Signs and Symptoms of Bronchitis

6. Fatigue

A person with bronchitis will already be having a hard time breathing through a runny nose, and will also be exhausted from frequent coughing.  As mentioned in the previous page, these two factors can cause shortness of breath.  Now, add to these the fact that the persistent coughing can often prevent the person from having a decent night’s sleep, and you can imagine how fatigue can eventually set in.  Even with a lot of hours sleeping, because the sleep is frequently interrupted by coughing episodes, the quality of sleep is so low, the person still does not get as much rest as he or she needs to beat the infection.  What makes it even worse is that the body’s immune system is already working hard to overcome the infection, so that also takes its toll on the body’s energy stores.