Am I meant to be this ill with a chest infection?!

[okydokethen]

I’ve not had one before. I’ve never felt so ill. Day 5 of agonising body aches/head ache, difficulty swallowing and breathing, dripping in sweat or ice cold! I’m on day two of antibiotics.

yesterday I kept crying - well wailing over nothing (ie hysterical because I couldn’t remember if my son needed his PE kit today - I could have asked him!)

please tell me it’ll get better soon? At what point do I go back to gp ? Why isn’t temp getting better?

When did you start your antibiotics? How many doses have you taken? If you're feeling that poorly, you should probably phone the GP surgery again.

DH went to the GP surgery one day before Christmas. The nurse practitioner wanted to send him home with antibiotics and an inhaler. I said I thought he was more poorly than that. He had a severe pneumonia and was admitted to hospital for IV antibiotics for 4 days then early discharge because it was Christmas Eve.

Only yesterday so I’ve taken 4 tablets

I'd keep a close eye on things and maybe contact your GP just to be on the safe side. I've had a couple of chest infections while pregnant and felt rubbish, but not like you describe. I'd want checking over in case it's pneumonia. Good luck x

Thank you

Any difficulty in breathing so unable to talk in full sentences, walk short distances etc would advise a 999 call sounds like you are really poorly OP

Contact your GP again too if your feeling worse. They hopefully will offer to see you to check stats. I had a awful chest infection last year that made my heart rate and blood pressure sky high, GP saw me on day 3 and 5 as I felt really awful but not quite clinically unwell enough to be in hospital.
The most important thing though is to rest fully, keep drinking and also take pain relief as needed. Antibiotics do take time to work.
A nasty chest infection is really not pleasant. If your really struggling to breathe then skip GP and get yourself seen at a and e xx

How are you feeling, @okydokethen ?

Thank feeling rotten but the fever and chills have calmed down, temp is 38. I do now feel I’m getting a bit better

Have you got a sats monitor?

As a veteran of chest infection (first one at 8months old, I'm told) I'd say what you are experiencing is par for the course.

But, my warning signs that I need hospital intervention, is if while resting I cannot talk in sentences and feel short of breath.

But I have asthma and copd, so I've got other factors going on.

No sats monitor
@user1471453601 thank you that’s helpful - not envious that sounds really tough. I’m panting if I walk into another room etc but it calms down when resting. I’m only able to do a loud whisper my voice has gone.

You poor thing. I can't help but I had flu this year in February. It was proper flu not a very heavy cold which I'd be used to getting in the winter. This knocked me out and I had to stay in bed for several days not because I was resting up but because I was unable to get up and about. DH had to work from home as I couldn't drop and collect DC from school. Like yourself I've never had anything like this it's a total shock. Just to say OP even when you feel better look please after yourself as it will take a while to get back to normal .