I’m definitely feeling a bit overwhelmed. I’ve been running a fever with no other symptoms since Tuesday evening. No other symptoms. I went to urgent care yesterday and got tested for all of the current viral things. Nothing was positive. Developed right flank pain yesterday so I was sure I had a kidney infection. The urgent care doc insisted that i go to the emergency room bc of the immunosuppressants. So here I am. I’ll get a lung CT tomorrow to confirm. They have to wait until tomorrow because I had a CT with contrast today so they have to wait for the contrast to clear out.
I’m at a complete loss as to how I have pneumonia with three days of high fevers and absolutely no other symptoms.
hey @stoney, so sorry to hear about your latest development…if you have pneumonia, it’s likely good you are where you can get monitored to catch it early. I don’t know that they can do much about the viral kind. I’m just over that nasty flu bug that hit our whole family. It seems to end with a long term cough that I’m still battling but it does get better. Also, our bodies can have more than one virus at a time with overlapping symptoms. Covid, seasonal flu and a regular cold can all get into us and weaken our systems. I found that it really helps sleeping as upright as possible ‘cuz when horizontal and sleeping, that’s when the congestion seems to settle in the chest…and keep moving! Bedridden for too long is bad news! Take care and I just sent some chicken soup to you for comfort.
Poor you @Stoney, my understanding of pnuemonia isn’t huge but I have heard it’s kind of sneaky like that. Let us know what the CT scan says. Meanwhile take care.
Ugh, so sorry to hear @Stoney. If it makes you feel any better, I spent yesterday being assessed at hospital cause my heart is playing up. It’s not at all fun. Everything looked stable so they sent me home. Now 24 hours later I’ve had pretty bad shortness of breath at rest, oxygen hanging around between 82 and 92, and a cough that I’m pretty sure is a heart cough. Yuk.
Pneumonia was sneaky when I had it on steroids. Woke up once in the middle of the night, felt I was coughing my lungs up, coughed up a tiny bit of stuff with blood in it, and then it just stopped and I went back to bed. No other proper symptoms, didn’t even cough again, or manage to run a fever. Was just a bit warm, had some chills next night and felt “wrong”. I thought the GP did well to put all that together.
I hope yours responds to antibiotics and you feel better soon, I’m sending hugs to go with Amos chicken soup.
I’m feeling SO much better. Before I even left the hospital on Tuesday the fever had already broken. Now I’m just dealing with the shortness of breath and the teeniest cough. It’s very cute and absolutely useless. I’ll follow up with my GP in a week.
That’s so crazy how you had pneumonia. The no fever part really shows you how immunosuppressive the meds really can be. I was thinking that a fever of 48 hours plus no symptoms is likely a UTI, but regardless, should get checked out.
The scary part for me was that when I got to the hospital, my numbers were so poor that they did their sepsis protocol. So immediate EKG, chest x-ray, bloodwork with 3 different blood cultures, and they hung two bags of fluids. I’m glad it wasn’t sepsis but that’s a bit scary.
Aah Jen, I’m sorry that you’re having a flare up. It’s got to be so much harder for you because you and your daughter are on your own.
So glad to hear how much better you are feeling. Antibiotics are amazing things hey?
I was on a lot of prednisone when i had pneumonia though, it wasn’t the biologics that did that.
Yes the old sepsis protocol. Quite a bit of action in a very short period of time, which I think always feels scary when you first arrive in hospital (or it can actually be reassuring if you literally feel like you’re about to die). I’m glad it turned out not to be.
You are right about the flare ups being hard to manage with having a daughter and being a single parent. She is with her dad one week out of two, so I literally limp through the symptoms (unless it is a dire emergency) until she is back at his place then I show up at whichever doctor/hospital I need and sort it all out on her week away. At the moment it is a repeating cycle. I have decided that there are going to be a couple of very difficult conversations with my cardiologist and rheumatologist in the next couple of weeks. I may well be looking for new specialists if we can’t get some better communication.
It sucks not knowing what is wrong. I think because we feel less in control. Two questions- are your fevers at night? And when was your last TB test. Don’t start worrying. It is more likely a virus. Here in Ohio we are starting to see our crappy respiratory viruses that never have a name but visit every winter. Sending you healing prayers and hugs that you feel better soon. Don’t forget your hallway laps. The moving may be shorter and slower but the tortoise always wins.
Fair questions. No, my fever was all day and night. My last TB test was probably 9 years ago when I started my first biologic.
The good news is that the antibiotics worked, and i went home after 4 nights in the hospital. I’m still dealing with the aftermath, but fevers are completely gone and i never developed more than a tiny cough
