hadie
I also was diagnosed with this. Further classification was extrinsic allergic aveolitis. I have lived with this for over 5 years now. I too was on prednisone for about 5 months, and was tapered off of it slowly. I still have shortness of breath, and rales in my throat when I breathe. I have had birds in my home off and on over the years, and was told by the doctors I had to get rid of the birds, (comes under an occupational disease) which I did as a precautionary solution. To this day I am still not sure it was the birds. Currently I am maintaining, always worrying it will come back. I did have a lung biopsy, where they found fribrosis in the lower part of the lungs, there was also some honeycombing. I have never smoked, and considered myself a somewhat healthy person. There was one notable sympton that happened at the onset about 8 years ago. I had approximately 10 months of extremely painful muscle pains. It was so bad I could not get out of bed or up from a chair. There was a spontaneous remission of the pains after a trip to the dentist for a root canal, (I had had an absess (low grade pain) for about a year but had not gone to a dentist for help. After a root canal they typically perscribe an antibiotic, penicillin vk. The muscle pain was gone and has not returned to this day. If there was a connection with the pneumonitis I don't know, or possibly it was unrelated. I am a 58 year old female. I have been studying up on the connection between some of the artheritis diseases and their affect on the lungs and muscles.