Treatment Option

@unicorn You will be in my thoughts and prayers. Hope that you get to feeling better, and that you find a treatment you will help you.

I lived in Saudi Arabia for 10 years and my Bronchiectasis was awful. So, the drier climate in my case was worse..

@sandraharthugomn thank you for taking the time to respond.. I am trying to figure out better options for health.

@cemcflc So sorry to hear about your mom's conditions. I was very healthy before being diagnosed with MAC and bronchiectasis. I had a big scare of coughing up large amount of blood that sent me to the ER. They initially thought I had TB but until the sputum test came back as positive for MAC infection. I was diagnosed with bronchiectasis at the same time, which I had not known that I had. But it all made sense why I had MAC infection. I've never smoked, either. MAC infections are more prevalent among older women and have acquired a nickname: Lade Windermere Syndrome (you can google the name and read about the origin of this nickname). Any long-term deliberate or involuntary effort to suppress coughs could lead to MAC infection because the phlegm that would have been coughed up through coughing is forced to stay in your bronchial tubes, creating a hot bed for bacteria. For me, the bronchiectasis causes the phlegm to be trapped in crevices as a result of damaged airways. Although I am able to cough up a bunch everyday, but more phlegm is generated than my ability to expel it. For people with normal bronchial functions, this would have been much of a problem as the mucus would have been able to move freely. Hopefully the doctors can find out what has caused your mom's MAC infection. She may or may not have bronchiectasis. But some condition must have caused the bacteria to be trapped inside her lungs to cause the infection.

@cowgirlmt, Years back, when I lived in Virginia, a very humid state, I would get bronchitis every year. I would visit family in Arizona and did discover that the dryer climate helped to dry out my lungs. I always felt better there, so I moved there in 1991. Within the first year, I caught Vally Fever. I was very sick for months and it put a small hole in my lung and several nodules. I recovered from that, but was sick with lung issues ever since. My oxygen levels were lower there due to the altitude. I hacked my lungs up every single day. I moved to Bluffton ,S.C. (near Hilton Head) five yrs ago. I live in a coastal town with very sandy soil. Because rainwater immediately drains away; it rarely ever feels damp here. Less dampness, equels less rotting leaves etc. which harbors mycobacteriums. I feel better here than I have in the last 25 yrs due to sea-level elevation, salt air, mild winters, and most of all, my wonderful care at MAYO CLINIC.

@dmarks, If you are talking to Cowgirlmt, she had a positive for a. mycobacterium intracellulare by a bronchioscope.

@unicorn Hi. Do you have a definitive date to go try the nitric oxide?

@windwalker I am considering moving back to central/eastern Montana. That is where I grew up, and all my family lives at. I never had any issues up there, some allergies during hay season but that is about all. It just will make it hard if I get sick because healthcare will mean flying or a long drive somewhere.. lol Depending on how I feel in the next couple of weeks my provider may be referring me to another infectious disease doctor located in either Shreveport, or New Orleans...

Sometimes it is confusing to treat or not to treat. If the infection is present, but not growing...sometimes you can monitor yourself with CT scans....I have MAC and am treated at national jewish hospital in denver. I have an infectious disease Dr. there and am currently back on meds due to growth of the disease evidenced by a CT scan. Always get the opinion of an infectious disease Dr. Let me know if I can help..

I am wondering if those that have taken the antibiotics (big 3) can tell me what were their main side effects and how they managed to minimize them. Was it mostly nausea or loose stool?