Can weakness develop due to pneumonia or asthma?

Question

Hi doctor,

I am a 17-year-old boy with a height of 5.7 feet and a weight of 103 pounds. I have been suffering from pneumonia for four years, but now I use asthma medicine. I am very weak even though I eat adequately. I have been weak from birth. Every winter, I face difficulties in breathing. I take no other medicines other than inhalers to overcome breathing problems. Is it possible I am suffering from thyroid?

Thanks.

Answer 1

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I have read your query, and I can understand your concern.

You have mentioned in history that you have had pneumonia for four years. So if pneumonia is present, then it should be treated with suitable medication. For pneumonia, I suggest investigating with a chest X-ray, sputum culture, and sputum examination. According to the culture report and if the X-ray shows consolidation specific antibiotic or other suitable drug is prescribed. As far as asthma is concerned, you have mentioned asthma attacks during winter, so you might have seasonal asthma. Therefore before season changes, you can start a prophylactic Formoterol and Budesonide combination inhaler. An asthma pulmonary function test is done to confirm asthma, and assess its severity. You can monitor asthma progression with a home peak flow meter. If in CBC (complete blood count) a high AEC (absolute eosinophil count), then Allegra M (Montelukast and Fexofenadine) needs to be given. To rule out thyroid, profile serum TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) and T4 (thyroxine) estimation is done. Chronic infections like pneumonia can lead to weight loss. I would suggest checking your hemoglobin level as well.If there are repeated asthma attacks, a prophylactic inhaler must be started, and allergy testing must be done with a patch test to find the allergen source. You must consult a pulmonologist keeping all this in mind. Consult a specialist doctor and take medications with their consent.

I hope this information will help you.

Thank you.