Six Year with Recurrent Pneumonia

Not all pneumonia is caused by a bacterial infection (what you use antibiotics for). Some are viral. If he's getting sick again after being around people with colds (virus) ... it's possible he's got a viral pneumonia and just being exposed to viruses is setting him off again.

What a sin. He must feel awful ... is he really sick? When we've had pneumonia here we were in bed.

Surprised they haven't sent you to a specialist by this point. Hopefully your pediatrician will make some calls for you and get you in soon.

There are other options to draining the fluid etc. but would involve a specialist.

My kids have asthma after colds - but of course we don't treat that with antibiotics. That has lingered for a while but it's more of a wheezy cough like condition, not fluid in lungs.

I suspect once you get in with specialist, they will be able to pinpoint what is causing it and get you on proper treatment right away. As for 4 antibiotics, yes .. unfortunately that can cause infections elsewhere (I had a kidney infection from being on antibiotics once).

Hope your little guy gets sorted out soon :) best of luck

Have you taken him to pediatric pulmonologist ? If not, that would be first call I would make tomorrow morning.

Do you have any air cleaners that you got new about that time? What did you get new and have been using that could affect the air? We got an air cleaner that had the VOC Blacklight as well as the Hepa filter and we were all so incredibly sick it was scary. I was at the doc and ER 2 or 3 times a week, and I only have 2 kids! My mom did a lot of research, and found out that these kinds of cleaners put out Ozone in an "acceptable" level. But, the federal gov't's acceptable level is way too much for us. I turned it off, and 3 days I was all better. The kids took a week or so. I would look into what might have seemed harmless and still being used around the home, car, daycare, some where he spends time.

Also, have his ears checked because a lot of those antibiotics can damage the cilia on the ear drums. I hope he will get better soon for both of your sakes. I so feel for you.

Hi C.,

Any doctor that will give 4 rounds of antibiotics without seeing a specialist should be....well, AAARGH! Your little one's immune system is shot because of the antibiotics. He'll need more than probiotics. He should be on Vitamin C (no sugar), and elderberry extract to build his immune system. I don't always recommend colloidal silver because it is a metal, but it will knock pneumonia out and build his immune system as well, with no side effects. My elderly father aspirated often due to his feeding tube and just saliva in the mouth and he had pneumonia on 5 separate occasions in his 90s and the silver knocked it out EVERY time.

Hope this helps.

M.

Please demand that your son be seen ASAP by a pediatric pulmonary specialist -- a doctor who deals only with lung issues in children. You may need to get to a children's hospital to find a specialist. It's pretty appalling that your doctors have not referred you to one already. Don't wait or let a doctor who isn't a specialist say "Let's try just one more thing...." It is past time for your son to be seen by a specialist and your doctors were very lax in continuing to throw antibiotics at your son and playing "wait and see."

Yes, his immune system clearly needs help and building up, but your son also might benefit from being tested to determine if he might have any immune system disorders that are causing him to be so highly susceptible to every little bacterium and virus. I would not rely solely on "building him up" with probiotics though yes, absolutely keep doing that at the same time! But it cannot hurt to find out if there is something suppressing his immune system. If he doesn't have a compromised immune system, great, you ruled it out. If he does, the doctors will need to proceed in new ways--immediately.

I know an adult who had recurrent pneumonia that did not respond to rounds of antibiotics and finally she had to be hospitalized and put on 24/7 intravenous antibiotics for a long time. I think she continued the IV antibiotics at home after the hospitalization too, with a health care worker coming in to deal with it. Your son may not need that, but it is where persistent infection can lead, which is why I'd get very demanding with the doctors now.

I wouldn't go to a pediatrician for this. Obviously he needs a specialist. If there's a mass in his lungs that antibiotics isn't taking care of then he needs to go to a children's hospital or a specialist.

When my son was little, he had childhood asthma.... (you can eventually grow out of it) and at the time, I mentioned to the doctor, that I wondered IF my brother, whom when little, had a lot of pneumonia attacks.. The doctor said you're brother probably had asthma and was misdiagnosed... now, I am not a doctor, but even to this day, it got me to thinking how do doctors mix up the two, but there are some similarities... which makes me wonder if your son, like my brother catches a cold and it turns to pneumonia, maybe you should have him checked for asthma.. hey, could be minimal... but it's worth looking into..

good luck