Bronchitis (viral or bacterial) with wheezing (adult)

Home care

• If symptoms are severe, rest at home for the first 2 to 3 days or as advised. When you go back to your normal activities, don't let yourself get too tired.

• Don't smoke. Ask your healthcare provider for help quitting. Also stay away from secondhand smoke.

• You may use over-the-counter medicine to control fever or pain, unless another medicine is prescribed. If you have chronic liver or kidney disease or have ever had a stomach ulcer or gastrointestinal bleeding, talk with your healthcare provider before using these medicines. Also talk to your provider if you're taking medicine to prevent blood clots.

  Aspirin should never be given to anyone younger than age 18 who is ill with a viral infection or fever. It may cause severe liver or brain damage, or even death.

• Your appetite may be poor, so a light diet is OK. Stay hydrated by drinking 6 to 8 glasses of fluids per day (such as water, soft drinks, sports drinks, juices, tea, or soup). Extra fluids will help loosen secretions in the nose and lungs.

• Over-the-counter cough, cold, and sore-throat medicines will not shorten the length of the illness. But they may help reduce symptoms. If you have high blood pressure, don't use decongestants without your provider's permission.

  If you take other prescribed medicines, contact your provider to discuss over-the-counter medicines before taking them.

• If you were given an inhaler (bronchodilator), use it exactly as directed. If you need to use it more often than prescribed, your condition may be getting worse. If this happens, contact your healthcare provider.

• If prescribed, finish all antibiotic medicine, even if you feel better after only a few days.

Follow-up care

Follow up with your healthcare provider, or as advised. If you had an X-ray or ECG (electrocardiogram), you'll be told of any new findings that may affect your care.

Take steps to prevent future infections. Ask your healthcare provider about the pneumococcal vaccines and a yearly flu shot. There are 2 kinds of pneumococcal vaccines. You may need both. You’re at higher risk of lung infection if any of these apply to you:

• If you are older

• If you have a chronic lung disease

• If you have condition that affects your immune system

• If you smoke

When to get medical advice

Call your healthcare provider right away if any of these occur:

• Fever of 100.4°F (38°C) or higher, or as directed by your provider

• Coughing up more colored sputum

• Face or ear pain

• Mild weakness, drowsiness, headache, or a stiff neck

Call 911

Call 911 if any of these occur.

• Coughing up blood

• Worsening weakness, drowsiness, headache, or stiff neck

• Increased wheezing not helped with medicine, shortness of breath, or pain with breathing

• Feeling of doom

• Feeling dizzy

• Unable to respond or talk

• Lips or skin looks blue, purple, or gray