pneumonia - how long to recover?

[TsPoet]

I've been short of breath all spring, I've had exercise induced asthma my whole life, I thought maybe it was getting worse.
I got a cold 2 weeks ago and... pneumonia. After 6 days on antibiotics I'm over the cold, but still feel like I did a month ago, and I'm coughing up just a wee bit of red in the mornings.
Anybody have pneumonia, walking or otherwise, when do you get over it? Tuesday when I went on antibiotics the doc (in the box) told me it would take 2 days and I'd feel fine. I even told him I had a bike camping trip planned Friday (20 miles) and Saturday (50 miles home) and he said I wouldn't have a problem.
I got 1.5 miles down the road, feeling awesome. All of a sudden no matter what I did I couldn't take any air in (so not asthma). We turned around and drove to the campsite.
I'm wondering if I should go back again, or if my expectations were just too high. I really feel darned good, as good as I did a month ago. In fact, thinking of riding in tomorrow.

[Biciclista]

I'd say a month, but i'm not a doctor. take it slow, pneumonia is nothing to fool around with

[KnottedYet]

Coughing up blood (even if it's just a "wee bit") means you are not healthy.

Contact your doctor.

[ultraviolet]

I had pneumonia once as a kid, and it left me pretty susceptible to it.

Since then, I've had full-blown pneumonia once and walking pneumonia several times as an adult. Every time it's taken me at least a week to return to feeling mostly human, and several weeks to feel confident doing anything resembling exercise.

Don't push yourself too hard, too soon. That's a quick path to making yourself more sick and stretching your recovery time out even further. It sucks, but patience with your body is your best friend here. It just takes time to heal.

[GingerbreadGirl]

I've had it quite badly, was hospitalized with it twice. I also have lupus so I weaken fast, but it is nothing to play on its own with either. Left untreated you can tear/rupture a lung (like I did). Also there are times when one medication doesn't do the trick and you may have to try another one or a second cycle. Believe it or not there are such things as lung pysical therapy also if you have trouble recovering. It hurts, you don't want to go there.

Did they do xrays? Did they take a culture? Are you coughing up mucus?

Listen to your body!

[ny biker]

I agree with what's already been said.

I'm curious what asthma symptoms you usually experience. Inability to breathe in can be a symptom of restricted airways in an asthma attack.