Dr's advice..breathing difficulties?

so i went to the doctors monday after not sleeping at all sunday night...due to breathing difficulties, he listened to my chest put me on a nebulizer and then listened after again...he said that it had improved ever so slightly so he was not going to send me into hospital...he put me on prednisolone and amxycillin....in myself i feel better but my breathing is still a hard task...especially if i walk anywhere or do anythning my breathing becomes diffiicult and when i lie down at night, my next appointment is friday and im not sure what to do??Dr's advice..breathing difficulties?
I am afraid there is nothing very rational about your management so far!





Are you a known asthmatic and do you regularly get chesty or is this a one off episode?





Either way the doctor should have measured your peak flow as a minimum, or ideally checked vitalograph readings. He has treated you for for 2 different conditions, when I am sure that you only had one. Viral infections trigger off the sort of episodes that you are describing, not bacterial ones, so although the prednisolone and nebuliser were rational, adding amoxicillin was almost certainly not. In addition the bronchodilator effect of the nebulised drug (presumably salbutamol,) wears off in 2-3 hours and he provided you with no inhaler to allow ongoing bronchodilator therapy.





Needless to say he apparently did not check your PF after nebuliser, I am afraid a stethoscope does not allow any quantitative measure of improvement.





This is of course why you are still significantly symptomatic. My advice would be to seek further medical attention, ideally from a GP with a better grasp of respiratory medicine and physiology.Dr's advice..breathing difficulties?
Still scared and worried and not getting the instant result you expected are you not!





On the other hand the antibiotics will only really start to kick in properly today and by this evening you may well begin to fell a little better.





You are on the right drugs to enable you in theory to see an improvement by Friday but of course that is still two days away and meanwhile you still feel that you are struggling.





Do not be afraid to go back to your Dr earlier if you are worried or afraid. Meanwhile keep warm and rest and drink lots of fluids as already advised and lots of pillows in bed. If it makes you feel better there is nothing wrong with sleeping upright in a chair for a couple of nights to ease it.
Keep taking the tablets, rest, drink plenty of water, and keep your appointment. If you get really short of breath, then ring the doctor. Use pillows to raise your head at night. Keep away from smoky environments. Do not drink alcohol.