Augh! I'm so sick...

First of all, I want to thank everyone for responding to my major venting session about not being able to get out to the gym. You guys are so wonderful and supportive. You gave me so many great ideas. Here's what stressing over something so badly does to you: I got SICK....and I'm STILL sick. So my free one week pass to the gym is out the window and I only got to go one time. I started out with a sore throat, then the stuffy nose/head congestion, and now I have full blown bronchitis. This so bites. Three mornings in a row, I woke up choking and unable to breathe because all the drainage had overfilled my pouch and it just had nowhere else to go...so I was inhaling it! THAT was horrible. Struggling to breathe, coughing, barfing...over and over. AUGH..sorry for being so graphic. I went to the doc and had chest x-rays. DX: Bronchitis He gave me an Advair inhaler, Promethazine VC syrup, and Levaquin (antibiotic) TABLETS. I told him that I couldn't take pills yet becuase of my surgery...he just kept saying "yes, you can take those....you will be fine with those"... I'm scared to death to take these things. They are not small. (This was yesterday) I'm worse today. I feel like I'm coming down with pneumonia. How am I going to shake this thing??? I made a pot of homemade chicken soup (strained) which is loaded with all that powerfull healing stuff....and I've been sipping on that all day. I'm doing the inhaler.....The cough syrup is so freaking strong, I can't possibly take it four times a day....more like two...it knocks me LOOPY and out. What can I do here??? I can't take this much longer. Please.....suggestions? Pam 250/187/??

Pamela, I am so sorry you are so sick. For years I had chronic broncitis, it is awful. Every time I'd get a cold, it would go right to my chest. So, I soooo understand how you are feeling. It is awful. And now on top of surgery too, yuck. If your pills are less than the size of a Tylenol capsule you should be fine. My doc says at 3 months, we can take a Tylenol. If not, cut it or break it if you can. If not, call the pharmacist and tell him/ her your dilema. They should be able to come up with a suggestion. The chicken soup sounds like a good idea. Otherwise just drink a ton of liquids and rest as much as you can. Your cough medicine is probably absorbed quickly like alcohol would after surgery. Try taking 1/2 dose or less and see how that goes. Again, consult your pharmacist if that doesn't work. Feel better soon hon!!! You need to rest and get better now, think about the gym after your broncitis heals. Take walks if you feel up to it in the meantime. Jo

Thanks, Jo. I took the cough syrup in a half dose thinking about the absorbtion issue....and I tried cutting the tablet and taking it that way...but it came right back up. (yuck) I am so much worse than yesterday. How will I know if this has become pneumonia?? Are there any signs? OMG I'm so miserable. I think I am going back to the doc tomorrow. I can't take this anymore.

Pam, You may crush your pills. They may taste bad but they will go down that way. I always crush my pills either sprinkle on apple sauce or just pu****er in with them and swallow! Sue

Pam, Ask your doctor for a nebulizer and some albuterol to use in it. This can be rented through your insurance and the meds are covered with a prescription. You get it through a medical supply place where they sell stuff like braces and specialty bathing products. My son has asthma so we always have a nebulizer around and many times with bronchitis our doctor has ordered the albuterol and it loosens up your chest and helps you breath so much better. You can also get albuterol in an inhaler form and this works too, just not as effectively as the longer nebulizer treatment. Wendy