Bronchitis or Pneumonia?

So I am going to wait a few more days to see if this cough goes away....

I had the flu last week and missed work Wednesday-Friday and was not rid of my VERY high fever until Saturday. I have developed a cold now and cannot get rid of this cough. Its very mucusy and loose and I have coughing fits so long that it makes my chest hurt. I'm asthmatic so the coughing fits make it tough to catch my breath. I figures its just a cold and it will get better. My one co-worker says maybe give it until Thursday or Friday to see if it gets better. I just don't know much of a difference between bronchitis and pneumonia...Webmd doesn't seem to establish much of a difference.

Can anyone help?

To make it simple - bronchitis is inflammation in the bronchi, pneumonia is fluid in your lungs.

You can't tell for certain if you have pneumonia unless you listen to your lungs and hear the fluid or it if shows up on x-rays. However, if you have a very noticeable wheeze to your breathing, you chest/lungs hurt, feel short of breath/or display signs of having low oxygen levels you should get your butt to the doctor ASAP.

Were I in your place I would be on the phone with the doctor's office in the morning as soon as they opened. Better safe than sorry.
BTW, you don't have a cold. The flu, being a respiratory virus causes inflammation in your lungs and airways, WBC (neutrophils, iirc) build up in your lungs trying to fight this and that's what causes most of the fluid - which is why one can get pneumonia or a respiratory infection after getting a respiratory virus. There's also the fact that it can pave the way for a secondary bacterial infection (Note, this if off the top of my head if I left anything out or misspelled anything )

Go to the Dr.
I got a collasped lung from asthma and Pneumonia.
I coughed up part of the lung.

Flu can often lead to pneumonia. Mine did. Given your asthma my suggestion is run, don't walk to your doctor.

Oh my! What are you waiting for? Please go see your doc ASAP!!
Hope you feel better very soon!

The basic rule is, if you can hear the rattle in your chest when you breathe deeply, you have pneumonia. If that's the case, get thee hence to a doctor immediately; that stuff kills people!

With asthma, you need to seek a medical opinion faster than someone without it. That being said, it's not uncommon to cough and cough hard for 3-4 weeks after having the flu.

Hope you take everyones' advice and check in with the doc. At the very least you can get some good cough medicine to make you more comfortable.

Cally

Originally Posted by mrblanche

The basic rule is, if you can hear the rattle in your chest when you breathe deeply, you have pneumonia. If that's the case, get thee hence to a doctor immediately; that stuff kills people!

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If you have asthma, that rule doesn't apply. People with asthma can hear that rattle on a normal day.

Can we get an update? Did you take everyone's advice and call the doctor?

My doctor wasn't in today to get an appointment so I called my old doctor and they can see me tomorrow. My dad used to be a paramedic and he said the way I was describing it sounds like bronchitis and to go get an antibiotic. So I have an appoinment first thing tomorrow morning. I will let you know how it goes

Bronchitis and pneumonia both have similar symptoms. Bronchitis can also lead to pneumonia if not treated properly. Best to get to the doctors as soon as possible and get plenty of rest and fluids till then.

I had pneumonia and didn't even have a cough with it, but I got horribly sick with fever and chest pain and it showed on the x-ray at the ER. I ended up spending 4 days in the hospital and it was NOT pleasant.

Don't wait around if there is a possibility it could be pneumonia. Go see a doc today!

Originally Posted by AlleyGirl

I had pneumonia and didn't even have a cough with it, but I got horribly sick with fever and chest pain and it showed on the x-ray at the ER. I ended up spending 4 days in the hospital and it was NOT pleasant.

Don't wait around if there is a possibility it could be pneumonia. Go see a doc today!

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Is that what they call "walking pneumonia". I had that a couple years ago and couldn't figure out how one could have pneumonia and still be walking around. I just felt bad and went to the doctor and that's what they told me. I have had bronchitis a couple times but never pneumonia so don't know what the symptoms of pneumonia are.

Whatever, just get to the doctor and get better.

I have bacterial bronchitis. She put me on Zithromyacin so I should be back to normal in a few days. Her super unfriendliness reminded me of why I don't go there anymore

Thanks for all the advice!

^Been there, done that several times. It may be a few days before you really start feeling the antibiotic working, but lets all hope it wipes it out soon.

Originally Posted by Yosemite

Is that what they call "walking pneumonia". I had that a couple years ago and couldn't figure out how one could have pneumonia and still be walking around. I just felt bad and went to the doctor and that's what they told me. I have had bronchitis a couple times but never pneumonia so don't know what the symptoms of pneumonia are.

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The time I had pneumonia I was told it was walking pneumonia, too. I have no idea exactly what constitutes as walking pneumonia. My right lung was over half filled with fluid, I could not walk across a room without completely losing my breath, I coughed a lot, and my chest hurt terribly. I knew I had pneumonia for 4-5 days before I went to the doctor...

I'm so glad you found out what exactly what it is and also glad it wasn't pneumonia! Hope you start feeling better soon!

Originally Posted by Yosemite

Is that what they call "walking pneumonia". I had that a couple years ago and couldn't figure out how one could have pneumonia and still be walking around. I just felt bad and went to the doctor and that's what they told me. I have had bronchitis a couple times but never pneumonia so don't know what the symptoms of pneumonia are.

Whatever, just get to the doctor and get better.

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No, it was definitely pneumonia. I couldn't breathe. I just didn't start coughing until after I was on the meds. I also had an infection in the lining of my lungs which is what was causing the severe pain. It all started with a cold-like virus though, and then settled in my lungs. I was sick for almost a month before I went in the hospital, and it took about a month after to fully recover