Thursday, March 28, 2024

Can Pneumonia Cause Stomach Pain

When Back Pain Requires Immediate Care

Pneumonia Overview | Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment

A condition called malignant spinal cord compression may develop in some people who have lung cancer that spreads to the spine. These symptoms include worsening back pain, weakness in the legs, and sometimes loss of urinary or bowel control. This is a medical emergency, and immediate treatment is needed to prevent complications such as paralysis.

Choosing The Right Antibiotic

Dozens of antibiotics are available for treating pneumonia, but selecting the best drug is sometimes difficult. People with pneumonia need an antibiotic that is effective against the organism causing the disease. When the organism is unknown, “empiric therapy” is given, meaning the doctor chooses which antibiotic is likely to work based on factors such as the person’s age, health, and severity of the illness.

In adults, the choice of antibiotic therapy depends on the severity of infection and site of care. In all cases, the more quickly antibiotic therapy is started once the diagnosis is made, the better the outcomes. In most cases, the organism causing the pneumonia will not be known before antibiotic therapy is started, so the doctor must choose an antibiotic regimen based on history and symptoms. Later, the therapy may be altered when more information becomes available. To determine the appropriate antibiotic, the doctor must first answer a number of questions:

Once an antibiotic has been chosen, there are still difficulties:

  • Individuals respond differently to the same antibiotic, depending on their age, health, size, and other factors.
  • People can be allergic to certain antibiotics, thus requiring alternatives.
  • People may have strains of bacteria that are resistant to certain antibiotics.

Questions About Your Symptoms

Bacterial pneumonia, which is the most common form, tends to be more serious than other types of pneumonia, with symptoms that require medical care. The symptoms of bacterial pneumonia can develop gradually or suddenly. Fever may rise as high as a dangerous 105 degrees F, with profuse sweating and rapidly increased breathing and pulse rate. Lips and nailbeds may have a bluish color due to lack of oxygen in the blood. A patients mental state may be confused or delirious.

The symptoms of viral pneumonia usually develop over a period of several days. Early symptoms are similar to influenza symptoms: fever, a dry cough, headache, muscle pain, and weakness. Within a day or two, the symptoms typically get worse, with increasing cough, shortness of breath and muscle pain. There may be a high fever and there may be blueness of the lips.

Symptoms may vary in certain populations. Newborns and infants may not show any signs of the infection. Or, they may vomit, have a fever and cough, or appear restless, sick, or tired and without energy. Older adults and people who have serious illnesses or weak immune systems may have fewer and milder symptoms. They may even have a lower than normal temperature. Older adults who have pneumonia sometimes have sudden changes in mental awareness. For individuals that already have a chronic lung disease, those symptoms may worsen.

When to call a doctor

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Upper Abdominal Pain With Back Pain

Sometimes abdominal pain can radiate to the back, adding even more pain than before. Oftentimes, it can indicate a much deeper issue such as the liver, kidneys, or pancreas. For problems exclusive to the back, with respect to the spine, check out some potential causes of back pain. Here are three of the most common causes of upper abdominal pain with back pain.

When To See The Doctor For Pneumonia Vaccine Side Effects

pain in right side  soreness in lower abdomen  Milthy

Serious side effects after receiving the pneumonia vaccination are rare, but not impossible. Call your doctor if you experience the following:

  • Allergic reaction
  • Severe allergic reactions only occur in about one in a million shots. An allergic reaction to vaccinations typically happens within a few minutes to a few hours after receiving the shot. Seek emergency medical attention at the first sign of an allergic reaction to the pneumonia vaccine.
  • Feeling faint or dizzy
  • If you or your child feel dizzy, have vision changes, or have ringing in your ears, call your doctor.
  • Some people may experience severe pain in the shoulder and have difficulty moving their arms after the pneumonia vaccine. Notify your doctor if this happens to you.
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    Treatment For Chest Infections

    Most people with bronchitis can be treated at home and make a full recovery. Assessment of the severity of pneumonia is complex. Some patients can be managed at home on simple antibiotics. Those assessed as severe may require admission to the intensive care unit and their illness may be life threatening.Treatment options include:

    • Your doctor will advise you about any medications you need to get over this attack.
    • Some people need to be admitted to hospital for further treatment, particularly young children and the elderly who are at greater risk of serious complications.
    • Review with your local doctor may be needed within 48 hours, especially if you are not improving, and again in six weeks to make sure that you have made a full recovery. A chest x-ray may be needed at this time.

    How Can I Prevent Viral Pneumonia

    To prevent the transmission of pneumonia, you must

    • Wash your hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. In public places, use sanitizers to disinfect your hands before eating anything.
    • Get a flu vaccine at the beginning of winter or the rainy season to protect you from certain strains of viruses.
    • Keep your distance from people who are sick and who are coughing and sneezing.
    • Use a mask to prevent infected droplets from entering your body.
    • Do not touch your eyes, ears, nose, and mouth when outside.

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    Walking Pneumonia Vs Bronchitis Symptoms

    Both bronchitis and walking pneumonia have similar symptoms, but the two diseases are not the same. Bronchitis affects the bronchial tubes, not the small airways of the lungs.

    Bronchitis symptoms may include:

    • runny, stuffy nose
    • shortness of breath

    The main difference is that the recovery time tends to be shorter with acute bronchitis than with pneumonia. But recovering from chronic bronchitis may take a long time.

    How Is Pneumonia Treated

    Left Lower Lobe Pneumonia in Abdominal X ray

    How pneumonia is treated depends on the germs that cause it.

    • Bacterial pneumonia: Bacterial pneumonia is usually treated with antibiotics. The specific antibiotic choice depends on such factors as your general health, other health conditions you may have, the type of medications you are currently taking , your recent use of antibiotics, any evidence of antibiotic resistance in the local community and your age. Medicines to relieve pain and lower fever may also be helpful. Ask your doctor if you should take a cough suppressant. Its important to be able to cough to clear your lungs.
    • Viral pneumonia: Antibiotics are not used to fight viruses. There are no treatments for most viral causes of pneumonia. However, if the flu virus is thought to be the cause, antiviral drugs might be prescribed, such as oseltamivir , zanamivir , or peramivir , to decrease the length and severity of the illness. Over-the-counter medicines to relieve pain and lower fever are usually recommended. Other medicines and therapies such as breathing treatments and exercises to loosen mucus may be prescribed by your doctor.
    • Fungal pneumonia: Antifungal medication is prescribed if a fungus is the cause of your pneumonia.

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    What Causes Pain In The Lower Abdomen

    Less common but more serious causes of right lower abdominal pain include appendicitis, which may be associated with nausea, vomiting, fever and loss of appetite. A bowel obstruction can also cause pain in this area and occurs when your intestines become blocked.

    Can pneumonia make stomach hurt?

    While uncommon, pneumonia can cause abdominal pain, and even a condition known as peritonitis , one of the most severe forms of abdominal pain.

    Preventing Transmission Of Covid

    At this time there is no vaccine and no medication available that can prevent COVID-19. However, there are a number of ways to protect yourself and others around you from getting COVID-19. To help prevent the spread of COVID-19 within the community, the governments throughout the world and in the United States are recommending that people wear cloth masks or face coverings and practice social distancing. Steps to follow in preventing the spread of COVID-19 include:

    • Avoid crowded public places and large or small gatherings.
    • Stay at least 6 feet from other people.
    • Always wear a face mask or cloth face cover when you will be around other people.
    • Work from home .
    • If possible, avoid public transportation and rideshares.

    If you have COVID-19 or have symptoms of it, you must isolate yourself at home and avoid contact with other people, both inside and outside your home, to avoid spreading the illness. This is called home isolation. Steps to follow in home isolation for COVD-19 include:

    For the most up-to-date news and information about COVID-19, you can visit the following websites:

    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. Coronavirus Disease 2019 . www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

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    Weird Causes Of Back Pain

    Can a cold or flu really cause backaches? Heres what experts have to say.

    With the arrival of spring, Im looking forward to kissing an epic season of winter coldsand backachesgoodbye. For me, the two seem to go hand in hand. But can a cold or flu really cause back trouble?

    To find out, I reached out to Mark Zawadsky, MD, an orthopedic surgeon at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, DC. When youre sick with the cold and flu, Dr. Zawadsky explains, stress hormones can potentiate the feeling of pain. In other words, feeling sick can make you hyper-attuned to other aches and pains you might otherwise shrug off.

    But theres more. When you have a cold, the body makes pyrogens, a byproduct of cell breakdown, says John Stamatos, MD, director of interventional pain management at Syosset Hospital in Syosset, New York. While these pyrogens create fevers and help your body fight infection, theyre also toxic to the body and contribute to that all-around achy feeling you get when youre sick, Dr. Stamatos says.

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    Thats because pyrogens tend to gather around nerves that transmit pain, which can heighten those nerves ability to transmit the pain. So if youre already prone to an achy back, having a cold can worsen it.

    Of course, Dr. Stamatos adds, the physical act of coughing puts a huge amount of pressure on the epidural space , which can impact the nerves and lead to pain.

    1. Pneumonia

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    What Are The Complications Of Pneumonia

    Approach to the Child with Chest Pain

    Anyone can experience complications from pneumonia. However, people in high-risk groups are more likely to develop complications, including:

    • Breathing difficulties: Pneumonia can make breathing difficult. Pneumonia plus an existing lung disorder can make breathing even more difficult. Breathing difficulties may require a hospital stay to receive oxygen therapy or breathing and healing assistance with the use of a breathing machine .
    • Fluid buildup in the lungs : Pneumonia can cause a buildup in the fluid between the membranes that line the lungs and the inside of the chest cavity. It is a serious condition that makes breathing difficult. Pleural effusion can be treated by draining excess fluid with a catheter, chest tube or by surgery.
    • Bacteria in the bloodstream : The bacteria that cause pneumonia can leave your lungs and enter your bloodstream, spreading the infection to other organs. This condition is treated with antibiotics.
    • Lung abscess. A lung abscess is a pus-filled cavity in the lung that is caused by a bacterial infection. It can be treated by draining the pus with a long needle or removing it by surgery.

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    Antibiotic Treatments For Community

    For a more detailed discussion of the different types of antibiotics, see the “Antibiotic Classes” section below.

    Joint guidelines issued in 2019 by the IDSA/ATS recommend that mild CAP in otherwise healthy people be treated with amoxicillin or doxycycline. If the person lives in an area with low S pneumoniae resistance to macrolides, a macrolide antibiotic therapy may also be considered.

    The British Thoracic Society recommends amoxicillin, doxycycline, or clarithromycin as alternatives.

    Many people with heart disease, kidney disease, diabetes, or other coexisting conditions may still be treated as outpatients.

    People with coexisting conditions should be given a macrolide plus a beta-lactam or a fluoroquinolone as monotherapy. Doxycycline can be given as an alternative to a macrolide. Current recommendations call for at least 5 days of antibiotic therapy. People should have no fever for at least 48 hours and no more than one sign of continuing severe illness before discontinuing antibiotics.

    Many cases of CAP are caused by S pneumoniae — Gram-positive bacteria that usually respond to antibiotics known as beta-lactams , and to macrolides. However, resistant strains of S pneumoniae are increasingly common. Most resistant strains respond to fluoroquinolones such as levofloxacin , gemifloxacin , or moxifloxacin .

    In addition, other important causes of CAP, particularly in younger people, are atypical bacteria, which respond to macrolides , or newer fluoroquinolones.

    Taking Care Of Yourself At Home

    If you have a bacterial chest infection, you should start to feel better 24 to 48 hours after starting on antibiotics. You may have a cough for days or weeks. For other types of chest infections, the recovery is more gradual. You may feel weak for some time and need a longer period of bed rest.Be guided by your doctor, but general self-care suggestions include:

    • Take your medication as directed. Even if you feel better, finish the course of antibiotics.
    • Drink plenty of fluids.
    • Rest for a few days.
    • Prop yourself up on a couple of pillows at night it will make it easier to sleep.
    • Stop smoking, at least until you feel better, if you cant give up at this stage.
    • Contact your local doctor if you have any concerns or questions.
    • Go straight to your local doctor or the nearest hospital emergency department if you have trouble breathing, have a high fever or feel worse.

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    Emergency Room Statistics On Abdominal Pain

    Around 5-10% of emergency room visits in the United States point to abdominal pain as the cause. Despite the extensive knowledge gathered from human medicine, undifferentiated abdominal pain is the resulting diagnosis for 25% of patients discharged from the ED results, and 35-41% for admitted patients. Fortunately, almost 80% of patients with that diagnosis report improvements within two weeks.

    Patients over 65 years of age account for one-fifth of ED visits, with 3.5% checking in for abdominal pain. 66% of these elderly patients usually require hospitalization and 33% will require surgery. Mortality rates from abdominal pain for the elderly increase if the ED does not result in a diagnosis. This observation supports the need for the correct identification of the symptoms of abdominal pain. Additionally, there is a great need for patients to determine which part of the abdomen is causing pain. Correct and timely information will always help medical professionals make an accurate diagnosis.

    What Causes Different Types Of Pneumonia

    Abdominal Pain and Associated Disease

    Per the NHLBI, your nose and airways typically filter out unwanted bugs. But when these invaders pass through to one or both lungs , or if your immune system is too weak to defend against an infectious assault, tiny air sacs in your lungs, called alveoli, become inflamed and fill with fluid or pus.

    According to Medline Plus, pneumonia can be caused by viruses or bacteria. A case of pneumonia caused by a virus can turn into bacterial pneumonia.

    Yale Medicine cited Streptococcus pneumoniae as the most common culprit for bacterial pneumonia.

    Nemours Children’s Health stated that viruses are more typically the culprit in children. Causes of viral pneumonia include influenza , rhinovirus , and RSV . In addition, Nemours Children’s Health explained that viral pneumonia tends to have a slower onset and be milder in kids. In contrast, when kids get bacterial pneumonia, they tend to get sicker faster. If you are concerned about your child’s health, check in with your healthcare provider or call 911 if you believe it is an emergency.

    Yale Medicine described other types of pneumonia. One type occurs when folks are in the hospital for something else. This is known as “hospital-acquired pneumonia” or “healthcare-associated pneumonia.” According to Yale Medicine, the most common type of pneumonia is community-acquired pneumonia, also called walking pneumonia. Walking pneumonia tends to be a milder type of infection.

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    What Causes Acute Bronchitis

    Acute bronchitis is usually caused by a viral infection. This is most often the same viruses that cause colds and the flu. It may also be caused by a bacterial infection, or by physical or chemical agents that are breathed in. These may include dusts, allergens, and strong fumes, including those from chemical cleaning compounds or tobacco smoke.

    Acute bronchitis may come after a common cold or other viral infections in the upper respiratory tract. It may also occur in people with chronic sinusitis, allergies, or those with enlarged tonsils and adenoids. It can be serious in people with lung or heart diseases. Pneumonia is a complication that can follow bronchitis.

    What Is The Pneumonia Vaccine

    The pneumoniavaccine is an injection that prevents you from contracting the pneumococcal disease. There are two pneumococcal vaccines licensed by the Food and Drug Administration for use in the United States:

  • PCV13 Prevnar 13®: This vaccine helps protect against the 13 types of pneumococcal bacteria that most commonly cause serious infections in children and adults. Doctors give this vaccine to children at 12 through 15 months, 2, 4, and 6 years old. Adults who need this vaccine get just one shot.
  • PPSV23 Pneumovax23®: This vaccine helps protect against serious infections caused by 23 types of pneumococcal bacteria. Doctors give a single shot of this vaccine to people who need it, but the CDC recommends one or two additional shots for people with certain chronic medical conditions.
  • The Center for Disease Control recommends the PCV13 vaccine for:

    • All children younger than 2 years old
    • People 2 years or older with certain medical conditions

    The CDC recommends PPSV23 for:

    • All adults 65 years or older
    • People 2 through 64 years old with certain medical conditions
    • Smokers 19 through 64 years old

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