To ask for your experiences of severe pneumonia?

[Extraordinarytimes]

Ok I know I am - posting here for traffic! I have read through some old pneumonia threads on here which have been hugely helpful, so hoping for a last little bit of help on something I can’t find a relevant thread to!

Quick chronology: August had a very mild virus. Seemed to go; forgot about it. About a week later I had the beginnings of cold; 48 hours later I felt like I had full blown flu. Day 11 GP sent me to AandE and admitted with pneumonia and a collapsed lung. Oxygen, drip, IV antibiotics etc - I was horribly ill. Was in for a week and they ran lots of other tests, grew cultures etc to try and find the underlying cause, but seems I was just unlucky. (I’m ordinarily fit and healthy, no medical history, so should not have been so severely unwell as to need hospital). Had bloods just before I went to check my infection markers were as expected, and also my last dose of antibiotics.

Had an x Ray at 6 weeks, verbally told pneumonia had gone. GP diagnosed with pleurisy as still very symptomatic - was actually getting worse but when I informed both GP and pneumonia clinic of this, they just kept saying to call them back if it got worse 🤷‍♀️ Naproxen controlled the SOB and suppressed the cough and gave limited pain relief. 3 weeks later, the pneumonia clinic sent me a letter to say that actually I still had pneumonia, and they would arrange a follow up x Ray. Called them, they said it would be 6 weeks after the first one as they only do it at 6 week intervals as this is how long it takes to clear, and for GP to arrange any aftercare. Went back to GP who has given me strong antibiotics for a week.

QUERY!
My query is this, if anyone’s been in my position, how long has it taken to shift the pneumonia? I don’t know why it didn’t shift in the first six weeks; I was too weak to do anything other than rest, and coughed up loads. Am I being overly optimistic that the second course of antibiotics will get rid of it completely? Or will it still take a while after the antibiotics to finally go? I don’t get any information from GP and I don’t know who the pneumonia clinic is for, but apparently not me! So mumsnet is the natural saviour.

I only had mild pneumonia sorry. Took ages to feel fully better though. Sounds like you will really need to be on it with the docs to make sure the infection is clearing. Maybe best to go with whether you're feeling worse / not getting at all better. Don't be fobbed off. I hope they gave you a different antibiotic this time.

I had severe pneumonia in both lungs and was in hospital for two weeks on drips, I don’t remember being there for most of the time. It took me a long time to recover fully, several months, and I was on oral antibiotics for several weeks when I went home. Another time I got flu and a respiratory infection and was again admitted to hospital as I was extremely unwell. Kept in for a week. Again, I was on antibiotics for about 3 weeks after and my GP could hear crackles in my lungs for some time after. So my experience is that it can take a long time to recover and I would say go back to your GP if you feel more unwell or the antibiotics don’t seemed to have helped. I found it a frightening time as the SOB is awful but also the fact I felt so unwell when I was discharged and for much longer than I expected.

I had pneumonia secondary to apsis and multiple organ failure a few years back.
I had 10 weeks on Ward after HDU. I'm surprised that if your lung collapsed you didn't need a drain (worst looking thing ever) to let the fluid/pud out from around the lung.
I digress: naproxen is an anti-inflammatory but shouldn't stop you coughing if there is more to clear. The antibiotics will help with the infection but the more material you can clear physically the less the antibiotics need to work on. Keep moving and active. Stay warm if you can. Go back to the GP one week after the antibiotics finish for more while you keep up the light exercise if your breathing is still affected.
It can take months to recover fully (clear the detritus and regain strength) but the infection should be gone before you stop taking antibiotics, even though the symptoms may drag on for a while).