(MAC/MAI) Mycobacterium Avium Complex Pulmonary Disease: Join us

Posted by Katherine, Alumni Mentor @katemn, Nov 21, 2011

I am new to Mayo online .. I was hoping to find others with .. MYCOBACTERIUM AVIUM COMPLEX PULMONARY DISEASE (MAC/MAI) and/or BRONCHIECTASIS. I found only 1 thread on mycobacterium accidently under the catagory "Lungs". I'm hoping by starting a subject matter directly related to MYCOBACTERIUM AVIUM COMPLEX PULMONARY DISEASE (MAC/MAI) I may find others out there!

I was diagnosed by a sputum culture August 2007 (but the culture result was accidentally misfiled until 2008!) with MYCOBACTERIUM AVIUM COMPLEX PULMONARY DISEASE (MAC/MAI) and BRONCHIECTASIS. I am now on 5 antibiotics. Working with Dr. Timothy Aksamit at Rochester Mayo Clinic .. he is a saint to have put up with me this long! I was terrified of the treatment . started the first antibiotic September 3, 2011 ... am now on all 5 antibiotics for 18 mos to 2 years. Am delighted at the very bearable side effects!

I wrote on the 1 thread I found: If you google NON-TUBERCULOUS MYCOBACTERIUM AVIUM COMPLEX PULMONARY DISEASE (MAC/MAI) you will learn a LOT about the disease. But PLEASE do NOT get scared about all the things you read .. that is what I did and nearly refused to do the treatment until after a 2nd Micomacterium was discovered! Educate yourself for "due diligence" .. but take it all with a grain of salt .. you are NOT necessarily going to have all the terrible side effects of the antibiotics! Good luck to you!

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January 2017 Update

One of our great Connect Members .. @Paula_MAC2007  .. had a wonderfully helpful idea that I wanted to share! Her idea .. as you read through the pages to gather information on our shared disease of MAC you can develop a personal "file cabinet" for future reference without the necessity of reading all the pages again!

If you have the "MS Word" program on your computer:
- Document Title Example:  Mayo Clinic Connect MAI/MAC Information
- Then develop different categories that make sense to you such as:  Heath Aids .. Videos .. Healthy Living .. Positive Thinking .. Baseline Testing and Regular Testing .. Antibiotics ..
Tips for
- As you read the pages .. copy/paste/save things of interest into that MS Word document under your preferred categories for future reference.

Then as you want to refer back to something in the future .. YEAH!  You have now created your own personal "file cabinet" on MAC/MAI!  Go to it!

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the MAC & Bronchiectasis Support Group.

@dcoburn

I have just started my MAC journey and the pulmonologist I saw yesterday recommended a chest wall oscillation therapy vest to clear the mucous from my lungs, twice a day for ten minutes. Sure beats all those horrible anti-biotic treatments - if it works! He said that Medicare would pay for it. Not sure whether they would buy it for us (those on Medicare) or pay for the rental. It is quite expensive. Since I am a new member, I was not able to put in the link, but, if you're interested, google for chest wall oscillation therapy vest.

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I am sorry that you had to join our group. I have found it to be very helpful and have appreciated everyone's desire to help the rest of the group. I don't feel as lost and I am better able to formulate my questions when I go to the doctor.

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Just to put it out there. How many people in this group were able to take the 3 antibiotics for at least a year?

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@jkiemen

Just to put it out there. How many people in this group were able to take the 3 antibiotics for at least a year?

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I made it 15 weeks. I got so sick I had to get help from my friends to fix food. Finally had to move in with a friend. Did not realize it was the meds making me sick until I stopped them. Stopped Nov 6 and got a lot better, still not much energy, but was walking 5000+ steps daily and increasing. Tried meds again after three weeks. Took two doses and got very ill. So, that was it for me. Feeling tired even though I am sleeping well. Going home Friday to try staying by myself. My friends will still be helping. I have read a lot, and very few people have been able to tolerate the meds. The few that did had the MAC come back.

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@dcoburn

I have just started my MAC journey and the pulmonologist I saw yesterday recommended a chest wall oscillation therapy vest to clear the mucous from my lungs, twice a day for ten minutes. Sure beats all those horrible anti-biotic treatments - if it works! He said that Medicare would pay for it. Not sure whether they would buy it for us (those on Medicare) or pay for the rental. It is quite expensive. Since I am a new member, I was not able to put in the link, but, if you're interested, google for chest wall oscillation therapy vest.

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If we have this information maybe we can compile it in a letter to the companies doing the Nitric Oxide studies. Novoclem Therapeutics uses a nitric oxide technology for the treatment of Cystic Fibrosis and other respiratory diseases. http://www.novoclem.com awhitaker@novoclem.com

Contacts
Contact: Chris C Miller, Ph.D. 778-899-0607 miller42@mail.ubc.ca

Locations
Canada, British Columbia
Diamond Centre Recruiting
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V5Z-1L8
Contact: Chris C Miller, Ph.D 778-899-0607 miller42@mail.ubc.ca
Sponsors and Collaborators
University of British Columbia
Novoteris, LLC
Investigators
Principal Investigator: Jeremy D Road, MD Professor

CONTACT
Steven Lisi, Chief Executive Officer
AIT Therapeutics, Inc.
Steve@AIT-Pharm.com

Bob Yedid
LifeSci Advisors, LLC
Bob@LifeSciAdvisors.com
(646) 597 6989

Johannes Lehmann of Technical University of Munich demonstrated that the new inhibitor blocks especially the enzymes Pks13 and Ag85, which play a key role in the development of mycomembranes. beta lactone EZ120

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@dcoburn

I have just started my MAC journey and the pulmonologist I saw yesterday recommended a chest wall oscillation therapy vest to clear the mucous from my lungs, twice a day for ten minutes. Sure beats all those horrible anti-biotic treatments - if it works! He said that Medicare would pay for it. Not sure whether they would buy it for us (those on Medicare) or pay for the rental. It is quite expensive. Since I am a new member, I was not able to put in the link, but, if you're interested, google for chest wall oscillation therapy vest.

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Thank you!

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@jkiemen

Just to put it out there. How many people in this group were able to take the 3 antibiotics for at least a year?

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I have taken the big 3 for 3 years. The first year was really realy horrible, queasy, flu like, slept half the day, not with it .GERD, etc(like a bad dream now), it has become a lot easier now, guess my body has become used to them. I still get the GERD but is quite controlled by omeprazole(not completely). I think I have also become better at controlling the symptoms.The big 3 are not an easy ride and we need something that can kill off the MAC not just make it dormant for a while. Very interesting question @jkiemen , will look forward to the answers.

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@suenfl

I am in Florida. I would love to take part in a nitrous oxide trial here, as many of you would. The problem is funding. The Canadian one that I know of, there may be others, has funding for 10 local people. I have MAC, diagnosed in July, 2017, but traced back to my open heart surgery in Nov, 2015. I was telling all of my Drs then, what symptoms I was having and they blew me off. No one paid any attention until I had pneumonia 5x in 7 mos. Taking the normal triple antibiotic therapy, but I am so sick from theses drugs. A lot of people are getting this, we need the drug companies, researchers, etc. to take notice and get some clinical trials started. Also Drs need to be more aware of the signs an symptoms so they can diagnose it correctly. Any of you that feel up to making phone calls, call everyone you can think of that can help directly or direct you to someone who can. It all comes down to getting the money to do the research.

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@unicorn so true!

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@jkiemen

Just to put it out there. How many people in this group were able to take the 3 antibiotics for at least a year?

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Hi there, I’ll make it a year in March. Definitely have days but all in all I’m doing ok. I’m also relatively young... vitamins & probiotics are essential.

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@jkiemen

Just to put it out there. How many people in this group were able to take the 3 antibiotics for at least a year?

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Dear Suenfl,

Meds can be worst than the Mac.  My doctor for the Mac infectiologist (my french friend on this site can tell if it is a good word) said the antibiotics doesn’t get ride of the Mac and can make some people very sick.  When I read how sick some people are

sick on this site I have never been that sick.  I treat myself with natural product.  My last broncho confirm I do not have the MAC anymore. I think it is due to the probiotic of Dr Ohirra i have taken but not sure.  I know one thing for sure that probiotic

give you good bacteria to fight the bad one.  If you eat a lot of sugar it will activate the bacteria they nourish on yeast and sugar according to my doctor.  Having a good diet without, sugar, starch and fried food works good for me.  Stay in good health! 

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