Cold turns to bronchitis...

[billstrong1969]

I'm a 38 year old male / smoker

About 25 days ago I felt like I was coming down with a cold and after a couple of days of feeling like **** I went to the doctor and he said that I had viral bronchitis.  He said that there wasn't really anything to take for it but gave me some cough syrup with codeine to help with the cough.  Well it seems to move thru stages.  I've coughed so much that I've experienced shortness of breath as of late.  Trying to cough up that stuff and spit it out for awhile was pretty successful but now it's a dry hacking cough and I get dizzy and sometimes feel like I'm going to pass out.  I have absolutely NO ENERGY and have missed a lot of work in these past 3 weeks.  Always tired without really doing anything.  And when I do get physical I end up gasping for breath and sweating a lot.  I realize that all of this is pretty typical for bronchitis and I admit I am a smoker and that has probably made things worse for me, but I just want to feel better.  Could this have turned into pnuemonia?  When I take a deep breath there isn't really any wheezing.  Let me know some thoughts.......

billstrong1969

[WanttoBeHealthy722]

I have had a terrible cough that's lasted over two weeks now..  It started out one day with slight coughing that got worse.  The next day, I was unable to get out of bed, with a slight fever and chills, but got much sicker.  The cough was very dry and I started to lose my voice.  I was whispering for a few days afterwards, continuing to cough.  I went to see a doctor, who prescribed me antibiotics z-pak, and concluded I had a normal cold.  I took Tylenol Cough + Cold for a few more days.  My cough was still getting worse, with some mucus I would cough up.  I would cough until I got dizzy, and headaches would result.  It looked like I was getting better after the first few days, but it would get worse the next day.  Then I went to another dr. who gave me Tessalon pearls - which didn't work.  I did not have the flu at this point (1 week since it started).  My cough continued for so long and hard, I began to develop a chest pain on my right side.  I had to hold in my coughs, because it was so painful.  Yet, I continued coughing hard.  I finally gave up and went to see a 3rd dr.,, who said I had the flu, and who prescribed codeine, tamiflu and the purple round breathing item for potential asthma.  I have taken it for 3 days now, and the severity of my coughs have lessened, but I am experiencing pain that has moved to my lower sternum.  Last night I was coughing up again..  Is this a sign of pneumonia?  Is the chest pain a normal side effect that will go away and not cause any long-term damage?  Or have I developed bronchitis?  Should I go to see another doctor?  I have already taken about 2 weeks off from work, and have run out of personal days and vacation time..

[Enoch Choi, MD]

Keep trying to quit!  That cough here and there may keep going until you quit!

[billstrong1969]

Still smoking, wish I wasn't though.  Thanks for checking in.  Almost over this ****, but still coughing phlegm up in the morning that's pretty thick and nasty.  After that, I'm usually fine through out the day, maybe a cough here and there.  

billstrong1969

[Enoch Choi, MD]

How's the smoking going?

Did you go see your doc?

[billstrong1969]

Thank you so much for your thoughts.  Yes I know I need to quit smoking and yesterday!  It's not good for me and it's onlymaking thnks worse.  I wish it were as easy to quit as it was to start.

billstrong1969

[Enoch Choi, MD]

You've gotta stop smoking.  Many smokers have a chronic cough that doesn't go away until they stop smoking.

After more than 3 weeks of cough, sure it could have turned into pneumonia, but that usually has fever, chills, pain, green, brown, bloody sputum.

After more than 3 weeks of cough I'd also worry about pertussis, especially if it's a forceful cough, "whooping cough".  That's something that can get better with antibiotics, prescribed by your doctor

Dr. Enoch Choi, MD
Palo Alto, CA