Should I take antibiotics?

[Crescent Cat]

I got sick on Tuesday from what I assumed as a cold. I didn't take my temperature but I felt warm so I'm guessing I had a low-grade fever. I took the day off to rest and I was feeling better by Wednesday, but I still felt warm and I had some pretty bad headaches from the sinus pressure.

I figured my body had killed the virus and now it was a matter of it getting rid of all the mucus. That's usually how it goes when I'm sick. During the night I had horrible chest and nasal congestion. My coughs were productive and the phlegm I was hacking up started out as thick yellow globs but eventually it became thinner and clearer. I had also taken a Mucinex maximum strength and a hot shower, which seemed to help. However I was having difficulty coughing up the phlegm and my body actually felt worn out from it.

Today I had trouble breathing. I wasn't so short of breath that I felt light headed or anything, but I was wheezing. I took myself to Urgent Care and got an albuterol treatment immediately.

When my temperature was taken I was at 99.4 and I still feel warm. The doctor wrote a prescription for albuterol vials and an antibiotic (zithromax). He said that I could wait a few days to take the antibiotic if I didn't get any better.

Since then I've had to have two albuterol treatments and I'm still feeling a little hot under the collar. I really don't want to take an antibiotic if I don't need to, but the persistent fever and chills have me concerned. I means, it's not a high fever, but a fever none the less.

I also don't seem to be getting any better. The treatments help, but it's still a little difficult for me to cough and I feel really shitty. Should I go get the antibiotic filled after all?

[BookstoreEscapee]

I would. Sounds like a touch of what I had back in February. Mucinex is wonderful stuff (the results are pretty gross...but it works!). I don't like to take antibiotics either if I don't have to, but yellow phlegm, trouble breathing and a fever...you don't want that to get worse.

I ended up on two different antibiotics...10 days for the first, and 5 days for the second (overlapping by a few days). They said I was borderline for pneumonia, and that was after I had the flu (or something) for a week that included a fever up to 103.8.

If you don't feel like you're getting better, I think it's time for the drugs.

[lupo pazzesco]

if your phlegm changes color, that's usually a sign of a bacterial infection, as is prolonged fever. If the phlegm is clearing up, that's a good sign, and your fever doesn't sound too high, but I don't know what your base temp is. Mine is usually lower than normal (around 97, instead of 98.6, so 99.4 for me would be a relativel high fever).

I'd avoid the antibiotic if the phlegm has cleared up. Keep up with the mucinex, and try tylenol for the fever. sounds like your body is fighting hard, and while you always feel like crap, I'm a believer in not taking meds if you don't need them.

Just my 2 cents.

Also, lots and lots of fluids to help move the mucus along. Hot tea, water, etc. Avoid dairy if you can.

[Crescent Cat]

I had just coughed up some more and the phlegm is starting to get a bit thicker/more yellow. Not as yellow as before but at this point I'm thinking antibiotics are the way to go.

[lupo pazzesco]

If the color is changing, then yes, use them. But keep with the plenty of fluids and rest, and take something for the fever. Antibiotics will fight the infection, but you need to alleviate the symptoms or you will still feel like crap. Probably want to keep taking Mucinex, too, since it helps get the gunk out, until the antibiotics can clear up the infection some.

[ArcticChicken]

I would definitely take the antibiotics if I were you.

[blas]

I was always told that yellow snot is a sure sign of a sinus infection.

[Amina516]

TAKE EM!

AND TAKE EM ALL!

[lupo pazzesco]

Nurse Knockers has spoken!!!

[TheSHAD0W]

Your phlegm can change colors even if your illness is viral; it's your own body's chemicals, neutrophils, which are coloring it. But if you've been sick for more than 5-6 days, you're almost certainly suffering from an opportunistic bacterial infection that rode in on the heels of the virus. Take the antibiotics.

[Crescent Cat]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I just got back from the pharmacy and took my first round of antibiotics. Hopefully this'll do the trick. I'm ready to feel better.

[Amusement Gal]

Don't forget to take some other natural immune-boosters while you're at it. Vitamin C, A, E, and honey are great for helping you fight as well. And once your nose clears up a little (I'm assuming it's clogged because you mentioned sinus pressure), a saline rinse/nasal irrigation can prevent it from building up again. Just be careful, your tummy might get upset with the antibiotics. Some ginger ale or ginger tea does well to help with that.

Feel better! Don't overwork yourself, let the meds do their magic.

[Lyra]

Also, yogurt. Thrush sucks.

I'd never had it before until I had the intestine infection from hell a few years ago.

They gave me some SERIOUS antibiotics, and I got thrush. Water was too 'spicy'. Now pretty much every time I take antibiotics, I get thrush. I eat a lot of yogurt.

I know you're trying to avoid dairy to keep the mucus down, so maybe a pill form of what's in yogurt? The active cultures are the thing, I think (IANAD, but this works for me). I've seen them in Hel-Mart for not too much, over with the cranberry supplements and such.

[Cazzi]

If you can get them, Multibionta by Seven Seas. its a pro-biotic multivitamin, works for me anyway
Failing that, the little pro-biotic drinks may be a bit easier to handle than lots of yogurt.. Actimel or similar?

[Aethian]

Pedilyte to stay hydrated with electrolytes is how I mostly have staved off really bad things when sick or when out on a really hot or really cold day on the route. Way to sweet to keep drinking but when I feel like crap I can hardly taste it.