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Respiratory Disorders (Expert Forum)
chest congestion
Answered by
MN
This forum is for questions and support regarding lung and respiratory issues such as: Allergies, Asthma, Bronchitis, Colds - Flu, Chronic Cough, COPD, Cystic Fibrosis, Emphysema, Fibrosis, Lung Abscess, Nasal Polyps, Pleurisy, Pneumonia, Sarcoidosis, Sinusitis, Tuberculosis
chest congestion
by Annie64, Jul 02, 2008 02:21PM
I have been ill for 20 weeks. I have achronic cough, run a fever, ears stopped up, constant wheezing, no energy, no tast, etc.My doctor says I have congestion in lungs and keeps giving me antibiotics. He is pretty sure I have emphazema but I still cough my head off to the pont of passing out and still running fever. Please help, I need some type of relief. He says he cant treat me for emphazema until my congestion clears up but everything he gives me doesnt work. Any suggestions please help. i cant take this anymore. 20 weeks is too long a time to have congestion my pcp cant even get rid of.
Doctor's Answer
by National Jewish Health, Jul 08, 2008 06:01PM
, Jul 08, 2008 06:01PM
You may or may not have emphysema, especially if you have a history of smoking cigarettes. Smokers get both emphysema and chronic bronchitis, with cough and sputum. The combination of both is called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). But COPD does not give rise to chronic fever.
The answer is not more antibiotics, but more attempts to discover the cause of the fever. And, while this is going on, you should be treated for emphysema with inhaled medicines such as Serevent® Inhalation Aerosol (salmeterol xinafoate) or Spiriva® HandiHaler® (tiotropium bromide inhalation powder). If you are coughing up phlegm, it should be sent to the laboratory for culture, both for routine bacteria and for tuberculosis (TB) cultures.
Your doctor has done his best to help you for 20 weeks and you are still sick. It is time for you to get a second opinion from another doctor, ideally from a lung specialist, a pulmonologist.
Good luck.
The answer is not more antibiotics, but more attempts to discover the cause of the fever. And, while this is going on, you should be treated for emphysema with inhaled medicines such as Serevent® Inhalation Aerosol (salmeterol xinafoate) or Spiriva® HandiHaler® (tiotropium bromide inhalation powder). If you are coughing up phlegm, it should be sent to the laboratory for culture, both for routine bacteria and for tuberculosis (TB) cultures.
Your doctor has done his best to help you for 20 weeks and you are still sick. It is time for you to get a second opinion from another doctor, ideally from a lung specialist, a pulmonologist.
Good luck.
