acute bronchitis and pleurisy

I was sick with an u.r.i in Aug.  I was given 15 pills of levaquin 500 mg & a medrol pak.  I didn't use the medrol pak until later.   My upper respiratory went into bronchitis when I came across a smoker in Sept..  I then got an sinus infection and was given 5 more pills of levaquin after the other medication was finsihed. I went to the ER when I was not able to breath well. I was diagnosed with bronchitis.  I was given a medrol pak.  I finished the levaquin I had and 1 medrol pak.  After finishing the medrol pak I had alot of pain around my ribs, manubrium, and upper  back.
It was hard for me to breathe. It felt as though I had a balloon blown inside my chest. I had a painful stabbing pain when I breathed and I felt popping in my ribs.  I went to the ER and was diagnosed with acute bronchitis and pleurisy. I was given an x-ray where I was standing and not sitting.  The x-ray came back no infection.   I was given naproxyn 375 and 7 days levaquin.  The pleurisy isn't better.  
I  went to a pulmonologist in Oct & was given a medrol pak &  levaquin 500/ 7 days for the acute bronchitis & pleurisy.  After the medrol pak, (I have only taken 2 medrol paks) the pain of the pleruisy was still evident &I was still inflamed.  I called the doctor and informed him that the pleurisy was still around.,  He had stated that the medrol pak may not be enough.  He gave me of prednisone 20 mg/ 7.   I started getting another u.r.i. and was given 7 more days of levaquin.  I 've taken the prednisone & still have the pleurisy .  Stress & severe allergies cause it to worsen as does the cold air.  I need it to go away.  If I vacuum my skin feels as though it is burning. Bronchitis brought on the pleuirsy & severe allergies.  How do I render this?  
I 've 2 cats &2 dogs.  I don't know if it is the animal dander that is causing me to still have pleurisy or the cats themselves.  I  have a bird which doesn't stay in the room with me. I'm giving him away.  

[David Tinkelman, M.D.]

What you describe indicates that the pleurisy has now been present for nearly 3 months and, as far as I can tell from your description, your doctors have not determined the cause.  That is a serious problem and needs to be addressed now.   The information also suggests that the chest X-ray was taken early-on in the illness and has not been repeated.  A lot can happen over 3 months and it is possible that a repeat X-ray at this time, might provide a clue as to what is going on.  At this point the details of the treatment you have received to date are less important than the fact that you have not responded to that treatment and the fact that a diagnosis has not been established.

The best advice I can give you is that you request a second opinion, without further delay, from a Pulmonologist not professionally related to any of your current doctors.  You need an independent evaluation.  It is possible that your illness may be secondary to an environmental exposure to animals, especially the bird but that will be but one possibility to be assessed by the new pulmonary specialist.  There are many possible causes of pleurisy and the cause of your pleurisy needs to be discovered, before any further treatment is prescribed.

Good luck