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Suggest Treatment For Symptoms Of Pneumonia
Question: very active 80 yr old type 1 diabetic had stuffy nose&largnitus on Monday Wednesday a cough. friday at,walkin clinic told sinus infection & walking pneumonia. could she tell if only walking pn. by listening. oxygen was 98% gave antibiotics prednisone, inhaler, nasal spray. could she tell walking just by listening. he is narrator in a huge school play in 5 days should he do it? we need him and he's determined to do it when can hel eave the house. he feel good no f3 er arches or shortness of breath
Brief Answer:
Some answers to your questions:
Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome,
If I suspect pneumonia, I always get a chest X-ray, but there are abnormal lung sounds a doctor can hear when listening to the chest that are consistent with pneumonia. So it is possible the doctor heard these abnormal lung sounds. I am wondering however, if the doctor was in a large hurry and didn't want to be bothered with having to go back and look at an X-ray. Unfortunately, it is quicker to just say there is walking pneumonia and give an antibiotic.
Without having the advantage of examining your friend, I would say yes to him continuing the antibiotic and steroid nasal spray.
I don't know what the inhaler is for unless the doctor heard some wheezing consistent with asthma or COPD. So I can't address whether that is needed. It is not standard of care for treating pneumonia.
The medication I seriously question is the Prednisone. If his pneumonia was not significant enough that he needed a chest X-ray, and most importantly, given that his oxygen saturation was 98% (excellent), I would NOT recommend the Prednisone. Prednisone is an oral corticosteroid that can have severe side effects. And given that your friend is a Type 1 diabetic, Prednisone can raise blood pressure out of control. Please stop the Prednisone now. It seems entirely unwarranted for this situation, and the risks are significant.
Whether your friend can narrate in 5 days - if he has the energy, that is fine.
But if he is still on Prednisone, you won't be able to tell if he has normal energy or is pumped up from the Prednisone. Please stop that med.
Some answers to your questions:
Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome,
If I suspect pneumonia, I always get a chest X-ray, but there are abnormal lung sounds a doctor can hear when listening to the chest that are consistent with pneumonia. So it is possible the doctor heard these abnormal lung sounds. I am wondering however, if the doctor was in a large hurry and didn't want to be bothered with having to go back and look at an X-ray. Unfortunately, it is quicker to just say there is walking pneumonia and give an antibiotic.
Without having the advantage of examining your friend, I would say yes to him continuing the antibiotic and steroid nasal spray.
I don't know what the inhaler is for unless the doctor heard some wheezing consistent with asthma or COPD. So I can't address whether that is needed. It is not standard of care for treating pneumonia.
The medication I seriously question is the Prednisone. If his pneumonia was not significant enough that he needed a chest X-ray, and most importantly, given that his oxygen saturation was 98% (excellent), I would NOT recommend the Prednisone. Prednisone is an oral corticosteroid that can have severe side effects. And given that your friend is a Type 1 diabetic, Prednisone can raise blood pressure out of control. Please stop the Prednisone now. It seems entirely unwarranted for this situation, and the risks are significant.
Whether your friend can narrate in 5 days - if he has the energy, that is fine.
But if he is still on Prednisone, you won't be able to tell if he has normal energy or is pumped up from the Prednisone. Please stop that med.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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