Walking pneumonia is a more frequently used layman term for the atypical type of pneumonia. Even though pneumonia is a highly discomforting condition, the patient of atypical pneumonia, on the contrary, does not feel any extreme side effects of the condition.
The symptoms of walking pneumonia are fairly mild too, however that is not always a good thing as walking pneumonia prolonged over a period of time can cause some serious damage to the overall health.
Hence it becomes extremely important to recognize the symptoms early on to be able to seek proper medical care in time. The distinction between walking pneumonia and other types are not just limited to a different type of symptoms, the condition also points fingers at different kinds of pathogens which actively contribute to the development of this disease.
We have prepared a list of the ten most common walking pneumonia symptoms that an individual should seriously act upon.
Symptom No.1: Sore throat
Sore throat is easily the most common symptom that a patient suffering from walking pneumonia would experience. Although a sore throat is also associated as an active symptom in respiratory infections like cold, and flu, they seldom appear standalone without any host. Usually, sore throat appears combined with conditions like cough or wheezing. Sore throat is a common symptom for numerous health conditions, hence it becomes immensely imperative to find out the real reason for its occurrence.
Symptom No.2: Pain in the chest
Chest pains are mostly triggered during a serious case of coughing, however, they are also related to walking pneumonia. Although, coughing is a body’s natural defense against pathogens and other toxic impurities, coughing during walking pneumonia can be an extremely painful and irritating ordeal.
Symptom No.3: Coughing
Walking pneumonia can trigger a resilient problem of perpetual coughing, even though the toxicity of the condition is much lesser in the initial phase as the patient only feel non-productive or dry cough, but prolonged over time without any treatment, the coughing would become extremely discomforting and might turn into phlegm cough.
Symptom No.4: Frequent headaches
A patient suffering from walking pneumonia would experience episodic instances of headache in a different part of the head and the neck, even the intensity of the pain would range mild to extreme. In most cases, a suffering individual would experience instances of headaches in the initial weeks, but sometimes the headaches can wait until a month or two. Headaches mostly occur in waves, and they keep on getting worse as days pass.
Symptom No.5: Mild fever
Indirectly related to the symptoms of walking pneumonia, a patient experiences mild fever due to the rapid increase of the body temperature during the active opposition of the disease by the defense shield of the immune system. Just like sore throat, fever is also associated with a number of health conditions, hence it becomes imperative to understand the real reason for the symptom, instead of making any blatant assumptions. A patient who has been suffering from a combination of fever and other respiratory conditions, then that individual should immediately seek medical guidance.
Symptom No.6: Shortness in breath
Most commonly associated with respiratory malfunctions, patients suffering from walking pneumonia due to the cough inflation feel severe breathing problems. During serious coughing conditions, the pulmonary system gets filled with the thick lather of mucus which ultimately makes breathing an extremely painful ordeal. Breathing an adequate amount of oxygen while suffering from pneumonia becomes extra tough and difficult.
Symptom No.7: Feeling of flu
As discussed above, walking pneumonia shares most of its symptoms with flu, this subsetting of different symptoms together for both these harmful conditions cause a great amount of confusion. Although, the symptoms are not exactly identical. For Instance, a cough during walking pneumonia is mostly dry, however, during flu the flu experienced will be filled with mucus. Hence, it is important to understand the little differences for the purpose of accurately recognizing the condition.
Symptom No.8: Lethargy or Fatigue
Like most walking pneumonia symptoms, fatigue is also quite common in other respiratory conditions and illnesses. Furthermore, patients also tend to be careless towards the feeling of lethargy and perpetual fatigue, a foolish over-sight that can result in serious health repercussions. Hence, it is imperative to seek medical guidance during feelings of extreme lethargy or fatigue.
Symptom No.9: Extreme wheezing
Wheezing while mostly develop during severe cases of pneumonia, in case of walking pneumonia, wheezing is triggered due to a combination of acute inflammation of bronchial airways and the production of a thick mucus lather. This dreadful combination actively interferes with a seamless breathing process and result in an annoying and irritating sound which is called wheezing.
Symptom No.10: Reduced appetite
Walking pneumonia plays a major role in reducing your appetite, the patient feels full at all time and is not able to eat more than little morsels of food tranches in an entire day. However, your immune system still requires daily energy for proper functioning and one should make sure to consume a sufficient amount of nutrition and calories daily.