Question 1 - Coughs, Colds, Sneezing & Wheezing?

Okey-Coke

Here's question # 1

Five weeks ago it was a beautiful sunny Saturday afternoon (before the monsoon season started) & we decided to spend it sitting in my local filthy ale house.

I was feeling good and walked there, it's not that far but pretty steeply uphill.

I indulged in a cider or two & a couple of glasses of wine later on - not to any great excess though - unlike the halcyon days of old.... We played some pool & had a very enjoyable afternoon.

We wandered home grabbing a cheeky chow mein on the way & I was in bed (unusually early for me) about midnight.

I woke up at 2:30am unable to stop coughing & with my nose running like a tap - I also had the shivers & shakes & felt very feverish.

I was hoping that all this was a 24 hour bug but a week & a half later I was still in bed hacking away.

For about 10 days I was just drifting in & out of consciousness & at points actually hallucinating - I was having a conversation with my girlfriend (The Lovely) Heidi when I realised that she wasn't actually turning up until 2 days later...! Although she was making more sense than usual

During this period I wasn't taking any furosmide for my leg & abdominal swelling as I would have quite frankly wet the bed due to the enormity of the prospect of getting to the bathroom.

Finally I'd had enough - I went to my local walk-in centre. It's only about 400 yards away and actually in my street but I had to get a cab as I was just too weak to walk.

The nurse I saw there said that he really didn't know how PH would effect the situation & he feared that I had pneumonia (Yikes!) he told me to see my GP first thing in the morning.

He also prescribed me with some anti-biotics which I started the same evening.

As I had to get an emergency appointment I was unable to see my own GP & the doctor that I did see was brusque to the point of being rude.

"So why do you want to see me so urgently?"

I explained the situation & the PH background - she listened to my chest & told me that I hadn't got pneumonia (BIG RELIEF!) & that I just had a cold.

She said that I could take the course of anti-biotics if I wanted to but it wouldn't help.

I can't remember the last time I had any anti-biotics so I decided to persevere with them to relieve myself of any minor ailments I had - I've had a stie on my right eye for months which has now cleared up nicely

Anyway the cold symptoms gradually faded away but five weeks on I still have a terrible cough (mostly only when I first lie down), hugely swollen legs / ankles / abdomen - even my arms are slightly swollen & dent to the touch. Despite 120mg of Furosemide a day for a week.

I have precious little energy, can't really walk anywhere and have to pause halfway up the stairs.

Anywhere I go I HAVE to call a cab or I'm simply not getting there.

SO (finally getting to the point!) do PH patients suffer more severely from a colds / viruses / sties etc than normal people? Or is this whole thing another evil little side of the condition?

The bizzare thing about all this is that nobody I know has had the slightest sniffle & that no-one has caught it from me - which seems a little spooky to me - What do you guys think?

 

Hi Chris,
i strongly second Joans advice to get in touch with your PH clinic and explain to them what has been happening ASAP and hope you get the right treatment you need. Take Care.

Rose

Chriss on New Years Eve I started with a sore throat and had to come home from our night out.  I also had a hacking cough etc.  I went to my doctors after about 4/5 days and she checked my chest and said it was clear.  A week later I was back again and same thing.  She then told me that they couldn't give me anything as it was viral and that it would last six to eight weeks.  Sure enough about seven weeks in total later it had cleared.  Maybe that virus is still around as friends who have had it said that theirs kept coming back again

Hi Chriss,