 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: ElizabethMH
Date: 2024-03-13 18:49
Hi there,
I was hospitalised last week of February with pneumonia and acute sepsis. After 5 days of IV antibiotics the pneumonia cleared. I followed up with 5 days of oral antibiotics. I am left with this terrible cough, mainly chest and phlegmy. They say this can go on for a month -so I’ve got about 2 weeks left of this. My muscles are now aching from the coughing.
Last July I started learning the piano, so my clarinet practice went a little off to the side but I still tried to practice long tones to maintain my embouchure at least.
Last November I developed tendinitis in both arms (not from either piano or clarinet), so I can’t really practice either instrument.
My embouchure is totally gone now (haven’t tested but know), and of course I cannot put air into the instrument. With the tendinitis I could possibly hold one of my lighter clarinet for a short time if I could put air in it.
Have any of you experienced pneumonia and how long did it take you to recover, and get back to the clarinet? I know everyone is different but it would be good to get some sort of a gauge. Thanks.
Elizabeth
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Author: m1964
Date: 2024-03-13 23:05
Hi Elizabeth,
As you said, everyone is different, but playing long tones would benefit you in any case- it will force your diaphragm to work more efficiently and thus, improve aeration of the lungs.
If you practice in sitting, then you can place the bell on your thigh/knee and allow your hands to relax.
I see some players using a neck strap to reduce strain on the rt. hand. If you do have problems holding the clarinet, modification to the thumb rest may help.
Using a spirometer would help as well, focusing to achieve steady air flow, not on volume inhaled.
If you did not get one in the hospital, you can get one from Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=spirometer&crid=1V7N03RQ0WWPT&sprefix=spirometer%2Caps%2C106&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_1_10
You may be able to practice only a minute or two at first- that's fine, do one minute a day for one week, then increase time to maybe 2 min.
Do not try to practice 15-20 right away.
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Author: SunnyDaze
Date: 2024-03-14 00:41
Hi Elizabeth,
I'm so sorry that you've had to go through that. I usually just read and don't post but I wanted to say how glad I am that you are back safe.
A relative of mine had bacterial pneumonia a couple of years ago and we were actually surprised by how quickly the cough subsided. I think the docs said 6 months, but it was much quicker than that - more like 2 months.
I had covid myself in the first lockdown and that had a much longer effect. I was not able to play for 9 months, but then quite suddenly after 9 months the effect cleared and I was able to play again.
I think all you can do is be very very patient with your progress and know that things will get back to normal in time.
Things I found helped:
- Keeping a diary of progress, so you can see that things are getting better, even if slowly.
- This gadget really helped me maintain my embouchure even when not playing. It's free on UK prescription. https://www.iqoro.com/
Good luck there, and I'm really glad you are on the mend.
Jennifer
(I will go back to just reading now)
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Author: super20dan
Date: 2024-03-15 04:58
i have had pneumonia many times over the course of my playing carrier. yes it can take several months to recover your wind enough to play again but i have done so many times. start with softer reeds and work back up. a regiment of inhaled steroids also help a lot like advair for example. this is only needed for a short time and will greatly aid in getting your wind back . its important to keep your airways open so your lungs can expel the mucus that built up during your illness.
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Author: ElizabethMH
Date: 2024-03-15 14:47
Thanks so much m1964, Jennifer and super20dan, for your feedback.
I'll have to put any playing long tones for a bit longer as I still have a bit of pneumonia and I'm on oral antibiotics again.
Hoping this will knock it out completely.
But as you recommended super20dan, I'm going to get a soft plastic reed to help get me started.
Stay well everyone.
Elizabeth
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Author: ElizabethMH
Date: 2024-03-15 20:07
Interesting Gordon. My tendinitis occurred long before becoming ill however. Having said that, I spent most of 2023 stressed out and I do think I was ill with something when the tendinitis happened. All things being interconnected in the body.
I'm not taking ciprofloxacin, but know that there are side effects to even the basic ones I'm taking now, including anaemia, which I've got now.
Elizabeth
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Author: hans
Date: 2024-03-15 21:28
Re: "The antibiotic ciprofloxacin can cause tendinitis.", this drug's side effects list is worth reading, IMO and can be found here: https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/ciprofloxacin-oral-route/side-effects/DRG-20072288?p=1
I have had pneumonia many times (caused by GERD which was cured 9 years ago, finally, with Nissen Fundoplication surgery) and was prescribed cipro. I believe that it caused my aorta aneurism, which is potentially life threatening, and
requires annual echocardiograms for monitoring.
Hans
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Author: Gordon D
Date: 2024-03-16 00:18
Good luck with it anyway, Elizabeth and Hans.
Gordon
Post Edited (2024-03-16 00:26)
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Author: ElizabethMH
Date: 2024-03-16 00:23
hans, that sounds awful. I'm glad that the issue has been resolved for you. I will definitely decline that antibiotic if it's ever offered. I really hate taking antibiotics, but I also know (from experience) that in cases of bacterial infection there's really no other option.
I also find very interesting your GERD causing your pneumonia. I had an incident in January, in which I had vertigo - in bed! I've never had vertigo ever. I knew at the same moment also that I had indigestion. Apparently what happens is that the acid goes up the esophagus and then the molecules go into the Eustachian tubes causing the vertigo. At the same time, I had a little pain on my left side, near the stomach, that a nurse then told me was the pneumonia. So I think the pneumonia was brewing inside me for a while (I've never had acid reflux, I don't even know what it feels like, so it was all very strange to me.)
While I was in hospital (in the US I should add, because I was visiting - it was the first time I'd ever been in a US hospital even though I'm American), the dietician came round and explained that the lungs and stomach are actually the same kind of tissue and develop from the same stem cells. This was fascinating to me as I'd never heard this before. Anyway, just to show that the stomach and lungs are really very connected.
Back to clarinet things now!
Elizabeth
Post Edited (2024-03-16 00:24)
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Author: elmo lewis
Date: 2024-03-17 19:18
Ounce of Prevention Department: The Centers for Disease Control advises most people older than 64 and some others to get one of the pneumonia vaccines. Consult your doctor.
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Author: SecondTry
Date: 2024-03-17 23:38
My Internist, also a board certified Pulmonologist, has told me in the past that a chest xray is indicated afterwards.
Have you had one since being in the midst of the illness?
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Author: ElizabethMH
Date: 2024-03-18 00:18
SecondTry. Yes, i had an x-ray last week, and will have another about 3weeks from now.
Strangely enough, when I was in ER in the US, the x-ray didn’t show the pneumonia, but a CT scan did and to quote the physician’s assistant “you’ve got a whopping case of pneumonia”. I’m grateful they did the CT scan.
elmo Lewis, I’m not yet that age, but in the hospital they did recommend flu and pneumonia vaccines.
Elizabeth
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Author: hans
Date: 2024-03-18 04:31
Elizabeth,
Re: "I also find very interesting your GERD causing your pneumonia." - GERD can cause pneumonia when stomach contents are aspirated into the lungs. A sleeping person may be unaware of it until they awaken. By then it is much too late to cough it out, and pneumonia follows very quickly. The lungs do not have the same protective lining as the stomach does and are very vulnerable to stomach acid, which has a ph of between 1 and 2; i.e., it is a strong acid.
Typically (from my experience, at least) medication that suppresses stomach acid production does not prevent reflux, although it may reduce its acidity, and it does not mitigate the dangers of aspiration. The medications' side effects are significant and worth investigating.
Regards,
Hans
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Author: ElizabethMH
Date: 2024-03-22 18:02
Goodness hans, I had no idea that stomach contents can be aspirated by the lungs, but I do now see how that can happen from what you describe.
I think I have now passed the hump over into recovery, but I'm still very cautious. Unfortunately, work stress is still getting to me (or rather redundancy stress!).
Elizabeth
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Author: moma4faith
Date: 2024-04-11 06:50
Blooming things seem to hate me and try to do me in every Spring and Fall. I've had pneumonia and several other respiratory problems during these times.
I take a Zyrtec allergy pill daily and follow that up with a prescription nasal spray, a generic of Flonase. That usually keeps things from moving down into my chest and causing major havoc. Pneumonia was tough to get over and I felt like I was getting pleurisy from all the coughing - it really made me sore.
I drink lots of fluids, use Vicks vaporub at night if I'm feeling congested. I also take Mucinex to help loosen and get rid of congestion.
After years of playing clarinet, I now use a neck strap. My right wrist started hurting when playing. The neck strap made the pain go away immediately and I've had no further problem.
I'm so sorry you are having to deal with all of this. I hope you make a complete recovery!
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Author: ElizabethMH
Date: 2024-04-16 14:40
Thank you moma4faith! Likewise I'm sorry you have to deal with respiratory problems Spring and Fall. My husband is asthmatic and gets hay fever and gets ill almost every Fall once he's teaching, so I know by proxy what you go through. In fact, he had some bug just before I left for the States, but he didn't get pneumonia (having said that, the doctor here (NHS) wouldn't even see him - just gave him a prescription for a stronger steroid, so he wasn't even tested. This made me angry considering his asthma.)
I am more or less fully recovered, and I just did a juice cleanse that really helped. (I'm a big believer in juicing - I know not everyone agrees to this kind of thing, so I don't preach - not even to hubby.)
My tendinitis has improved on my right arm but my left got worse as an after effect of the pneumonia on my left lung. I've got my soft plastic reed and I've been doing some long tones. I'm definitely going to get a support strap because I can't hold the clarinet for very long without pain developing. It's been almost 6 months since I developed tendinitis and the physio says it takes that long or more to resolve itself so I really hope I'm looking at the light at the end of the tunnel with this!
Elizabeth
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Author: Clarineat
Date: 2024-04-26 20:27
Not medical advice, but ask your doctor about serrapeptase. It's an enzyme that can be purchased as a supplement I have found helpful in a few instances. It is known to reduce mucous.
Regarding antibiotics... I nearly died last year after contracting C. Diff after a round of antibiotics for a sinus infection. Always ALWAYS take Florastor (yeast based probiotic that fights the C Diff Spores) when on any antibiotic. I tell everyone I know now.
I was on vancomycin for months, and since it's ototoxic I was undergoing hearing assessments to ensure I didn't get hearing loss. Terrible time. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.
Sean Perrin
Host of the Clarineat Podcast
Listen FREE at www.clarineat.com
hello@clarineat.com
Post Edited (2024-04-26 20:31)
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Author: Julian ibiza
Date: 2024-04-27 17:06
There's definitely something very "Hotel California " about modern medicine experience.
Julian Griffiths
Tel. 34 696 798 853
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Author: m1964
Date: 2024-04-28 21:32
Julian ibiza wrote:
> There's definitely something very "Hotel California " about
> modern medicine experience.
Not really. Medical/pharmaceutical science wants to create drugs that have maximum direct effect (like killing bacteria) and minimal side effects.
Which is not always possible, so, as one doctor explained to me, "We are looking for a medicine that has direct effect greater than its side effects".
In addition, there will be individuals who will respond to a medicine differently than a majority of us. Could be one out of a hundred or one in ten thousand, but their response will be recorded and will be reported as one of side effects of that medicine.
For a prescribing physician, there is no way to know if the patient will be one out of those who will develop a relatively atypical response.
Are we still on a clarinet board/forum?
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Author: Julian ibiza
Date: 2024-04-29 11:42
Hi m9164,
I think that you might be ascribing a level of moral conduct to pharmaceutical companies for which there has been a lot of pretty grim historical evidence to the contrary. Then there's the practice of paying doctors to proscribe a certain drug which amounts to a form of legalized bribery. It's not uncommon that the need to take one drug to treat a condition, leads to the need to take others for resultant conditions and while I'm not suggesting that this is by design, it's a state of affairs that is financially advantageous to drug companies. I'm not against modern pharmaceuticals, but wherever possible, try to stick to the devil you know over the devil you don't know. Doctors don't tend to explain possible side effects to the patient, because that tends to have a placebo effect on the mind that they would rather not have to be additionally dealing with.
My Dad was once proscribed something for high blood pressure. He took it and then woke up in the night with his tongue hugely swollen. He was unable to hold a coherent phone conversation, so had to drive 45 min to the emergency clinic while being progressively asphyxiated by his own tongue. Luckily he made it and was told by the doctor that this was a possible side effect from that medication.
And of course, for all of us that are still on this forum, there are also those that are not 🤔
Julian Griffiths
Tel. 34 696 798 853
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