Questions about treatment, alcohol and doctors in Phoenix

@1065408, Hello Barbara and welcome to our forum. There is a lot of information on older posts throughout our site if you want to take the time to look through them. when you click on the group, Bronchiectasis & MAC, you will see various topics listed. There is specific important info to be found there. Please check it out if you have not already. There is a website called http://www.ntminfo.org that has info on medications to treat MAC and new ones coming down the pike. They have a registry as well. I am signed in on it. It would be great if you would also, because the more people on it, the more it helps get funding from the gov't and others for research. Numbers of those of us affected is what makes agencies stand up notice that we need help. I am glad that you found us, please feel free to ask questions or share your experiences. By the way, how did you find us?

@1065408 Hi Barbara, I was diagnosed with bronchiectasis and MAC in October 2014 after coughing up a large amount of blood. I have opted not to take the "big three" antibiotics because my pulmonary doctor didn't think my condition was bad enough to warrant the risk of damages to my other organs with long-term drug treatment. Just like you, other than coughing and excessive mucus, I feel very normal. And my chest X-rays do not show any worsening of my lung conditions. And I have no breathing problems either. So my decision is to diligently keep an eye on the conditions of my lungs. As long as they are stable, no drugs. In fact, I've not gotten any medical treatment and the last chest X-ray actually showed some improvement in my lungs. In this group, there are people who have been treated with the "big three" and others have not or have stopped taking them after a period of time. So it is not mandatory that everybody with bronchiectasis and MAC absolutely has to be on the 3 major antibiotics. It all depends on whether one's conditions warrant them. Let's hope your conditions will be stable for the foreseeable future so you can get on with your life without much concern.

@trissi , Hello Trissi, welcome to our forum. I am glad that you found us. As Colleen has stated, alcohol and antibiotics do not go well together. I was always told that alcohol can kill the antibiotic's effectiveness. Another thing to consider is that the BIG 3 antibiotics can be hard on the liver, that is why they do routine liver function tests on you while taking them. You wouldn't want to tax the liver further with alcohol added to the mix. You are lucky in that you live not too far from the Mayo Clinic there. Have you considered being seen there?

@trissi Trissi, I hope you will take the time to read over older posts, especially those by @katemn, she had lots of good info. Also, I recommend that you Google all that you can on the subject of avium bacterium and pseudomonas. Knowledge is power. Do you know if you also have a condition/disease called bronchiectasis? It commonly goes hand in hand with MAC infections. Feel free to ask questions or share your experiences.

@1065408 Hi Barbara, I was diagnosed with bronchiectasis and MAC in October 2014 after coughing up a large amount of blood. I have opted not to take the "big three" antibiotics because my pulmonary doctor didn't think my condition was bad enough to warrant the risk of damages to my other organs with long-term drug treatment. Just like you, other than coughing and excessive mucus, I feel very normal. And my chest X-rays do not show any worsening of my lung conditions. And I have no breathing problems either. So my decision is to diligently keep an eye on the conditions of my lungs. As long as they are stable, no drugs. In fact, I've not gotten any medical treatment and the last chest X-ray actually showed some improvement in my lungs. In this group, there are people who have been treated with the "big three" and others have not or have stopped taking them after a period of time. So it is not mandatory that everybody with bronchiectasis and MAC absolutely has to be on the 3 major antibiotics. It all depends on whether one's conditions warrant them. Let's hope your conditions will be stable for the foreseeable future so you can get on with your life without much concern.

@1065408 Hi Barbara, I was diagnosed with bronchiectasis and MAC in October 2014 after coughing up a large amount of blood. I have opted not to take the "big three" antibiotics because my pulmonary doctor didn't think my condition was bad enough to warrant the risk of damages to my other organs with long-term drug treatment. Just like you, other than coughing and excessive mucus, I feel very normal. And my chest X-rays do not show any worsening of my lung conditions. And I have no breathing problems either. So my decision is to diligently keep an eye on the conditions of my lungs. As long as they are stable, no drugs. In fact, I've not gotten any medical treatment and the last chest X-ray actually showed some improvement in my lungs. In this group, there are people who have been treated with the "big three" and others have not or have stopped taking them after a period of time. So it is not mandatory that everybody with bronchiectasis and MAC absolutely has to be on the 3 major antibiotics. It all depends on whether one's conditions warrant them. Let's hope your conditions will be stable for the foreseeable future so you can get on with your life without much concern.

@1065408 Hi Barbara, I was diagnosed with bronchiectasis and MAC in October 2014 after coughing up a large amount of blood. I have opted not to take the "big three" antibiotics because my pulmonary doctor didn't think my condition was bad enough to warrant the risk of damages to my other organs with long-term drug treatment. Just like you, other than coughing and excessive mucus, I feel very normal. And my chest X-rays do not show any worsening of my lung conditions. And I have no breathing problems either. So my decision is to diligently keep an eye on the conditions of my lungs. As long as they are stable, no drugs. In fact, I've not gotten any medical treatment and the last chest X-ray actually showed some improvement in my lungs. In this group, there are people who have been treated with the "big three" and others have not or have stopped taking them after a period of time. So it is not mandatory that everybody with bronchiectasis and MAC absolutely has to be on the 3 major antibiotics. It all depends on whether one's conditions warrant them. Let's hope your conditions will be stable for the foreseeable future so you can get on with your life without much concern.

@1065408 Hi Barbara, I was diagnosed with bronchiectasis and MAC in October 2014 after coughing up a large amount of blood. I have opted not to take the "big three" antibiotics because my pulmonary doctor didn't think my condition was bad enough to warrant the risk of damages to my other organs with long-term drug treatment. Just like you, other than coughing and excessive mucus, I feel very normal. And my chest X-rays do not show any worsening of my lung conditions. And I have no breathing problems either. So my decision is to diligently keep an eye on the conditions of my lungs. As long as they are stable, no drugs. In fact, I've not gotten any medical treatment and the last chest X-ray actually showed some improvement in my lungs. In this group, there are people who have been treated with the "big three" and others have not or have stopped taking them after a period of time. So it is not mandatory that everybody with bronchiectasis and MAC absolutely has to be on the 3 major antibiotics. It all depends on whether one's conditions warrant them. Let's hope your conditions will be stable for the foreseeable future so you can get on with your life without much concern.

@1065408 Hi Barbara, I was diagnosed with bronchiectasis and MAC in October 2014 after coughing up a large amount of blood. I have opted not to take the "big three" antibiotics because my pulmonary doctor didn't think my condition was bad enough to warrant the risk of damages to my other organs with long-term drug treatment. Just like you, other than coughing and excessive mucus, I feel very normal. And my chest X-rays do not show any worsening of my lung conditions. And I have no breathing problems either. So my decision is to diligently keep an eye on the conditions of my lungs. As long as they are stable, no drugs. In fact, I've not gotten any medical treatment and the last chest X-ray actually showed some improvement in my lungs. In this group, there are people who have been treated with the "big three" and others have not or have stopped taking them after a period of time. So it is not mandatory that everybody with bronchiectasis and MAC absolutely has to be on the 3 major antibiotics. It all depends on whether one's conditions warrant them. Let's hope your conditions will be stable for the foreseeable future so you can get on with your life without much concern.