Thrush! Forever…

Hi @lluth412
Oh yes, I understand. Despite all of the 'precautions' thrush hounded me.... until I started taking Nyastatin liquid. I take 5 ml [1 tsp] hold in mouth then swallow. This seems to 'get' the Thrush that is down my throat.
Then, following the Nystatin liquid, I take 15 ml of 'Magic Mouthwash'. This is the mouthwash given to cancer patients for thrush. This is not swallowed; swished, held in mouth then spat out.
This combination works for me. It is wonderful to have my throat back without the soreness.
I do not have the full medication list of ingredients, but contains of several a fungicides, anti-biotics and lidocaine.
Hope this helps.

Well this gold!! Thank you so much @thisoldewe! Going to ask the pulm to send over a prescription for the magic mouthwash while I am on diflucan and if that doesn’t work I can go back tot his combo. Looking forward to having my throat/normal voice back.

Great! Hope this works for you.
Let me know.

@lluth412
What did your ENT or pulmonologist say about this?

I take Advair (the generic form) and was warned about thrush and to wash mouth out and gargle immediately after doing inhaler. The Advair is the only inhaler that I can say worked for me to remove the irritation in my bronchial tubes.

I see you are doing what you are suppose to do but still got it. Are you taking anything else with steroids in it?

Hopefully MCC will provide you with feedback of what worked for them to prevent it.

@jc76
ENT wasn’t sure it was thrush (mentioned maybe just residual from all the meds?) pulmonologist just keeps throwing meds at it. Both responses are frustrating. Fortunately Mayo visit is in three weeks…

And yes I am on prednisone 10 mg at the moment. I’ve been on it since June and started at 40 mg. Every time I taper to 5 mg every other day my lungs get real angry. So I think the thrush is a combo of simbacort , prednisone and my rescue inhaler airsupra.

I’m glad you don’t have it! Keep rinsing!

@lluth412
Which Mayo are you going to? I am at Mayo Jacksonville.

I remember when recovering from bronchial infection I asked for more prednizone but they would not prescribed anymore (was on second round of it).

I went through a lot of inhalers until the Advair did the trick and really helped. I also take Xhance (nasal steriod spray) for nasal polyps.

I first tried Atrovent (made it worse), then Abeterol helped but did not prevent (was told later this is a reactive medication not a preventative one, then Advair (which I was told by several of my specialists is preventative medications) and it worked.

The irritation, wheezing, phelm, mucus all improved. Still have a stranger cough now that sounds hoarse but don't cough up mucus like I was.

As you can see Mayo kept trying until something worked. It was my PCP that went with Advair (generic) which was the least expensive of all. I see pulmonologist next week for follow up. I am also seein a specialist (subsection of pulmonolgy speech) for breathing therapy and improving lung function. All say continue taking Mucinex as helps keep mucus thin and easily expelled.

I think you will find Mayo outstanding but let them know everything don't over look anything with them as it all plays together.

I am going to Mayo Rochester.

Our issue with prednisone is nothing else has worked so far. They do not know what I have - I am a complete mystery. None of my tests, CT scans etc fit any definitive diagnosis. It has confounded my pulmonologist here and right now we are just trying different things to tamp down the mucus from building in my lungs. I am looking forward to a new opinion from the Mayo team. And trying new things that are not as icky as prednisone.

If you have any questions/topics that you think really helped at your first appt I would love to hear them!

Lisa

@lluth412
You are going to one of the most outstanding clinics.

What I did was do research on WEB MD, Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic and looked up bronchial mucus, and your symptoms, etc. I got a lot of information that way.

Write down your questions AND tell them that you have written down questions. That way they know you have them and will devote the time to listening to them.

Questions: It is very important to asked questions to what you are experiencing and anything you have found that aggravates (triggers) it or helps improve it. Let them know your treatments and what worked and did not work. Also let them know you have been on steroids quite a bit.

Asked your pulmonologist about allergies. The are known triggers. You can have allergies inside your home and outside. If you do not address allergies they can remain a trigger to your symptoms. I use a lot of air purifirers and nasal rinses.

Are your triggers psychological. This means stress, anxiety, etc. which all cause inflammation and can be a trigger. I have a known trigger when I do Sprint Triathlons during the swim phase. I tighten up, fear the swim, and then coughing and breathing issues start. Other times can smell something and a dozen sneezes and coughing up phelm. Then eat something and same. So baiscally I am a mess!

Asked about pulmanary fuction tests. It can rule out know triggers but problem with that it is known triggers and still might not find yours. I had this test and quite thorough.

The advair has helped far more than Atrovent, Alberotrol. But I still have flare ups and try to narrow down what triggered it. I like doing the saline rinses. I think my triggers are psycological, allergies, and past infections of the bronchial tubes.

Hi, @lluth412 - wondering if you got to the bottom of whether you have thrush, some residual from your combination of meds or something else?

Good morning,
My ENT said it was residual from meds and the pulmonologist reversed his thinking. Mayo said it wasn’t thrush either (I probably had thrush in the beginning but the first med knocked it out I'm sure). I now brush my teeth after my inhaler and have a small mouthwash bottle I carry with my rescue inhaler. I also bought a tongue scraper and that helps get residual off. Best I can do (it still has stripes of white running along each side of my tongue).

Lisa