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Patient Instructions
Pneumonia in adults - discharge
You have pneumonia, which is an infection in your lungs. Now that you are going home, follow the health care provider's instructions on taking care of yourself at home. Use the information below as a reminder.
In the hospital, your providers helped you breathe better. They also gave you medicine to help your body get rid of the germs that cause pneumonia. They also made sure you got enough liquids and nutrients.
You will still have symptoms of pneumonia after you leave the hospital.
- Your cough will slowly get better over 7 to 14 days.
- Sleeping and eating may take up to a week to return to normal.
- Your energy level may take 2 weeks or more to return to normal.
You will need to take time off work. For a while, you might not be able to do other things that you are used to doing.
Breathing warm, moist air helps loosen the sticky mucus that may make you feel like you are choking. Other things that may also help include:
- Placing a warm, wet washcloth loosely over your nose and mouth.
- Filling a humidifier with warm water and breathing in the warm mist.
Coughing helps clear your airways. Take a couple of deep breaths, 2 to 3 times every hour. Deep breaths help open up your lungs.
While lying down, tap your chest gently a few times a day. This helps bring up mucus from the lungs.
If you smoke, now is the time to quit. DO NOT allow smoking in your home.
Drink plenty of liquids, as long as your provider says it is OK.
- Drink water, juice, or weak tea.
- Drink at least 6 to 10 cups (1.5 to 2.5 liters) a day.
- DO NOT drink alcohol.
Get plenty of rest when you go home. If you have trouble sleeping at night, take naps during the day.
Your provider may prescribe antibiotics for you. These are medicines that kill the germs that cause pneumonia. Antibiotics help most people with pneumonia get better. DO NOT miss any doses. Take the medicine until it is gone, even if you start to feel better.
DO NOT take cough or cold medicines unless your doctor says it is OK. Coughing helps your body get rid of mucus from your lungs.
Your provider will tell you if it is OK to use acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Advil or Motrin) for fever or pain. If these medicines are OK to use, your provider will tell you how much to take and how often to take them.
To prevent pneumonia in the future:
- Get a flu shot every year.
- Ask your provider if you need to get the pneumonia vaccine.
- Wash your hands often.
- Stay away from crowds.
- Ask visitors who have a cold to wear a mask.
Your doctor may prescribe oxygen for you to use at home. Oxygen helps you breathe better.
- Never change how much oxygen is flowing without asking your doctor.
- Always have a back-up supply of oxygen at home or with you when you go out.
- Keep the phone number of your oxygen supplier with you at all times.
- Learn how to use oxygen safely at home.
- Never smoke near an oxygen tank.
Call your provider if your breathing is:
- Getting harder
- Faster than before
- Shallow and you cannot get a deep breath
Also call your provider if you have any of the following:
- Need to lean forward when sitting to breathe more easily
- Have chest pain when you take a deep breath
- Headaches more often than usual
- Feel sleepy or confused
- Fever returns
- Coughing up dark mucus or blood
- Fingertips or the skin around your fingernails is blue
Bronchopneumonia adults - discharge; Lung infection adults - discharge
Ellison RT, Donowitz GR. Acute pneumonia. In: Bennett JE, Dolin R, Blaser MJ, eds. Mandell, Douglas, and Bennett's Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases, Updated Edition. 8th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Saunders; 2015:chap 69.
Mandell LA. Streptococcus pneumoniae infections. In: Goldman L, Schafer AI, eds. Goldman-Cecil Medicine. 25th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Saunders; 2016:chap 289.
Updated by: Jatin M. Vyas, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Assistant in Medicine, Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA. Also reviewed by David Zieve
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