Exacerbation symptoms

@spider109 Here are my key symptoms. Yours may vary.
Tight chest & extra need for inhaler (I also have asthma), profound fatigue (not relieved by a nap or a night of sleep), increased pain & body aches, day & night sweats, cough, increased mucus. Even when I was sickest with pseudo, I had little to no fever.

Hi!
I have Bronchiectasis and recently cleared MAC. An example of a temporary trigger for me is cleaning products and aerosol sprays. I immediately begin coughing, short of breath.
This normally resolve very quickly - in a few hours. Outside air quality can also be a trigger.
When full blown exacerbation-
I feel “ unwell” with fatigue, fever, cough, chest congestion, and more intense SOB.
Hope this helps!

For me it is slightly lower oxygen , by 1-2% for the first day, second,3 day low fever 99-100 and more cough, some more sputum not necessarily color changed, and intensified cough. And there is this strange thing- I can smell ozone in the air. It happened twice already so I think it’s the sign of the flare. I wait two days to see how it develops, then email my pulmonologist. If the office responds, I have a chest X-ray and once I took my sputum sample for respiratory culture to the lab. Then I would start an antibiotic. The last time the office did not respond quickly, I went to the hospital immediate care, was tested for Covid, flue and multiple respiratory viruses. One came back positive so based on this I was given prednisone no antibiotics. Well I still cough a looot but it’s only second day of the steroid. Oh at the IC clinic they checked my lungs, were clear. I will go there again in 2-3 days to check lungs. I am sorry it’s so long but I still cannot figure out the real definition of a flare and when to seek the medical attention

After a great spring and early summer I started experiencing mild shortness of breath (atypical for me) in early July. Last week I experienced significant hemoptysis two different days. (Two previous episodes September '23 led to my diagnosis.) My pulmonologist wants me to come in and has no openings until July 31st. He has told me he believes my bronchiectasis is mild. So, an exacerbation and I have no idea why so this is frustrating.

I get more short of breath without a lot of exertion. Sometimes night sweats kick in. I cough more and it can be tight or loose.

Hope you come out good today.

Thank you. Pulmonologist wants a CT since it's been awhile. He ruled out an infection and wasn't overly concerned.

I understand. My pulmonologist downplays how I feel….says mine is mild too, but I know how I feel. She also says there is rarely a need for antibiotics. Your thoughts?

I hope you get the answers you need and all is well.

In a world with perfect airway clearance antibiotics would be rarely needed. We all know how challenging clearance is -- the learning, the timing, the maneuvering, the equipment, the energy, et al. So many variables, which often result in less than perfect airway clearance. Many of us are colonized with some bacteria, which means it's established in our lungs but we don't get sick from it. That's where the clearance comes in -- to keep the colony down so that we don't get sick.

If exacerbations/infections are not properly treated with antibiotics the bronchiectasis gets worse. It's very specific to each person -- the extent of the disease, how effective airway clearance is, age, activity, comorbidities...