You're not more prone to getting these things after a PE. It just may be more uncomfortable as far as your lungs. But if you're otherwise healthy, your immune system isn't really changed from the PE that I'm aware of.

You may want to ask your doc about a pneumonia vaccine.

They offered it to me during my hospital stay. At that point I was sick of needles so I didn't get it. I take a lot of emergen-c which seems to help a lot. And thanks for all your answers on every post. You're advice and answers are always greatly appreciated!

You're welcome. I take Emergen-C too when I feel like I'm coming down with something too and a lot of times it does seem to help. If you get pneumonia regularly I'd look into the vaccine.

I think when you get sick, it seems worse now. Partly cause our lungs just aren't quite as resilient while healing and partly because we're all just super-sensitive to every ache and pain.

When I was in the hospital, they made a point to tell me to take frequent deep breaths (at least once an hour). Apparently, making sure that you're filling your lungs completely can help stave off pneumonia. My doc wanted to make sure that I didn't get that on top of the PEs, I guess. Seemed to have worked, since I never did get pneumonia.

Hope you have a good year and don't get anything icky!

does the emergen-c effect the inr at all? I had never heard of it before today so will look into it as well, thanks :)

I don't think vitamin c interacts with coumadin. I highly recommend emergen-c. It does wonders for stopping a cold before it progresses.

I would definitely recommend getting a flu shot though. feeling icky plus the flu doesn't sound like fun. I was pretty much forced into it while in the hospital, but glad I have it with the H1N1 being so strong this year.

I have a cold/flu or something right now. The dr felt like I should take precautionary measures and gave me antibiotics to take (30 -500mg of amoxicillan).
One thing I notices is my INR has been really low since I got sick. I am now increasing my Warfarin dose. The dr said being sick shouldn't affect my INR but I haven't had vitamin K or anything that should have changed it so is it just a coincidence? I don't know.

@Cherbicide

I've definitely heard that being sick can affect your INR, but don't remember who told me that. Maybe a pharmacist? And antibiotics often affect the INR as well, so I hope you're keeping an eye on that.

I went on antibiotics about a week an a half ago for a sinus infection. My INR went up as a result.

I have not heard that post PE immune systems are affected by meds or the disease but it makes sense to me that those of us with loss of functional lung will be more affected by respiratory infections.

I still get short of breath on especially hot, cold or humid days so I dread my next allergy, cold, flu or pneumonia episode. However, for reasons I don't fully understand, I have not had any respiratory infections since my initial PEs in March 2012. I work in a hospital so I surely have been exposed. I have been hospitalized 5 times in that same time period, twice for PEs and 3 for surgical issues (which is tricky for a Coumadin lifer) but no respiratory infections.

Because of my dread of worsening shortness of breath and hospital policy, I do take the flu and pneumonia vaccines.

Maybe my attempts at living a healthier lifestyle (regular sleep, better diet habits, not spending time playing blackjack in casinos and not playing music in smoky bars) actually are beneficial.