Alcohol Consumption

Oddly my dr didn’t give me any warnings but because of the potential liver issues which you will be monitored for, one of the 3 has a warning label to not consume any alcohol. I forgot which one but likely the Ethambutol.

@tropauer It wasn't my pulmonologist who talked to me about alcohol, but my PCP of over 20 years, who knows I like a cocktail or glass of with dinner. Her advice was a blunt "Don't drink on these meds. The risk of liver damage is greatly increased. " I followed her advice for the almost-two-years on antibiotics, with one exception (okayed by th ID doc) - a holiday from the meds for 2 weeks from my daughter's birthday through New Year's days - and then I imbibe lightly. I finished with no change in liver or kidney function and am still fine 6 years later. (And MAC free.)

My ID doctor said to abstain until we had done at least two sets of labs to see how my liver enzymes were doing. After that, I was cleared to have a glass of wine for "Zoom Happy Hour" on Fridays (I was on the meds during COVID) and my ASL and AST levels never seemed impacted.

Now, my GARMIN watch tells me anytime I imbibe how bad alcohol is for my body, so that keeps me from being much of a drinker these days, even though I've been off the meds for three years.

I like to have a glass of wine in the evening but, because of all the warnings of liver damage and I’ve noticed that I don’t metabolize alcohol very well anymore at 78 years old, I started drinking Bota box Breeze which is Much lighter in alcohol and is a decent enough taste. They now have red and white to choose from. I got the idea from a friend of mine who came back from Spain/Portugal and said they drink a very light white wine all day called Vino Verte and this is very close to it, easy to find and less $.

I will have a glasss but use club soda. So is a sparkly watered down version. Nice when it’s warm out.

@laureltn I probably have a drink or one glass of wine two or three times a month. Way down since beginning my Big 3. Dr didn’t think this would cause any issues. And get my blood work done each visit to her.

@sueinmn Ive never heard of anyone becoming MAC-free!

You have now! My sputum cultures have been negative since mid-2020. And my CT scans show no nodules or ground glass opacities, and no progression of bronchiectasis. According to my pulmonologists, I am considered MAC-free.
Other members have similar stories.

@sueinmn I am curious, Sue. What do you think were the main things that turned your cultures negative? Do you think you would have turned negative without the antibiotics?

@juliea55 I think chances of converting without antibiotics was not good because my infection was severe, and the last 6 months I took them daily.
But the real turning point was adding 7% saline nebs to the my airway clearance. I started with 3x per day, after 2 negative cultures reduced to twice daily. After 2 years went to once daily, now once or twice a week unless I feel anything respiratory coming on. Still do daily airway clearance. And I keep my asthma and allergies under control.