1. < MAC & Bronchiectasis

Did my Smoking 50 years ago cause Bronchiectasis

Posted by picartist @picartist, Jul 23 2:57pm

I don't see smoking shown much as the cause of bronchiectasis. I smoked over a pack a day until about 50 years ago when I quit cold turkey due to the first surgeon general's warning in the 1970s. I always had sinus issues mostly due to pollen and about five years ago starting coughing up mucus I thought came from the sinus. Eventually, I worked my way to a pulmonologist and was diagnosed. I never worked around chemicals or anything that I know of that could cause damage to my lungs.

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meh3 | @meh3 | Jul 26 10:21am
In reply to @winema "My experience suggests no one knows what caused any particular person's BE, and, as someone else..." + (show)
@winema

My experience suggests no one knows what caused any particular person's BE, and, as someone else said, there's likely not just one causal factor. When I was first diagnosed, the pulmonologist practically insisted that I must have be born prematurely. I was not, and he came close to calling me a liar. Others said my history of smoking was probably not a cause. One doc said perhaps the MAC caused the BE; seems to me the BE was a set-up for getting MAC (an opinion with which my current doc agrees); another said measles (which I had at age 4) could have caused it. My brothers smoked more than I, and one had a different lung disease, but neither had or has BE. So, who knows? I'm not sure it matters how any of us got the condition.

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You are so right! After researching BE and MAC in order to educate myself for my next Pulmonologist appointment, I came to the realization that it just doesn't matter to me what caused it because playing the blame game profits no one. I need to stay positive and focus on staying as healthy as possible.

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picartist | @picartist | Jul 26 10:35am

I agree, you rely solely on your doctors and you're lifespan is shortened.

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winema | @winema | Jul 26 12:01pm
In reply to @jnmy "@winema We might not know exactly how we got Bronchiectasis, but it seems to matter that..." + (show)
@jnmy

@winema We might not know exactly how we got Bronchiectasis, but it seems to matter that pulmonologists make an attempt at testing to determine what might have caused the BE. MAC is more difficult to pinpoint?

The treatment might be altered depending on the reason for the development of the chronic condition. In my case, I had a energ doctor say that maybe they had missed something unusual but they thought it was asthma or sinus / post nasal drip or GERD. I have no asthma, some mild sinus occasionally and no GERD beyond what anyone might experience. Long story which I won’t get into, but it was just bad luck that my regular GP wasn’t really interested in spending time to diagnose. I was given an x ray very reluctantly and had to insist on seeing the report. I insisted on a second x ray. It’s simply a cautionary story for people who are not being taken seriously by a doctor.

I was not often at the GPs office before these symptoms. It’s best to be more proactive when there are real symptoms and obviously pulmonologists are far more knowledgeable and got the CT scan I had wanted and needed.

I’m fortunate right now. No MAC but I must be vigilant with airway clearance!

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This is so interesting to me; thank you for sharing your experience. I'd never heard of BE before I was dx'd with MAC--and when I was, I was asymptomatic except for CT scan and positive culture (from a bronchoscopy). So, the BE never bothered me! I was physically active most of my life and also very healthy. So, that's why it's a mystery to me and why I just haven't considered BE to be the issue; it's never going away but, like everyone, I have a shot at clearing the MAC infection.

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jnmy | @jnmy | 6 days ago

@winema You certainly do! All the best.
Every person’s BE experience seems to differ slightly with some common characteristics and thankfully with meds and clearance etc there can be improvement in symptoms. My wis… that every physician be aware of the huff cough and the importance of airway clearance!

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