Recovery from pneumonia, why is it taking so long?

[FancyRedRobin]

Hi all

Interested in hearing about other people's experiences with pneumonia. Earlier this year (4 months ago) I was admitted to hospital with pneumonia in both lungs. Was really ill, discharged after a week.
I'm still experiencing chest pain and feel like a toddler is sitting on my chest. I still seem to be very fatigued. I just started back to work recently (part time) but I'm finding it very hard, much harder than I thought I would.
Add the perimenopause into the mix and yep, I'm not feeling great.
Interested in hearing from folks who has similar experiences.

I think it just does take a while. I've been in hospital and there was a lady who had it and it took about a year I think.

Things that help lungs are walking and vitamin C and D. I have lung disease and any discomfort is definitely less with these three things. Did they give you any after care advice?

@DebtFreeHopeful not a sausage yet, still waiting to go back to the consultant in the hospital. I think I need a bit of pulm rehab to be honest.

I had it and it led to sepsis. Took well over 6 months to recover for me. I think my lungs are probably still scarred years later as I suffer more in damp weather. Saying that I'm pretty much normal 99% of time! Hope you feel better soon! Take it easy

Dont rush it! I tried to "push through" a recovery from illness and ended up with a very prolonged post-viral fatigue that lasted 18 months
Be kind to yourself and pester the doctors to keep checking in with you so you can be reassured that nothing is wrong and you are on the road to recovery. Its very easy to develop health anxiety when in recovery for a prolonged time

Forgot to mention I bought a pulse oximiter which I found useful for managing anxiety in early days as I could feel more symptomatic on some days.

Thanks all. I had my own expectations about recovery etc. but I think I really need to listen to my body and give it time to recover.
I tend to push through when I'm not ready and it never turns out well!

My son was only little when he had a serious pneumonia even he was told full recovery could take 6 - 12 months so I don't think it is that unusual to still be feeling ropey 4 months down the line.

I had pneumonia in 1 lung a few years ago that went undiagnosed for weeks. By the time I was admitted to hospital I was really ill. I was in for a week on IV antibiotics then discharged with 2 other types of antibiotics. When i was discharged I was off work for 3 months. Had never been off work for more than a couple of weeks previously. I remember when I went back feeling very fatigued.

I also did breathing exercises to try and strengthen my lungs.

It definitely took me 6 months plus to recover. I had a follow up XRay after 6 months and was told it was clear.

I hope you start to feel better soon. Plenty rest.

Thanks so much all. I guess I thought I'd be better after three months and I was making myself feel very guilty that I didn't. @Le1890 I had a similar experience to you, was falling ill probably over two weeks but had a very bad deterioration at the end that was frankly very scary.

I had it - not as bad as you but nearly hospitalized. It took months to be back to normal. Take vitamins, eat really well, plenty of rest- you will get there.

It's coming up to a year since I had pneumonia. I feel generally better but cough a lot more now and sometimes find I get out of breath quicker. The breathlessness could be anxiety related though.
It's a long recovery but hopefully you will feel somewhat better soon.

Have you considered the pneumonia vaccination?