Connect
← Return to Update on my diagnosis and treatment
Discussion
Update on my diagnosis and treatment
MAC & Bronchiectasis | Last Active: Dec 18, 2024 | Replies (13)Comment receiving replies
Does your pulmonologist specialize in bronchiectasis? Have you learned about airway clearance techniques twice daily with albuterol and 3 or 7% saline? Lastly, why are you being treated with a steroid inhaler.? Although sometimes indicated, they can lower your immune response and cause susceptibility to infection and antibiotic resistance. Some require steroids for other lung diseases who also have BE. I have had short term oral steroids but only prescribed in severe exacerbation of BE/infection. I’m seeing a bronchiectasis specialist at Mayo Clinic and am being followed by my local pulmonologist as well. I’ve learned a great deal from this site and others. Over time, my anxiety over this diagnosis has decreased as I’ve learned about the disease and treatment protocols. It’s part of my daily routine. We do treatments that work for us as individuals and does not apply to everyone. Some may have other conditions that must be taken into account when developing a treatment plan. Wishing you the best in your journey.
Replies to "Does your pulmonologist specialize in bronchiectasis? Have you learned about airway clearance techniques twice daily with..."
Oh yeah, I actually do not have a lot of mucus. I would compare it to the normal amount when most people wake up in the morning and have to clear their throats. I have a little more with this lingering cold, but it still is not hindering my breathing at all.
Connect
I also have asthma, so we are treating the full bronchial tube for inflammation. He did find I had a secondary infection from a cold I caught a week before Thanksgiving, which set off my breathing problems. He gave me an antibiotic for that to take daily, and I am getting better. I had been on oral steroids for this, and he wanted me off them. I had only been on them for 5 days. He is treating the bronchiectasis first before the MAC. My chest is tight, at least that is what it feels like, and for the first time in probably 20-plus years, I get short of breath with no wheezing. I am taking the big 3. I am doing fine with them, so I will continue to see how I respond. I have just finished the second week today.
As for a specialist, he is very knowledgeable about the infection and such. He is also one who, if he needs more information or thinks I need a specialist, will do something about it. He is a member of a group. I know he is talking to the other doctors because both my mother and who has asbestos lungs, which she only found out about when she transferred to this group from Orange County. Also, my husband is being treated for pulmonary fibrosis. He was diagnosed over 10 years ago at such an early stage that he only notices it when he exercises. Because it was so early, his doctor put him on a medication that stopped the advancement of the disease. His is a very rare condition. I don't know if the doctor specializes in it. I do know that my husband has outlived most people who are diagnosed with it by at least 5 years and going.
Thank you for the information. I will put the question on the oral steroids on my list of questions for next month.