What is the deal??? I have been through an injection of Rocephin, 17 days of Keflex, and still I have problems. The Urgent Care doc made me come back in this morning and "Voila," now it is pneumonia, sooo I get a double injection of Rocephin and a round of Levaquin...

What else is left after Levaquin? I am getting really worried about taking all of these antibiotics. I was already on Doxycycline before this all started...

Frankly, I was wondering if this could be the Sjogren's affecting my lungs... Anyone know if that looks like pneumonia on X-rays???

Cathie

fungus.

http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec04/ch042/ch042d.html

There was an epidemic of blasto... at our vacation location a couple of years ago. A man died, and many dogs. A friend's dog lost an eye due to it.

If this is becoming chronic, and not responsive to antibiotics, you need to see a specialist.

My MIL had Valley Fever when she moved to Calif., many years ago.

HI Cathie, I agree with Mrs. D.......you need a specialist to take over and get to the bottom of all this. All those antibiotics are really bad for your body. Are you taking Probiotics to combat what the antibiotics are doing to your body? If I'd taken that much antibiotics I'd have a roaring case of yeast infection
I hope you get this figured out soon!

--as Roxie mentioned, needs to be checked out; all the antibiotics you have been taking may have altered the natural bacterial/floral balance in your body enough for an opportunistic fungal attack.

This would be made more likely by having been in warm, moist conditions, or being near damp grounds . . .

Cathie,
Sjogren's doesn't "look like" a disease on xrays. But it could be affecting the elasticity. With Sjogren's sometimes the lung tissue is affected. And Sjogren's and the prednisone will make you vulnerable to an opportunistic infection. Sure hope you get to feeling better soon.

Billye

See a pulmonologist ASAP. I had pneumonia the spring of 2006 that almost killed me. It was probably caused by mold. Two lung biopsies were inconclusive. I'm still not 100% recovered, and have a golf ball size scar that looks like an octopus from the damage the fungus caused. If you have fungal pneumonia, antibiotics will not help. You need a CT scan to see the specific location and extent of the pneumonia, and if a biopsy or PET scan is needed.

Pneumonia is life threatening and can rapidly overwhelm your body's ability to fight back so please err on the side of aggressively getting a conclusive diagnosis and appropriate treatment.

I think I am going to have to quit googling. Apparently, there is some connection between Sjogren's and various types of pneumonia, at least on occasion... I can't even tell you how many times I have gotten this, and I am pretty sure it has always been when I was trying to reduce my steroids...

I am going to try and get to the bottom of this ASAP... I bet there is not one single bacteria alive in my body after all of these antibiotics, good, bad or otherwise... Today, I took so many pills at breakfast, there was hardly any room for food... Well, maybe a little...

http://www.chestjournal.org/cgi/cont...act/130/5/1489

Cathie

Please read this also:
http://www.stjohnsmercy.org/healthin...re/sarcoid.asp

If you have flares of this when decreasing steroids..sarcoid is a possibility.

I would seek a specialist rather than Urgent care for this lung issue.

Another good link:
http://noairtogo.tripod.com/sarcoid.htm

and:
http://dermnetnz.org/dermal-infiltra...rcoidosis.html

After all, it was a 9 week bout of pneumonia that led to my issues now...If it were me? I would be literally flipping out by now! Wonder why....

Please get your gp to recommend a pulmonologist as David suggested, and all that Mrs D and Billye have as well. Fudges! I want YOU well, not hacking your innards out, not eating, not keeping anything down even when you try..Been thru that food processor a few times in past lives - and I'm not sure how well I'd fare other than being put into a hospital or 'rehab' - and we all know SICK people are there! Might catch something in those places! Honestly you do not NEED this nor do you DESERVE THIS!

Be quietly ASSERTIVE and pro-active...no one else is gonna do it for you. Tho in all honesty - I wish I was there to help!

Go get them all good lady! - j

OK, I will get on this in the morning. I don't feel like pneumonia. I have had it full blown badly enough to be hospitalized twice, and felt like I had been hit by a Mac truck...

I don't know about the rest of you, but getting help here at night, on weekends, or in a hurry if you are in a bind, is not easy. A lot of times, doctors just tell you to go to the ER...

I have gotten better treatment at one particular Urgent Care center here which is staffed by 2 GP's. He insisted I come back and he wants me back again this week. They seem thorough, good about followups and are a little different than other centers I have seen like this, as they take regular patients too-not just emergency situations.

Do you all think that GP's are less knowledgeable overall than Internists? My care is so disorganized. This GP is leaving the Urgent Care to join an already established family doc practice. He was trying to explain something about the use of shared electronic charting between docs to help accomplish organized care.

Cathie