I had a severe chest pain one day at work with lightheadedness and tingling in fingers. I had had a bad cold about two weeks earlier, but it had cleared up. The pain lasted about 15 minutes then subsided. I went home, ate a normal supper, took a hot bath and went to bed. Within one hour I was chilling all over my body and became extremely nauseous. I had no clue what was wrong and just endured all of this with a fever. I did not have a thermometer, but knew I was very hot. In the early morning we went to a walk in clinic. They thought I might be having a heart attack, due to the fact I am 53, a woman, and had had the chest pain, and had really no sign of a cough or anything. After blood tests and x-rays, however, it was determined I had pneumonia. They gave me intravenous IV antibiotics in the hospital and then let me go home with another antibiotic prescription. I go back to doctor in two weeks.
Comment from: JOHN, 7-12 Male (Patient)Published: July 18
I started with headache, conjunctivitis and little fever. Then, the chills became more severe and the fever rise to 102.5F. The second day I got vomit and tiredness. I had the fever and chills for 4 days even though I was taking Ibuprofen and Amoxicillin. After all those symptoms I went to the Doctor and he sent me a X-Ray to confirm what he thought. I was pneumonia in my lower right lobe. The doctor gave 3 shot of penicillin and also prescribe Bioxin twice per day. He also talked me to use the nebulizer 3 times per day and take some cough medicine (Robitussin DCA or Mucinex as needed for cough). Now I am getting better and I was lucky to find it early.
Comment from: duke.para7, 35-44 Male (Patient)Published: July 14
I was diagnosed with Laryngitis, and was told that there was a slight problem. With my Sinuses. After the consultation I was given a prescription to take, which I did that altered what I was experiencing. My throat started to clear, the coughing capacity decreased but its intensity increased. This means that there was a decrease in the quantity of white sputum, but a change to smaller amounts of yellow chunky sputum. There was also an increase in stinging chest pains which moved around, not being in the same place, but sometimes in the left chest, then the right, and from time to time simultaneously on either side of my sternum. When the pains hit centre chest, I was under the impression it had something to do with my heart and got concerned. This sparked my return to consultation. I was told that it was sinus and was treatable. I was so concerned that I insisted on an ECG or X-ray as confirmation. The doctor ordered the X-ray to be taken. After viewing the X-ray I was diagnosed with Pneumonia. I have now been put on the antibiotics.
I am 17 years old and today was diagnosed with pneumonia. It started off as strep throat, however the strep became resistant to the antibiotics I was taking and I started to get very ill. I have had a very persistent fever in the 102-104 range. Luckily my dad is a physician and immediately recognized the symptoms and took me to the hospital. I am now being treated and hope to have a smooth recovery.
I'm a 27 year old healthy female and was diagnosed with Pneumonia last year. I didn't have chest pains nor the cough. I had a rising temperature for three days before I decided to seek medical advice. My doctor thought I may have urinary infection and prescribed me with anti-biotics. Even then I still stayed home for another day with vomiting and rising temperature before I decided to go to the hospital. When I arrived at the hospital by then I could not hold my head up anymore. They immediately took me in and started investigating. This took them another day to find out what was actually wrong with me because I didn't have general symptoms of Pneumonia. After a day and a plain chest x-ray they were able to diagnose me with Pneumonia. I was admitted to hospital for two weeks and made a full recovery.
Acquired pneumonia while being diagnosed for a Fever & Head Pain condition that was likely viral. Just one day after the administration of a "precautionary" antibiotic a slight milky phlegm began running from the sinuses. It found its way to the lungs after the first night and bang - Pneumonia, on top of the other viral problems already present.
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Staphylococcus or Staph is a group of bacteria that can cause a multitude of diseases. Staph infections can cause illness directly by infection or indirectly by the toxins they produce. Symptoms and signs of a Staph infection include redness, swelling, pain, and drainage of pus. Minor skin infections are treated with an antibiotic ointment, while more serious infections are treated with intravenous antibiotics.
MRSA (methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus) bacteria causes skin infections with the following signs and symptoms: cellulitis, abscesses, carbuncles, impetigo, styes, and boils. Normal skin tissue doesn't usually allow MRSA infection to develop. Individuals with depressed immune systems and people with cuts, abrasions, or chronic skin disease are more susceptible to MRSA infection.
HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is the cause of AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). HIV is a type of virus called a retrovirus, which infects humans when it comes in contact with a break in the skin or tissues such as those that line the vagina, anal area, mouth, or eyes.
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria. Symptoms include weakness, fever, weight loss, night sweats and in worse cases, chest pain, shortness of breath, and coughing up blood. A person with an active infection (a positive TB skin test, abnormal chest x-ray and TB bacteria in their sputum) requires treatment with izoniazid, rifampin, ethambutol and pyrazinaide.
Chronic cough is a cough that does not go away and is generally a symptom of another disorder such as asthma, allergic rhinitis, sinus infection, cigarette smoking, GERD, postnasal drip, bronchitis, pneumonia, medications, and less frequently tumors or other lung disease. Treatment of chronic cough is dependant upon the cause.
Dengue fever is contracted from the bite of a striped Aedes aegypti mosquito. Symptoms of dengue include headache, fever, exhaustion, severe joint and muscle pain, rash, and swollen glands. Since dengue is caused by a virus, there is no specific medicine to treat it. Treatment instead focuses on relieving the symptoms.
Although a fever technically is any body temperature above the normal of 98.6 degrees F. (37 degrees C.), in practice a person is usually not considered to have a significant fever until the temperature is above 100.4 degrees F (38 degrees C.). Fever is part of the body's own disease-fighting arsenal: rising body temperatures apparently are capable of killing off many disease- producing organisms.
Chest pain is a common complaint by a patient in the ER. Causes of chest pain include broken or bruised ribs, pleurisy, pneumothorax, shingles, pneumonia, pulmonary embolism, angina, heart attack, costochondritis, pericarditis, aorta or aortic dissection, and reflux esophagitis. Diagnosis and treatment of chest pain depends upon the cause and clinical presentation of the patient's chest pain.
Typhoid fever is an illness caused by the Salmonella typhi bacteria. The illness is contracted by ingesting the bacteria in contaminated water or food. Symptoms include headaches, fever, diarrhea, lethargy, aches and pains, and poor appetite. Treatment focuses on killing the Salmonella bacteria with antibiotics.
COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) is a disorder that persistently obstructs bronchial airflow. COPD mainly involves three related conditions, chronic bronchitis, chronic asthma, and emphysema. Symptoms of COPD include chronic cough, shortness of breath, frequent respiratory infections, wheezing, morning headaches, and pulmonary hypertension. Treatment of COPD is focused on the related condition(s).
Group B strep are bacteria called Streptococcus agalactiae that may sometimes cause infections both in a pregnant woman and her newborn. Symptoms include fever, seizures, heart rate abnormalities, breathing problems, and fussiness. Intravenous antibiotics are used to treat group B strep infections.
Laryngitis is an inflammation of the voice box (vocal cords). The most common cause of acute laryngitis is infection, which inflames the vocal cords. Symptoms may vary from degree of laryngitis and age of the patient. Common symptoms include croup, hoarse cough, fever, cold, runny nose, dry cough, and loss of voice. Chronic laryngitis generally lasts more than three weeks. Causes other than infection include smoking, excess coughing, GERD, and more. Treatment depends on the cause of laryngitis.
Whooping cough (pertussis) is highly contagious respiratory infection that is caused by the bacteria Bordetella pertussis. There are an estimated 300,000 plus deaths annually from whooping cough (pertussis). Whopping cough commonly affects infants and young children, but can be prevented with immunization with the vaccine. First stage whooping cough symptoms are a runny nose, sneezing, low-grade fever, a mild cough with the cough gradually becoming more severe. After one to two weeks, the second stage of whooping cough begins.
Emphysema is a progressive disease of the lungs. The primary cause of emphysema is smoking. Alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency is a rare disorder that has a genetic predisposition to emphysema. Aging, IV drug use, immune deficiencies, and connect tissue illnesses are also risk factors for emphysema. Emphysema is a subtype of COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COLD). Symptoms include shortness of breath and wheezing. Management of symptoms may be achieved with medications, quitting smoking, pulmonary rehabilitation, or surgery.
Influenza (flu) is a respiratory illness caused by a virus. Flu symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, headache, fatigue, and muscle aches. The flu may be prevented with an annual influenza vaccination.
Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) infection is the most common type of infection acquired by patients while hospitalized. Patients at risk for VRE are those who are already ill, and hospitalized, including individuals with diabetes, elderly, ICU patients, kidney failure patients, or patients requiring catheters. Enterococci can survive for months in the digestive tract and female genital tract. Other risk factors for acquiring VRE include those how have been previously treated with vancomycin and combinations of other antibiotics. Treatment of VRE is generally with other antibiotics other than vancomycin. Prevention of VRE can be achieved by proper hand hygiene.
Measles (rubeola) is a highly contagious disease that's caused by a virus. Symptoms include a rash, high fever, cough, runny nose, and red eyes. Treatment focuses on symptom relief. The disease can be prevented with the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine.
Osteomyelitis is an infection of the bone. Potential causes include injections around the bone, fractures that puncture the skin, recent surgeries, and bacterial infections that travel from other areas of the body, spreading through the blood to the bone. Symptoms include pain, fever, chills, stiffness, and nausea. Treatment involves antibiotics and pain medications. Surgery is sometimes necessary.
Pleural effusion is an excess fluid between the two membranes that envelop the lungs. There are two classifications of causes of pleural effusion; transudate and exudate. The treatment of pleural effusion depends on the cause.
Chronic bronchitis is a cough that occurs daily with production of sputum that lasts for at least three months, two years in a row. Causes of chronic bronchitis include cigarette smoking, inhaled irritants, and underlying disease processes (such as asthma, or congestive heart failure). Symptoms include cough, shortness of breath, and wheezing. Treatments include bronchodilators and steroids. Complications of chronic bronchitis include COPD and emphysema.
Interstitial lung disease, is a term to describe a certain lung condition. Causes of interstitial lung disease include lung infection, exposure to toxins in the environment (asbestos for example), medications (chemotherapy), radiation therapy, and chronic autoimmune disorders. Common symptoms of interstitial lung disease include a dry cough and shortness of breath. Diagnosis and treatment depend upon the cause of the condition.
Coma is the inability to waken or react to the surrounding environment. The Glasgow Coma Scale is frequently used to measure the depth of coma. Causes of coma include trauma, bleeding, edema, lack of oxygen, poisoning, or hypoglycemia. Prognosis for a patient in a coma depends on the cause of the coma.
Bird flu (avian flu, avian influenza) infection in humans may result from contact with infected poultry. There is a vaccine to prevent human infection with the H5N1 strain of the avian flu virus.
Plague is an infectious disease caused by the Yersinia pestis bacteria, which is primarily found in rodents the fleas that feed off of them. The bacteria are passed to humans through flea or rodent bites. There are three forms of plague: bubonic, septicemic, and pneumonic. The symptoms and method of transmission vary with each form of plague. Plague can be treated with antibiotics.
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a highly contagious viral infection. Symptoms include fever and nasal congestion and discharge. Treatment focuses on supportive care.
Novel H1N1 influenza A virus infection (swine flu) is an infection that generally is transferred from an infected pig to a human, however there have been reported cases where infection has occured with no contact with infected pigs. Symptoms of swine flu are "flu-like" and include fever, cough, and sore throat. Treatment is generally with the antibiotics oseltamivir (Tamiflu) or zanamivir (Relenza).
Fatigue can be described in various ways. Sometimes fatigue is described as feeling a lack of energy and motivation (both mental and physical). The causes of fatigue are generally related to a variety of conditions or diseases for example, anemia, mono, medications, sleep problems, cancer, anxiety, heart disease, drug abuse, and more. Treatment of fatigue is generally directed toward the condition or disease that is causing the fatigue.
Hiccups are a sudden, involuntary contraction of the diaphragm muscle. In general hiccups are just a temporary condition. Some of the causes of hiccups include certain medications, surgery, eating or drinking too much, spicy foods, diseases or conditions that irritate the nerves controlling the diaphragm, strokes, brain tumors, liver failure, and noxious fumes.
Group A streptococcal infections are caused by group A streptococcus, a bacteria that causes a variety of health problems, including strep throat, impetigo, cellulitis, erysipelas, and scarlet fever. There are more than 10 million group A strep infections each year.
Shock is a life-threatening medical condition and is a medical
emergency. If shock is suspected call 911 or get to an emergency department
immediately.
The main symptom of shock is low blood pressure. Other symptoms include
rapid, shallow breathing; cold, clammy skin; rapid, weak pulse; dizziness,
fainting, or weakness.
There are several types of shock: septic shock caused by bacteria,
anaphylactic shock caused by hypersensitivity or allergic reaction,
cardiogenic shock from heart damage, hypovolemic shock from blood or fluid
loss, and neurogenic shock from spinal cord trauma.
Treatment for shock depends on the cause. Tests will determine the
cause and severity. Usually IV fluids are administered in addition to
medications that raise blood pressure.
Septic shock is treated with antibiotics and fluids.
Anaphylactic shock is treated with
diphenhydramine
(Benad...
If you think you have a medical emergency, call your doctor or 911 immediately.
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I had a severe chest pain one day at work with lightheadedness and tingling in fingers. I had had a bad cold about two weeks earlier, but it had cleared up. The pain lasted about 15 minutes then subsided. I went home, ate a normal supper, took a hot bath and went to bed. Within one hour I was chilling all over my body and became extremely nauseous. I had no clue what was wrong and just endured all of this with a fever. I did not have a thermometer, but knew I was very hot. In the early morning we went to a walk in clinic. They thought I might be having a heart attack, due to the fact I am 53, a woman, and had had the chest pain, and had really no sign of a cough or anything. After blood tests and x-rays, however, it was determined I had pneumonia. They gave me intravenous IV antibiotics in the hospital and then let me go home with another antibiotic prescription. I go back to doctor in two weeks.
Related Reading: chest pain | fever | heart attack