Recent bout with pneumonia and long recovery for someone extremely active. Now several months later, I am unable to walk without feeling loss of breath and fullness in upper chest. Could this be CV deconditioning so suddenly or should I be concerned that it is something serious. Prior to six months ago, I was walking, water aerobics and had done Zumba for five years but stopped due to back strain. Now I cannot walk a mile.
Hello dear, thanks for your question on Chat Doctor. I can understand your situation and problem. Breathing difficulty after pneumonia episode can be due to post infectious bronchitis. Actually healing after pneumonia, causes structural and morphological changes in lung. So these can cause bronchitis after pneumonia and can lead to breathing difficulty. Better to consult pulmonologist and get done1. Clinical examination of respiratory system. 2. Chest x-ray. 3. PUT (pulmonary function test). Chest x-ray is needed to rule out pneumonia recurrence. PFT is needed for the diagnosis of bronchitis. It will also tell you about severity of the disease. And treatment of bronchitis is based on severity only. So consult pulmonologist and discuss all these.