Chest infection - is there anything I can do?

[weeblueberry]

I know I can take paracetamol but would rather not (and don't think it would do anything anyway) and just wondered if there's anything more natural I could take that would help?

Have you been to the doctor's? I would if I were pregnant with a chest infection - they can make you feel utterly terrible and you may be able to take antibiotics.

Obviously I meant if I were pregnant and had a chest infection... presumably you're not gestating one!

LOL. No I haven't been as I assumed they would just tell me to rest and get on with it tbh... Until I got pregnant I rarely went to the doctors.

It's very manageable just now but I suppose I'm mainly concerned that anything other than the feeling of being rundown could affect the baby?

Doctors please.....my friend had a cough for a few weeks and ended up giving birth (early) and being diagnosed with pneumonia at the same time!

Please go to the docs! I was v under the weather last month (am also pg) which I just thought would pass. I had a day off work and within the space of a couple of hours I went from under the weather to going to hospital, I was so so ill, I actually had pneumonia but it came on so quick, it was v v scary. With antibiotics I got over the worst v quickly but a month later I'm still off work. I had horrible antibiotics and a chest X-ray which has stressed me out, though they say the baby will be fine. It's really not worth the risk. Sorry don't mean to alarm you, but it's better to nip things in the bud. I hardly had a cold in my 1st pg, I never thought I could get that ill. Go to the docs and get well soon!

Just been to the docs , I too have a chest infection got some antibiotics x x

Sorry forgot to say the horrible antibiotics were only because I left it so late. If I'd gone to the docs earlier then I would have just had penicillin which has no warnings for pg.

I had a horrible chest infection starting at about 22wks, left it for weeks untreated until I pulled a muscle in my stomach from coughing and could hardly stand up straight. I called my lovely midwife as I was worried that I might have hurt baby from coughing and she said that baby would be fine, but that I was very silly not to be looking after myself and sent me straight off to the doctor. Antibiotics cleared it up in about 3 days.

I'm now 40+1 and have just got back from seeing the doctor this evening with another chest infection. This time it's not nearly as bad an infection but I didn't know whether to leave seeing the doctor until after the baby arrived, or if that was risking passing it on to baby. My doctor has prescribed another dose of antibiotics, this time a very low dose, and said that it was much better to try to shift it before I go into labour.

I don't usually go to the doctors unless I am extremely ill - but when you are pregnant you need to be sensible about it. Much better for you to get it sorted out with a short course of antibiotics now than to struggle on and potentially make it much worse.

Thank you everyone. Think I'll try and get a docs appointment if it gets any worse then. Its absolutely manageable now but I admit I'm used to just putting up and shutting up with these things you know? But if I'm more susceptible to catching something worse because I'm pregnant it definitely needs looked at.

You are. Don't put up with it please go to the dr tomorrow! I had a chest infection at the beginning of this pg and it got worse and worse as our immune systems are low. I had antibiotics and did last week for a uti, you don't need to be brave and now is definitely not the time.

Hope you go and feel better soon.