Thanks, Terri, for your quick and supportive reply to my questions about taking probiotics with the antibiotic cocktail for MAC. My name is Sally, and I am 72 years old. I was just diagnosed with MAC, after I had suffered from 7 months of fatiguing coughing and throat-clearing. I had been to a number of doctors, who had diagnosed asthma, acid reflux, and possible heart probs. After a negative stress-echo cardiogram, and trying the acid-free diet, I found a great pulmonolgist at the University of Michigan, who immediately ordered a CAT scan and then a bronchioscopy, after seeing infection on the lungs on the scan. I will say that the bronchioscopy at the U-M was easy - they did put me out, It was similar to the mild sleep-state which you experience with a colonoscopy, except there was none of the dreaded preparation the night before! I was happy to have the bronchioscopy because it has offered a very nuanced diagnosis of pseudomonas (which cultured out after only a week in the Petrie dish) and MAC, which just showed up, after 3 weeks. I have been away from Ann Arbor for some weeks, so my doctor has been giving me these results over the phone. I will return to U-M next week to have another consultation with him and then to begin the MAC antibiotic treatment.
So I am very grateful to you, Terri, for your info regarding baseline testing for eyes, hearing, liver and kidneys. I will discuss these with the doc next week. And, Carolyn, thank you for your suggestion about Florastor, which your GI doctor prescribed for you to help your stomach withstand the meds. And, Robyn, I appreciate your recommendation of Renew Life probiotics, with 30 billion live cultures. I will look into this too. I hope to meet with a Nutritionist at the U-M next week to seek counsel about an immune-system-building diet, since a diminished immune system makes us more susceptible to lung bacteria.
I am much comforted to have found you all, appreciate your support and wish you well with your challenges. Sally