Working out after Pleurisy

jsecret
jsecret Posts: 606 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I worked out today for the first "real" time after having a bout of pleurisy about 2 months ago. My lungs officially suck now. When I was moving to a new house last weekend I realized that I was short of breath way too easily and that within a few hours the inflammation was back making breathing extremely painful once again.

For anyone who has dealt with this, what was recovery time like for you? Any flare-ups? Any advice on starting out again without causing recurring issues? Or am I just best to start with strength training kind of workouts vs heavy breath causing cardio?

Replies

  • mg1123
    mg1123 Posts: 69 Member
    Did you take prednesone for it? I had to both times that I had pleurisy. I hate it, but it's the only thing that helped with the inflammation. It took a few days for the pain to stop hurting so bad, and then prednisone takes forever to wean off. So figure 2 weeks from the start of taking it.
  • jsecret
    jsecret Posts: 606 Member
    No prednisone. They had me take high dosages of ibuprofen to keep the inflamation down and that was it. The doctor seemed like a moron. It still has its flare ups though and it has been nearly 2 months? So excessive breathing, sleeping in any kind of cold or on hard surfaces, and other things cause it to come back a bit but never as painful as originally and it doesn't last long. I just don't want to push it too hard and end up at square one again.
  • k8blujay2
    k8blujay2 Posts: 4,941 Member
    I was diagnosed with it back in 2006... the only time I get a flare up (which are never as bad as first one) is when I don't drink enough water and stay hydrated.

    ETA: I had it so bad in my left lung it made my left arm go numb... I was just given Aleve and told to hydrate myself... I haven't had it as bad since, even when exercising... but I still get an occasional stabing pain in that same area... again, when I'm not hydrated enough.
  • jsecret
    jsecret Posts: 606 Member
    I was diagnosed with it back in 2006... the only time I get a flare up (which are never as bad as first one) is when I don't drink enough water and stay hydrated.

    ETA: I had it so bad in my left lung it made my left arm go numb... I was just given Aleve and told to hydrate myself... I haven't had it as bad since, even when exercising... but I still get an occasional stabing pain in that same area... again, when I'm not hydrated enough.

    This might explain why I had issues today since I know I haven't drank enough. I'll pay more attention to my water intake and see if that help.
  • mg1123
    mg1123 Posts: 69 Member
    I have only had pleurisy as a result of pneumonia (knock on wood), and I have since had a pneumonia vaccine, so hoping it won't come back. Both times, I went to the doctor because of the chest pain while coughing, only to find it was pneumonia. They don't like giving prednisone, but mine did not go away with the NSAIDs, so I had prednisone both times.

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