Following. I'm up to about 80% of the time 2.5 weeks later. Been riding for the past week.

Great post. Thanks for starting. Bronchitis here, too. No meds. Started Fri. Cough, sinus pressure, congestion, fever x1 day, fatigue. 3 days on the couch, missed work Monday. Flu test neg, lungs sound clear. Just a cough and a little bit of fatigue at this point. Itching to hop on the trainer, prob tonight. I’m prob 80% on the deep breathing, too. Interested in what other people will say they use as a rule of thumb. Coughs can linger for weeks. I can’t 🤪

Hi, I'm a little bit of an expert in this (patient, not doctor!) as I have a long term lung problem and for about 3 years now have been getting severe bronchitis (once pneumonia) about every 6-8 months.

In my experience I would be wiped out for up to two weeks (shuffling around, no energy etc.)

After I feel 'better' it would probably be another 5 days before I could do a light workout without feeling knackered.
Probably 4 weeks before I could do a weeks training.
6 weeks minimum and nearer 8 to when I was back to pre illness fitness.

Sorry, I know that doesn't sound great. If you rush it you won't get better though.
Any questions, just ask!

Oh, also, since it's been available I've found HRV very very useful in monitoring recovery from illness as to when I should train again.

Seriously thanks for starting this. I got sick with possibly the flu about 7 weeks ago then had a cough that would not stop. Chest x-ray came back negative 2 weeks ago but the urgent care doctor only gave me prednisone and the cough continue to get worse. So finally after 7 weeks of coughing I'm diagnosed with walking pneumonia antibiotic and an Albuterol inhaler. The doc gave me roughly the same instructions he gave you and the antibiotic even though I'm only two days in has drastically reduced the cough but the wheezing when I exhale is still causing me to cough and I'm wondering how long it will take for that to calm down.

I guess all the news about the flu this year is accurate. Similar story for me. Sick with what I think was the flu a month ago, felt better, started training again (probably too hard), then got hit with the nasty cough and head crap. Going easy on the bike for now ... all these stories make me nervous.

not sure what "bronchitis bordering on walking pneumonia" means as bronchitis is inflammation/infection of airway and pneumonia is infection of lung tissue but I digress ;) it is not uncommon for peeps to have a cough that lingers for weeks up to several months. Couple of things come to mind. Of course I'm speaking to the general forum here as it seems like many are going through the same thing and as always speak to your care provider.
1. Most people have extremely inflamed airways post bronchitis/pneumonia so any irritation will create terrible coughing fits. These peeps tend to have a very dry nonproductive cough. Anti-inflammatory such as inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) for a few weeks tend to do the trick.
2. Peeps also tend to confuse the etiology of their cough. Very often it is from all the mucus that is draining from the nasal passages/sinuses. This type of cough tends to be worse first thing in am when you get up cuz all the crap that drains out your sinuses sits in the back of your throat so when you sit up it drops down into your lungs. Combo of ICS and decongestant eg benadryl, loratadine seems to help.

These are common non-infectious types of cough that care seem post URI which predominantly are viral but so many of you think you need antibiotics which further perpetuates the cycle of resistance, etc besides annoying the crap out of the providers. Rant over :)

Sleep lots, drink lots of fluid, and wait. Your body will tell you when it's time.
Hope this helps and fell better

Assuming it is truly bronchitis, you should be able to exercise "as tolerated" as my doctor told me when I had it.

I went through this just recently and I had a really bad cough for some 3 weeks (yea I know, im an idiot). At the end of 3 weeks I finally went to the doctor where I found out I had Bronchitis. I never stopped training the entire time before and after seeing the doctor and just "managed" through it. They gave me some drugs and all was fine 2 weeks later and I was told I could continue with my training as best I could manage.

I guess the moral was do what you can and don't overdo it or get frustrated.

My wife is a doctor and she says medication for bronchitis is useless. The only eventual benefit is to get better sleep if you have a hard time at night. Regarding training it should be avoided in the first days (fever..) because you don't want to spread the infection. After that if you feel good go for it, just don't expect any speed because O² is hard to assimilate.