Anyone have Athsma & Bronchiectasis?

Posted by lreid51 @lreid51, Jan 27 11:16pm

Hello everyone — I’m new here and glad to join this community. I have asthma and recently learned I also have bronchiectasis, and I’m trying to understand how the two conditions interact in real life.
Has anyone here been diagnosed with both asthma and bronchiectasis? If so, could you share:
• What treatments or routines helped the most (inhalers, airway clearance techniques, physiotherapy, mucolytic, long term or inhaled antibiotics, macrolides, etc.).
• How you manage infections and whether you work with a respirologist, infectious disease specialist, or chest physiotherapist.
• Any practical tips for daily life: managing sputum, exercise, travel, vaccinations, or recognizing when to seek urgent care.
• What tests or specialists were most helpful in getting the right diagnosis and treatment plan.
I appreciate any personal experiences, specific strategies, or resources you found useful. Thank you — your insights will really help me figure out next steps.
— Lynn

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narelled23 | @narelled23 | Feb 9 12:26am

In reply to @pacathy "@narelled23 It’s a bit of a saga. I’ll just cover the 6 months that got me..." + (show)

@pacathy Thank you. That is quite a journey. Glad that it seems to be helping you though.

I do have post nasal drip and in the early days was trialed with various sprays and inhalers, can't remember which now, over 20 years ago. I don't recall anything which made any great difference, but I do produce huge amounts of mucus...3 cups a day, and I often wonder how much my nasal issue/sinuses are contributing. I have from time to time used the saline nasal rinses, which do seem to help...I don't maintain it though, probably with all the rest that needs to be done with hypertonic saline nebbing, airway clearance, etc.

pacathy | @pacathy | Feb 9 8:23am

In reply to @narelled23 "@pacathy Thank you. That is quite a journey. Glad that it seems to be helping you..." + (show)

@narelled23 I had it for years, too, though it was worse the 2 years before my chest CT that got attention. I thinkthe excessive drainage starts to seem “normal” to us.
I was strongly encouraged to get the drainage under control by first pulmonologist. Microaspiration of the secretions is one theory for my bronchiectasis. The other is that I had MAC and cleared it. My CT’s looked like MAC, but Mayo did a bronch and the sputum was negative. Note-my local ENT (a top doc) didn’t buy that as a cause initially, but to his credit, he did research and found it could. I don’t cough up mucus now and only got up small amounts from lungs initially.

I use the NeilMed Squeezie bottle since it can be boiled and use the distilled water (keep it in sterilized bottles) I use. I use my Bololo and do several bottles at a time, so easier than it sounds. The sinus rinses are the med I’d like to ditch most, but I get hoarse again when I try to wean. Before Mayo prescribed their triple spray, local doc gave me Azelastine, which also helped a lot. The Ipratropium is my fav for its quick action, but some think it’s too drying.
Good luck.

scoop | @scoop | Feb 9 10:04am

In reply to @pacathy "@narelled23 I had it for years, too, though it was worse the 2 years before my..." + (show)

@pacathy quick question: before you got your sinus drainage under control, did you produce chest mucus?

pacathy | @pacathy | Feb 9 11:09am

In reply to @scoop "@pacathy quick question: before you got your sinus drainage under control, did you produce chest mucus?" + (show)

@scoop I had could get specimens those first few months. By the time I went to Mayo, I was drying up. I was on Astepro by then and it had been a miracle for my horrid coughing episodes.. I was doing normal saline irrigations too, but can’t remember if I was still using the little bottles or had switched to large volume saline without the steroid. Local ENT had me switch to large volume around that time. They held off on steroids in sprays and in flush bottle until MAC results came back negative.
After I got on all the meds, I’ve only been able to get a very few specimens, though I occ get a little yellow sputum up.

narelled23 | @narelled23 | Feb 10 12:04am

In reply to @pacathy "@narelled23 I had it for years, too, though it was worse the 2 years before my..." + (show)

@pacathy Thank you. I was more aware of the post nasal drip in the early days. Maybe I am just more used to it now. I certainly have no shortage of sputum!

pacathy | @pacathy | Feb 10 5:11am

In reply to @scoop "@pacathy quick question: before you got your sinus drainage under control, did you produce chest mucus?" + (show)

@scoop I have never coughed out a cup or more of mucus a day like some do. Even when I had my horrid cough before Azelastine, it was mostly dry. I did produce enough chest mucus to get specimens easily. Sometimes I’d also cough up the yellow post nasal drainage that felt as if it was just below throat. My cough reflex was definitely intact. That first pulmonologist told me post nasal drainage could seep down while sleeping. He called it microaspiration.

gallahad | @gallahad | Feb 10 5:40am

Thank you all for sharing. This is my first time on Mayo Connect and I now know I'm not alone. They're still working on my total diagnosis but bronchiectesis and some form of ILD are part of the story. The only treatment to date has been three different inhalers and the neti, but they don't seem to do much. I'm anxious for an answer to the coughing fits and something to prevent further damage to my lungs. It all started with the sinus drainage for which I was treated for allergies for over two years. My voice is chronically "hoarse." Will it ever go back to normal? I'm frustrated by the lack of urgency by the medical community.

pacathy | @pacathy | Feb 10 8:23am

In reply to @scoop "@pacathy quick question: before you got your sinus drainage under control, did you produce chest mucus?" + (show)

@scoop As I was driving, I thought about this more and thought you might be interested in knowing that in Japan, doctors seem to diagnose “sinobronchial syndrome” with some regularity. I searched Pubmed early when pulmonologist was saying it was likely sinus drainage causing CT changes and ENT said I don’t think so. There were a few papers from Japan and 1 Western. I won’t have time this week to deep dive, but thought you might want to take a look.

rmoore901 | @rmoore901 | Feb 10 8:56am

In reply to @gallahad "Thank you all for sharing. This is my first time on Mayo Connect and I now..." + (show)

@gallahad if they are looking at ILD are they doing auto immune testing? I am learning there is a strong connection between the two. Was the BE and ILD diagnosed via a CT scan? The hoarseness I have been told is a side effect from the inhalers however it can also be due to reflux. There is great information here, definitely read about the ABC’s which you can find by searching to read up on nebuluzing and airway clearance.

gallahad | @gallahad | Feb 10 9:30am

They have done extensive testing and I've met with Rheumatologists and had multiple CT scans. I'm hoping for a treatment plan soon. As the inhalers don't seem to do much I'm minimizing their use hoping for my voice to return. They have me on oxygen for when I'm active. I've never smoked anything!! Never been sick. This is scary.

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