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Endoscopy and then pneumonia

Posted by kdiago1564 @kdiago1564, Oct 20 10:09am

I got an endoscopy with BRAVO capsule on Friday morning at NYU. By Friday evening I started having acute chest pain and then Saturday started a low-grade fever on top of the chest pain so the on-call doc said I should go to the ER.

Turns out I have pneumonia in my left lobe (my MAC and bronchiectasis is in my right upper and middle). I'm 100% sure the chest pain is related to the Bravo capsule because it was severe.

I'm so irritated I'm dealing with pneumonia now because I've been so diligent with airway clearance. I'm so confused as to whether I had pneumonia brewing or if the endoscopy had something to do with it. I definitely attribute the horrible chest pain to the capsule which also irritates me because I feel conflicted as to whether it was completely necessary given that I don't have real symptoms of GERD or reflux. The endoscopy ended up showing that everything looked completely normal in there. We'll see what the capsule reports.

Just needed to vent this morning. Thanks for listening.

I had to tell the ER department that going on azithromycin wasn't an option so they prescribed a cephalosporin (cefpodoxime aka Vantin) and doxycycline. I did call my pulmonologist's office and spoke with the on-call doc who said it should be ok to take given my MAC. I feel like I need a guide of which antibiotics are safe to take with MAC.

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pacathy | @pacathy | Oct 21 7:38am

I’m so sorry you’re dealing with this. Have you called the docs office who did procedure? Did the ER determine where the capsule currently is? I’d follow up with them today to make sure doc who did procedure or your prime gastroenterologist know what is happening. Wishing you the best!

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bsi15 | @bsi15 | Oct 21 11:02am

CDC says :
The incubation period of pneumococcal pneumonia is short, about 1 to 3 days.

still from morning to evening looks too short to me

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desertdwellerjh | @desertdwellerjh | Oct 21 11:26am

Having dealt with a flare a few days after an endoscopy earlier this year, I think one could include the possibility that some stomach fluid could have made its way into your lungs. This was speculation in my case. A week’s rx of amox-clav cleared it up for me but the inflammation/irritation took awhile to calm down and did affect my 02 levels. so, I am in a pulmonary rehab program that is improving my 02 level especially during exercise and sleep. My MAC, diagnosed and treated in 2012 with the “big three,” settled in my right upper lobe predominantly but recently a nodule appeared in my right middle lobe. I am due for another CT scan in a couple of months. I posted more detail here to encourage those undergoing treatment that, as awful as some of the side effects are, for me they made the difference for which I am grateful. Daily exercise, sleeping with the head of my bed elevated, and reducing my carbohydrates and continuing to be followed by a pulmonologist has helped very much the last 12 years. I wear a mask while gardening and while in stores and other crowded places and have faithfully gotten inoculations for flu, Covid and RSV.

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1 reply
kdiago1564 | @kdiago1564 | Oct 23 2:13pm

Thanks all for responding—I appreciate it so much. This support group is the one place where you can write and describe your situation and know you're going to be completely understood.

@pacathy - I ended up having my telehealth follow up with the GI doc today. He said some patients do get severe chest pain with the capsule but it's not common. The good news is I didn't have it again after they gave me the pain meds in the ER. I also found out I do not have GERD which is a huge relief and worth all the hassle in the end to know. He said everything was very normal no signs whatsoever of any reflux and the amount of time that the pH in my esophagus is less than 4% (meaning very acidic) is only 1.5% of the time. One less thing to have to worry about in all this.

@desertdwellerjh - He did say sometimes aspiration can happen during the procedure—especially if there is anything in your stomach at the time— but it didn't in my case so was glad you mentioned that because I did ask him about that. All your tips for avoiding infection are a good reminder.

@bsi15 - I think I must have had walking pneumonia brewing at the same time and I'm just thankful it was caught and didn't turn into anything worse. Apparently, walking pneumonia is going around and I have a toddler so I'm certain she probably had it without us realizing. Very hard to avoid getting sick when the little one is sick.
----------------------------
CDC's Post on increased incidence of walking pneumonia: https://www.cdc.gov/ncird/whats-new/mycoplasma-pneumoniae-infections-have-been-increasing.html

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lindabreathless | @lindabreathless | Oct 24 6:19pm
In reply to @desertdwellerjh "Having dealt with a flare a few days after an endoscopy earlier this year, I think..." + (show)
@desertdwellerjh

Having dealt with a flare a few days after an endoscopy earlier this year, I think one could include the possibility that some stomach fluid could have made its way into your lungs. This was speculation in my case. A week’s rx of amox-clav cleared it up for me but the inflammation/irritation took awhile to calm down and did affect my 02 levels. so, I am in a pulmonary rehab program that is improving my 02 level especially during exercise and sleep. My MAC, diagnosed and treated in 2012 with the “big three,” settled in my right upper lobe predominantly but recently a nodule appeared in my right middle lobe. I am due for another CT scan in a couple of months. I posted more detail here to encourage those undergoing treatment that, as awful as some of the side effects are, for me they made the difference for which I am grateful. Daily exercise, sleeping with the head of my bed elevated, and reducing my carbohydrates and continuing to be followed by a pulmonologist has helped very much the last 12 years. I wear a mask while gardening and while in stores and other crowded places and have faithfully gotten inoculations for flu, Covid and RSV.

Jump to this post

Excuse my ignorance, but what is the big 3? What does it consist of? I have bronchiectasis with pseudomonas.

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desertdwellerjh | @desertdwellerjh | Oct 24 7:17pm

The antibiotics azithromycin, ethambutol and rifampin. I struggled through the 18 months taking them and always got a bad reaction when I took the rifampin - felt like I had a wicked case of the flu with a fever each time of 102-3.

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