Walking Pneumonia - Pittsburgh,PA

I didn't feel human again for at least 6 months. Rest is vital, as well as eating right, avoiding stress, etc.

Sorry to tell you, but it's all up to how good your immune system is. I had walking pneumonia and it lasted 7 months. The only thing that helped was finally taking a big chunk of time off from work, going somewhere warm (Carribean) and just laying in the sun and upping my vitamin C, resting, and finishing my course of antibiotics.

Do whatever you can to improve your natural defenses. Otherwise, if you continue to burn the candle at both ends, expect this to last months or even morph into something worse. The holidays are coming and that means hanging with sick people in close quarters. Better knuckle down now and lick this thing before you have to enter the holiday season petri dish.

I am SO sorry but the end is not near.

I have had this twice in my life and both times it took around six months to really go away. And in both cases, I'm a slow learner, I fought the need to get adequate rest and prolonged it. Coughing that hard is exhausting for your body and is its sign to you that it cannot rid itself of the infection and inflammation. I developed pleurisy, which is an inflammation of the lung lining which resulted in a hospital stay and left me with asthma.

You need real rest. Otherwise your body cannot do the work.

I had it when I was 18. I was asymptomatic at first except I would faint when I stood up. Then I was deathly ill. That was probably because the first doctor told me I was a hypochondriac and told me not to hit my head when I fainted!
If you don't get some rest, you will prolong he illness. I can recommend some immune building supplements if you are interested.
Hope you feel better soon.

I had a cough that lingered for 8 weeks once.
I went to the doctor and it wasn't anything serious - just a really stubborn cold.
Since you work from home, you can have a humidifier sitting next to you where ever you work, and take a hot steamy shower every so often so you can more easily cough up as much phlem as you can.
Keep a heating pad on your chest as much as you can.
You're feeling so tired because your body is fighting the infection and it's not quite winning yet.
Try to rest up so you can recover.
How will things go if you land in the hospital?
Sometimes the best way to take care of those around you is to take care of yourself.

I got bronchitis and then walking pneumonia three years ago and took a z-pack which almost immediately cleared up my most acute symptoms (fever, extreme fatigue), although my cough still lingered for a couple more weeks. Unfortunately, my immune system seemed to be weakened after that, and I ended up getting a cold and/or cough about every 2-3 weeks for the rest of the season. It took almost a year before my immune system was functioning at a normal level again. With a full-time job and a small child, I also had very little opportunity to rest. Good luck, and try to take care of yourself the best you can.

I started with a cold the day after Fathers Day this past summer. I was diagnosed with walking pneumonia on July 11th and immediately started a zpak. I did not feel any immediate relief. We left for vacation on July 15th...a completely relaxing vaca with no plans just whatever we wanted to do that day and as everyone mentioned the rest did wonders for me. My husband understood I needed the rest and would take the kids fishing and swimming while I stayed behind and vegged, slept or did my sudoku book in peace. By the time the week was up I was sooo much better in the energy department...I could begin to get back to my routine. Can you let stuff go on the weekends to get a couple of good days of doing nothing? Your body is fighting so hard to recover and needs the downtime to recoup. I understand about not being able to take the time to rest...my husband is self employed and works 6 days/week and we have 5 kids at home so I know what you're talking about. The coughing on the other hand didn't stop until the beginning of September...one day I woke up and didn't cough once. From start to finish mine lasted about 11 1/2 weeks.

Feel better soon!

Without some serious rest and down time with no kids or phones ringing you are going to be sick even longer. With this illness your body is just as sick as if you had full blown pneumonia but it's just a different style. I have it nearly every Fall. it starts out from allergies. If I don't get enough rest and take time to take care of myself I can feel the way you are feeling all Winter. Until I take time and sleep for a couple of days and lay on the couch resting.

So, to get well you have to take care of yourself. Plus, see the doc again, he may need to do another X-ray to make sure the drugs got rid of it completely.

Thanks for sharing your troubles! I couldn't find much on the internet about walking pneumonia and wasn't sure if it was normal that mine has been lingering so much. Found this assuring at least!