirty minutes to get enough energy to stagger back on home. My poor, plump cocker spaniel eventually got so bored sniffing around the area reachable on her leash, that she laid down next to me and took a nap. No fun.
It is not just something mostly children get. And I have no idea why you would want to avoid “oily foods”; sounds like old wives’ advice, too.
If you are very healthy, though, turns out that pneumonia can be difficult to diagnose. Twice I’ve thought I had a cold and a sore back, and continued to work out and swim, only to go to the doctor when it persisted to discover I’d had pneumonia. The first time it took so long to diagnose me before the doctor sent me to x-ray in exasperation, that he wrote a note in my chart so he’d remember the next time. (and, he did.)
You have my sympathy. Sleep is the best cure, really. Just nap and eat when you feel hungry. Remember to drink. And if anyone impugns your character for getting pneumonia, cough on them.
I had it once and I was pretty damn sick. I probably should have gone into the hospital. I coughed so much I could barely breathe and I had a high fever and felt like shit. It was pretty awful.
Thank you for the sympathy, and the links, and the stories.
Well, the internet sites I linked to say it is more common in children. I had pneumonia, the non-walking kind when I was three. Kalhoun gave a pretty good description of what that was like. I have asthma, and I get bronchitis all too often.
Remembering to drink is no problem, sipping on water is helping my throat feel better and cutting my cough, so I sip and sip. Until I breath in as I sip because I am going to cough and then I sputter and cough.
I was up until midnight working on an urgent issue. I woke up at 3 coughing, but was able to sleep after an hour of coughing and then I had to get up for a 6:30 am meeting today and by 10 am I was so wiped out, I took a nap until 1 pm. I was supposed to be on call until the end of the month, but fortunately was able to trade that off to a darling co-worker so I can sleep tonight.
I started feeling a bit better this evening. There is less blood in what I spit out and my throat does not feel like a raw bruise.
So, according to the older threads, walking pneumonia is not a real diagnosis, or it means viral pneumonia, or it means pneumonia caused by Mycoplasma pneumoniae. I assume my doctor meant the latter, as she prescribed an antibiotic that several other sites is particularly effective for treating Mycoplasma pneumoniae infections.
I worry about going into work Thursday. Every so often something moves and I have quite a coughing spell that is only relieved when I manage to get up and out some of the scariest things I have seem coming out of my body.
I had it when I was 19 and in the military during an exceptionally wet and cold Southern California Winter. I lost twenty pounds and spent five weeks at Camp Pendleton hospital. I was told that walking pneumonia meant it had affected only one lung. Antibiotics and steam treatments helped get it under control quickly.