Hemoptysis - wonder what others do

Posted by wsbme74 @wsbme74, Jun 11 7:12am

Hi. I have asthma and mild Bronchiectasis, diagnosed with the latter last year. I have had small spots of blood when clearly fighting an infection on a couple of occasions. However, the last couple of days, I have had a couple of bright red blood spots (not large, but always alarming!) in my clear mucus. I don't have a cough or fever. Noticing a little chest tightness but not a lot. I usually neb with levalbutirol followed by either 3% or 7% saline (usually a mix to get to about 5% as best tolerated) in the morning plus aerobika and breathing exercises and then aerobika and postural drainage in the evening. I sometimes neb in the evening as well - if I am fighting something or have been around potential germs, which I did twice this weekend.

I have held off using the saline over the last 24-hours as don't wish to aggravate the situation. But, of course, I also don't want to make things worse by not doing airway clearance! My pulmonologist isn't the most-versed in Bronchiectasis nor readily-available. But in Maine, they are all in short supply!

Just wondering what others do or have been instructed to do with any signs of hemoptysis when it's a small amount. Thanks!

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

@sueinmn

@karen10225 This stupid disease throws nasty curve balls at us all the time, and certainly unexpected bleeding is near the top of the list! It is really scary the first time it happens, just like the first time you cough so hard you can't catch your breath and maybe are even "seeing stars."
I see that a lot of people here have shared their own stories about hemoptysis, and how they have learned to deal with it.
What I wish I had done back at the time of my diagnosis was to talk to a therapist about ALL of my fears surrounding MAC & Bronchiectasis - I'm pretty sure I would have managed better. As it was, I had a very compassionate long-time primary caregiver who cleared her calendar more than once to counsel me - and she finally put me in touch with a therapist who handles pain management and chronic illness. She has helped me get to a good place, and now I just touch base with her a few times a year.
Do you have someone you can talk to?

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Sue,
I have started using 7 percent saline instead of three, but now I have bloody mucus more often so I am going to use three again. Is it likely that the seven percent is causing the extra bloody mucus because it is so harsh and I cough so much more using it? It scares me every time no matter how hard I try to accept it as part of this disease! Do others have this problem with the seven percent?
Help!

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