Bad Cough/ Cold ... or Mild Pneumonia

[wwswimming]

in the process of trying to stay healthy, i was doing the breast-stroke during a normal swimming workout a week ago Monday. just while one of my friends was racing a guy in the next lane, which created some big waves in our lane.

which i breathed into my lungs.

i coughed some & thought i was OK, kept swimming. next day started getting a cough/ cold. (which i haven't had for 5-10 years, usually if i get cold symptoms they dissipate in less than a day).

by Thursday night, i was up all night coughing & blowing my nose.

so i'm staying away from the animation stuff & taking it easy. giving me time to run the following calculations.

every time i cough, it's at least a gram of mucus, probably 2.

every time i blow my nose, it's at least 2 grams of mucus, probably 3.

and when i sneeze, it's at least 3 grams of mucus, all over everything, which has happened several times in the last few days, a few times when i had my mouth full.

once every 2 hours - coughing 8 times, blowing my nose 5 times. 5 days in a row, except for about 4 hours Sunday & Monday night, when I actually got some sleep.

someone else can do the calcs. but i have a feeling it adds up to several pounds.

 

[Redfraggle]

Regardless of what it is, that's a lot. Google pneumonia symptoms. If the match, go see a doctor. Drink lots of liquids, especially warm ones to help keep things loose and moving out. Garlicky chicken soup is full of wonderful things. Don't take any suppressants unless it's really preventing you from sleeping and would help that (a tired body heals slower). Something which has caused this much congestion is probably going to take a while to go away regardless.

 

[conorvansmack]

Get a bucket, this is worth learning more about. You can take it to the doctor with you and say, "Look, I'm know I'm sick because this much snot doesn't come out of healthy people."

 

[wwswimming]

conservatively, it's an ounce an hour. that's at least a pound a day. for 5 days straight !

now i know why they tell you to drink lots of fluids when you get sick - your body needs
moisture so it can synthesize mucus in the process of combatting an infection.

if you expel all that mucus and don't replace the fluids, it's logical that you would get dehydrated.

side note - it's very difficult to obtain information about the calorie content of vaginal mucus.

 

[Eric62]

Musinex (Costco generic version) works wonders for me - as far as hacking it up goes.
I believe if it's clear you don't have much to worry about. When it takes on a yellow, brown, green, or GOD forbid red color then medical intervention is called for IMO.

 

[Sust]

If your upper respiratory symptoms continue in severity or worsen over the course of 7 to 10 days from the start of symptoms, then it would be a good idea to go see a doctor for further follow-up and re-evaluation. Once you cross that 7-10 days of suffering(fever, productive cough, chills, sweats, anorexia, headache, sore throat, etc), evidence-based medicine has decided that you are a potentially good candidate for antibiotics because bacteria(as opposed to viruses who are typical initial invaders) are the typical candidates that linger for that long in healthy(non-immunocompromised) human respiratory tracts.
Thats not to say that you NEED antibiotics because you will likely beat off the bacteria with your current supportive liquid therapy over the course of a few more weeks, but the quicker medical option is there if you are willing to accept the risks of antibiotic medications and fill the prescription from your doctor.
This would be a good conversation to have with your primary care provider.

 

[wwswimming]

Originally posted by: Sust
If your upper respiratory symptoms continue in severity or worsen over the course of 7 to 10 days from the start of symptoms, then it would be a good idea to go see a doctor for further follow-up and re-evaluation. Once you cross that 7-10 days of suffering(fever, productive cough, chills, sweats, anorexia, headache, sore throat, etc), evidence-based medicine has decided that you are a potentially good candidate for antibiotics because bacteria(as opposed to viruses who are typical initial invaders) are the typical candidates that linger for that long in healthy(non-immunocompromised) human respiratory tracts.
Thats not to say that you NEED antibiotics because you will likely beat off the bacteria with your current supportive liquid therapy over the course of a few more weeks, but the quicker medical option is there if you are willing to accept the risks of antibiotic medications and fill the prescription from your doctor.
This would be a good conversation to have with your primary care provider.

thanks for the info.

i switched from Kaiser at the beginning of the year, and have yet to see a bill
from the first appointment with my new doctor.

until i know how their billing system works, i'm not going to make a second
appointment.

i had some 2 year old Cephalexin laying around which i took Tuesday & Wednesday.
it appears to be working. a lot less mucus production this morning.

2 x 500 mg that i took yesterday was rough, i'm taking 1 capsule today.

i did not have a change in my condition until i started taking the antibiotic.

i haven't been sick for a week and half since i was a kid.

 

[interchange]

Originally posted by: wwswimming
i had some 2 year old Cephalexin laying around which i took Tuesday & Wednesday.
it appears to be working. a lot less mucus production this morning.

2 x 500 mg that i took yesterday was rough, i'm taking 1 capsule today.

i did not have a change in my condition until i started taking the antibiotic.

Bad idea. If you have a viral infection, it's usually self-limiting to 7-14 days and antibiotics are of no benefit and have the potential to cause harm.

If you have a bacterial infection, you need to be sure that you take a full course of antibiotics. Not taking the full course makes you susceptible to relapse and will facilitate the growth of antibiotic resistant bacteria.

The fact that you're feeling better now could be due to the antibiotics or could be due to your body's own immune system. Truth is, no body in the world will every solve that mystery.

Bottom line: take antibiotics only as directed by a physician.