Anyone had pleurisy? On way to a&e, so fed up

[worriedandfedup24]

I've had a viral infection for the best part of 3.5 weeks, awful hacking cough, coughing up green stuff, just generally feeling awful since the 2nd week of January. Earlier this week I started to get a horrible stabbing pain in my chest, just under my right breast, through my rib cage. It's markedly worse when coughing or breathing deeply, I'm having to take shallow breaths just to manage the pain. Coughing is reducing me to tears. I was seen by a GP on Wednesday who listened to my chest and said he could hear "crackling" on the side where the pain is and thought it was pleurisy. He said he could prescribe antibiotics just in case it was bacterial and not viral, but I decided I wanted to see how I got on first as I didn't want to take antibiotics unnecessarily. This weekend then pain has become significantly worse. I've never had a broken rib but I imagine this is close to what it might feel like. Every breath, movement and cough is agony. Rang 111 just now and they've advised going to A&E to be seen. I'm just wondering if there's anything at all they can do for pleurisy? Are there any treatments? Is it worth me sitting in A&E all night to be told to take paracetamol which I can do at home? The pain is unbearable and I can't go on like this. But also I'm not convinced they can do much for it.

Any experiences of this? Thanks.

My DP had it and ended up in an oxygen tent in hospital, you should go to A&E

I had it while my baby was young.
Kept going with no support feeling dreadful and had to beg for support once the GP sent me to hospital for a X-ray. Very painful illness.
I had antibiotics to clear it.

Well done for using the antibiotics I think natural yoghurt is good to take with antibiotics or some type of yoghurt...someone else might know?

Rest as much as you can. Try and arrange someone to help with childcare. Hope you’re soon better.

I had pleurisy at the same time as a pulmonary embolism. The pain was unbelievable. Hope you get the rest you need.

If you don’t have one it might be helpful to get a pulse oximeter to check you are getting the oxygen you need and that your lungs are recovering well.

I've had pleurisy around 14 years ago. Antibiotics and cocodamil helped me with plenty of rest. It's awful, I nearly collapsed with the pain. Hope you get the treatment you need soon x

I’ve had it twice, once in conjunction with a bout of shingles, which I’ve also had twice! Antibiotics and bed rest - hope you get better soon.

I has this 2 years ago. It was horrendous. Took months to recover.

Hope you feel better now you have the antibiotics. I found lying on my painful side helped for some reason. It does take awhile to recover so take it easy if you can.

OP is ill with a serious condition. None of us make our best decisions when we’re really unwell.

When I was in the middle of my divorce I had pleurisy 3 times and pneumonia twice in 12 months.
I can't look at photographs of myself at that time as I look so dreadful.

The pain is awful isn't it? I can remember being so sad and exhausted and scared.

Though I do smile when I look back and remember one incident. This was back in the 1990s when doctors still did home visits and I was so poorly that the GP said they would come to the house.

My friend was there to let the GP in as I was bedridden. She came into the room and said here is the doctor, only to find me stood up struggling to get out of the voluminous Laura Ashley-style nightie that were in fashion at the time.
I can still see the poor chap's face! I was really out of it and he wanted to admit me to hospital but I had the children on my own and wouldn't go.
The third time/second diagnosis of pneumonia I gave in and went to my mother with the children to be taken care of.

Like pps, I still get occasional spasms of pain and then I know I am going to be quite poorly so I rest as much as I can.

OP I can't tolerate ABs well at all so I understand your reluctance. I hope you feel much better soon.

I'm a mess this morning. The codeine is hardly touching the pain. I have an upset stomach from the ABs. And I've had hardly any sleep as I finally drifted off around midnight last night and my toddler had me up twice in the night then insisted on a 5am wake up 😭 I've got a friend coming to collect her soon to give me a few hours to rest. I've been crying out in pain with every movement this morning. I am so fed up I can't describe 😭

Thanks for the taking the opportunity to stick the boot in when a person is really struggling. Cheers for that, so helpful. And yeah I'm sure my one 3 hour visit to A&E last night is singlehandedly the cause of the collapsing NHS 🙄 Seriously go away unless you've any constructive help, I really REALLY don't need it.

Can you see your GP and try and get some alternative antibiotics? I don't respond well to doxycycline. Did they suggest a sputum sample to get the best treatment? Sorry your suffering and I hope you can get some rest and seen today.

Hopefully, the AB's will kick in soon. pleural pain is horrible. I 'm wondering whether you would be better with something like diclofenac for the pain as it's also anti-inflammatory so it might ease the pleural pain caused by the inflammation. But you would need a GP prescription for that.
Are you ok with Ibuprofen as that's also a Nsaid, though not as potent as diclofenac?

I'm also due on my period imminently and I also suffer with endometriosis, so I'm about to have the pain of endo to deal with, on top of a severe pain from the pleurisy and an upset stomach from the medication. Excellent combination 😭🙁

@seascape124 no they didn't suggest a sample. I had bloods, ecg and chest x ray and then they prescribed the meds and sent me home.

Thank you for this. I don't understand why people feel the need to make themselves feel better by kicking someone who's clearly having a shit time. So unpleasant.

There’s lots of too & fro on the utility of taking probiotics while on antibiotics, but the combination of the yeast Sacharomyces boulardii & the bacteria Lactobacillus rhamnosus has been found to offer protection against the effects of [some] antibiotics. Probiotic foods are better than supplements, but chances of you being up to whipping up a quick batch of kimchi aren’t exactly high.

I hope you feel better soon OP.

Ah all this is so difficult when you have a toddler to deal with, you have my sympathies. Don't feel guilty about sticking YouTube kids on and getting as much rest as you can

Not a great start to the week for you, poor thing. What painkillers do you normally take for your endo, is it worth trying to get stronger analgesia from your gp, can you tolerate non steroidal and oramorph with an anti sickness too.

@MeinKraft my friend has taken my dd for the afternoon so I can relax, so grateful for that.

@TraitorsGate for the endo I usually just take ibuprofen, paracetamol and buscopan,but tbh they don't do much for it. It literally only lasts 2-3 days when I first start my period and then I'm fine the rest of the month. But its significant pain for those few days. I'm on a waiting list for a laparoscopy (think that's the correct name?).

The codeine is taking the edge off the chest pain at the moment and is also making me feel quite relaxed so that's helping.

Thank you. I'm not really eating much at the moment anyway, just fluids and nibbling on toast / biscuits.

I've only read the OP comments.

Although I wish you a speedy recovery, I suggest next time you just graciously accept the prescription. That way if you need to fill it, even if just a few days later, you have it. If you don't need the prescription then you just shred the piece of paper.

It would have saved both you and the NHS precious time (and in your case discomfort, A&E deps have the worst chairs).

Make sure you eat when you are taking a dose of the doxycycline. It's very irritating to the stomach and likely to be better tolerated if you can eat before/whilst taking it.