Have Bronchiectasis, recently diagnosed with pseudomonas

My name is Connie. My pseudo doesnt respond to Cipro now or Levoquin or another drug given by IV Astreonam. My pulmonary dr refers me to ID dr who does a sputum test and never calls me back. I am now getting IV gammaplex after sub q stopped working from immunologist. But now I am sick again. So darn frustrating!

This. 'bug' seems different because my head hurts so bad when I cough!

@loveocean Connie, Welcome to a great Community of woman that are there for one another through the good & bad! Use this forum to help gain information on so many things related to MAC/Bronchectasis. The KNOWLEDGE is endless & priceless!!! You are connecting with people who know lots of "stuff" because they have gone through it & they want to help you by sharing their own experiences with you. Also use this forum as a means of SUPPORT. We will be hear to LISTEN & to offer suggestions to help get you through & to help LIFT YOU UP & CHEER YOU ON!!!!!! So happy to have you join the group!!!

I hear your frustration & I hope you get feedback that is helpful & comforting. A big benefit to being a part of this group/forum is that you will be able to relate to others & it helps to know you are not alone in this. Genuinely caring people are here, waiting to listen, to help educate, to offer comfort & to cheer you on! I hope you "get" what you need from this group/forum as well as get what you didn't even expect! Welcome, Connie! Best, Jen 🙂

@luvocean, Connie, I know it is tough when you feel so lousy .. BUT YOU must be your own best advocate .. NOBODY is going to do it for you! You CALL THAT ID doctor and tell them you are on the MAYO CLINIC CONNECT, ROCHESTER MN Forum and they are SHOCKED that in your condition he is not answering your phone calls! You do NOT have to be nice! Remember "The squeaky wheel gets the oil!" This just irritates the heck out of me that you are NOT responding to meds .. have been referred .. AND not getting responses to your phone calls! REMEMBER .. you are given but ONE BODY in this lifetime .. if YOU don't take care of it .. how can it possible take care of you for the rest of your life! Do you think that doctor cares as much as you do?? Heck No! You get on that phone tomorrow and get some answers!! Sit down tonight .. write out exactly what your symptoms HAVE been/ CURRENTLY are/ what you WANT from this doctor / WHEN you want action. ASK what he is looking for from that sputum culture AND when the result will be back!! AND what the plan of action will be based on the probable results of the culture. THEN be firm! YOU are the EMPLOYER .. HE is the employee .. don't you EVER forget that .. even when you feel lousy! I'm sending you a Hug and Lots of strenght! Katherine

My last four sputum tests have come back negative -- which I don't understand. I did them only because my coughing had recurred and was producing tremendous amounts of green phlegm. How can you have a negative sputum test while coughing with great production?

@auntnanny .. Jan, green sputum usually means pseudomonas. PLEASE have your doctor check for this. Hugs Katherine

From my File Cabinet:
PSEUDEMONIS INFECTION- COUGHING BADLY Member @windwalker, Terri I am on a bi-monthly cycle of 28 days on tobramycin (inhaled antibiotic with nebulizer) then 10 days off, then 10 days on cipro, then 10 days off, then back on tobramycin.

Member @pamelasc1, Pamela, and @jentaylor My cough got much worse and I was coughing up stuff I could not believe - my doctor had the sputum tested for pseudemonis, and that is what I had, above and beyond the MAC - has to be treated with Levofloxacin. Once I got on that, it cleared up within 3 weeks and no more coughing up terrible stuff - you may want to get a test for pseudemonis, just to rule it out. The sputum had a distinct taste, smell & color (dark gray & dark green) or color was off white, gray maybe a bit greenish, but mostly grey - and very thick and mucousy.
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=20161
Member @tay4rake I too was diagnosed with pseudomonas after having MAC two times. The first treatment for pseudomonas was a 14 day Rx of Ciprofloxacin. I felt better immediately and the symptoms went away. Within 2 weeks of finishing my Rx the symptoms started to come back. My sputum was retested and I still had pseudomonas. I was prescribed the Tobymycin Inhaler for 30 days. I have very good insurance but my out of pocket was over $1000. It was worth every penny. The Tobymycin worked and I have been feeling major symptom free since I finished it May 2016.

Member @windwalker, Terri Healthwell is a charitable organization that helps with your co-pay if you fall within a certain financial bracket. They helped pay for my tobramycin. Am super grateful for it. I do donate voluntarily back to them some $$ to give back and help replenish their funds. Hope this helps. Also, if any of you out there want to donate to them, it is a tax deductible item. Plus, it helps many people, especially those with Cystic Fibrosis. (Tobymycin is expensive, but there are other charities that help pay for it. The specialized Walgreen's pharmacy has a list of those charities. Treatment with 'Toby' is ONE drug, nebulized straight into the lungs, no harsh side-effects.)

Member @shiell I have read everything today that I find on this site. I am beginning a 28 day therapy with inhaled tobramycin. I am 87 and relatively active. Caretaker part time for spouse with end stage COPD. Thanks for being here. .. and .. After beginning tobramycin inhalation I developed what was believed to be "orbital cellulitus", hospitalized, put on oxygen( never had been before) my skin and eye looked bad. The eye doc though "contact dermatitis". After three days was discharged and saw my eye doc four days later. Eye looks pretty good prescribed Tobra ointment, used that night, same eye next A.M. back to doc. Now doing the inhaling, not believing I'm tied to the O2

Yes, I worry the tests may not be accurate but the same lab is doing the cultures that earlier reported pseudomonas -- they just don't see it at this time. I use a nebulizer twice daily with albuterol followed by saline. And, do antibiotics according to the sputum results. Dr. Moua is great to call or contact me when I send in reports. Do you know anyone else using him at Mayo's????

@shiell Was it the tobramycin that caused you to have the orbital cellulitus? - Terri M.

Jan, I would ask what they specifically tested you for that came back negative. You may have something that wasn't on the test request. It could also be an ordinary infection of sorts. Even those can turn into worse conditions inviting the bad bugs back (MAC & pseudomonas) My drs have always put me on antibiotics when I get a lung infection of any kind. When you have bronchiecstasis; even a common cold can morph into pneumonia because our lungs are diseased and weakened.

I don't understand everything that is written on the script for the sputum testing. It has been the same lab for the last two years and it's been only the last four tests that have been negative for bacteria. Prior to that there was MRSA a few times, MSSA on other occasions and pseudomonas once. The pseudomonas were treated with cipro and didn't show up again after that. MAC was just a tiny bit at Mayo's and the pulmonologists working with me there made a consensus opinion that it wasn't enough that they wanted to do the 3-antibiotic therapy. We continued to do sputum testing and after about three months, it hasn't shown since then. I know tobrymacin (sp) is one of the drugs that will be used if I slip backwards at all. So far, I guess I'm okay. They told me upfront it is chronic and that they cannot cure it but they felt they could manage it. So, their regimen at this point has been treating with the antibiotics shown to be effective on whatever bacteria shows in the tests. When the negative tests occur, we still do 10 days of an antibiotic and that so far as kept me going. I'll be clear for 3-5 weeks after that. Yes, I was told upfront that I would easily contract peumonia but it will be three years this fall...... and I have been blessed and haven't been ill.

I have met a lady in Colorado Springs (retired schoolteacher) who uses National Jewish and feels that are by far the best place to be. She was diagnosed about 15 years ago and she does bronchoscopies usually once monthly. She is unable to cough up the mucus plugs and they do that to test for bacteria versus the sputum testing because she can't get a sample that way. She also uses the specialized vest to help her be able to cough. I can cough it up very easily so I haven't needed to do some of the things she does to give a sample. She had pseudomonas at one time also.

I'm sorry I can't give you more specifics on the tests I do but I know nothing more than what they tell me. Thanks so much for caring. Jan