Wednesday I felt ok. A little tired, but coming off of Christmas that’s not unusual. But Wednesday night I noticed my throat was sore, likely thanks to the sudden increase in post nasal drip. And when I finally gave in and went to bed I noticed a “weight on my chest” feeling. Lovely. Respiratory bug here we come…
Thursday I felt bad enough I called the doctor. Only to be told that the earliest they could see me would be Friday afternoon. Ok, fine. I don’t have a fever so I can’t be that sick…..
Thursday evening my temperature jumped to 101.5 and I felt truly miserable…..
Friday morning…..temp normal. Course it is, I see the doctor today……
Friday afternoon rolls around and I finally get in to see the doc. Temp normal (98.something), blood pressure normal, heart rate high (normal is 100 for me, I was apparently hitting 120, normal rhythm though)……Doc didn’t like that, and he REALLY didn’t like my description of the “weight on my chest’ feeling…..a listen to my lungs showed no congestion (I told him that, but they have to check), which made him like the whole thing even less.
Flu swab, just to be sure (came back negative for flu), EKG (came back normal, no significant differences from the one they did at my physical almost a year ago), there’s no history of heart problems in my family other than my Grandma who was over 75 at the time anyway, yes I’m on Depo Provera, yes I used to have asthma but I let the script lapse cause I’ve not used an inhaler in years and besides I tried using Husband’s inhaler and that didn’t help…..
Off for chest xrays (normal), and a “cardiac panel” of blood work (normal, except for the white blood cell count, which was high, duh, I’m sick).
End result: a confused doctor, who informed me that if that “weight on your chest” feeling gets ANY WORSE seek medical attention immediately, oh and you have a respiratory infection of some kind, lots of fluids and sleep, here’s a note to get out of work for a few days….
Did the doctor also do a strep-throat test? If the strep test was negative, maybe have your doctor check you for pertussis (whooping cough), especially if you have not had the vaccination in a few years. There have been over 5000 cases so far in WI this year. Most adults are not bothered too much by it, but it is very dangerous for small children and babies. The down side is it lasts about six weeks and is very contagious.
I have almost no cough, and what little one I have seems to be to hack up a bit of nasty post nasal drip more than anything else. But no, he didn’t do a strep test. It doesn’t feel like strep either, but if it gets worse, or doesn’t clear up like it should I will insist.
If you can afford another doctor’s visit, ask for a pertussis test. Did a little reading. The nasty cough does not appear right away. If detected early, antibiotics can help a lot with pertussis, because it is a bacterial infection. After the third week or so, it doesn’t really appear on tests anymore. That fever just doesn’t seem like a normal cold symptom. And if it isn’t the flu, what else is it?
Have Apollo and Artie had their Bordatella vaccinations?
Hope you are feeling better soon!
I can, and if I’m not feeling better by Monday I likely will.
Arty’s had his. Not that it made a difference. Apollo went to a dog show mid-Nov, and apparently brought it home with him, except of course HE didn’t get sick (a little snuffly that went away really quick), the vaccinated dog did *rolls eyes* which is why I didn’t bother to give it to Apollo, but the vet required it before they’d neuter Arty.
Feel better! Soon!
That is my hope lol
Sorry you feel badly. Hopefully it is a minor thing and goes away quickly!
Cross fingers for me!
The “weight on my chest” seems to have mostly gone away, but the post nasel drip is worse, and with it the cough has gotten a bit worse, so we’ll see….