Chronic cough & sinusitis

Hi @anunez that must be so difficult to suddenly have this chronic cough and sinusitis after years of excellent health.

@tinaesims and @nannette both have experience with chronic cough and may be able to offer you support.

Since you mentioned bronchiectasis I wanted to share this link to the MAC & Bronchiectasis group on Connect where you can interact with others who are being treated for bronchiectasis: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/mac-bronchiectasis/

Back to you @anunez and your story, are you comfortable sharing some of the antibiotics or medications you have tried in the past?

Hi Ethan, thank you for your reply. I had wanted to post before but wasn't seeing the link to post. I am aware of the MAC & Bronchiectasis group and have read many of the stories there. I was not able to post there. In response to your question about medications. I initially I used Augmentin for the recurrent sinusitis and bronchitis. I was also prescribed an inhaler for asthma in 2017. Also a variety of allergy medications, flonase, azelastine nasal spray, OTC allergy pills, sinus rinses. It wasn't until September 2018 when I was referred to my sinus surgery doctor that my antibiotic was changed to Cipro after he did a culture and found pseudononas. I have had several sputum tests. A few have been positive for MAC but mostly negative. I have also been prescribed prednisone bursts a few times and antibiotics and steroids in my sinus rinse.

I am currently on two inhalers and started nebulizing 3 weeks ago with with 7% saline. I recently saw a infectious disease specialist. She was alarmed with how much I have been prescribed antibiotics. The nebulizer may help clear my air passages and prevent new infections but I continue to cough up phlegm and have constant irritation in my throat. I had a pretty good summer and early fall but my constant cough, sinus which won't drain due to thick mucous have been worse since late November. I have also had weight loss which may due to loss of appetite.

My pulmonologist was finally ready to consider a bronchoscopy when the COVID-19 crisis hit. Now it is a wait game as elective procedures are on hold. Also I would not want to go near a hospital now. Right now my primary goal is to stay safe.

I am looking into the possibility of changing insurance soon. It would not get me to the Mayo Clinic but perhaps Stanford or UCSF.

Thank you

@anunez- Good morning. I've also had a constant cough and lots of mucus this winter. It must have been a bit of infection because after a few days of an antibiotic (also used for pneumonia) it pretty much cleared up. But I still have mucous and a cough, but nearly as bad as before. It's scary and frustrating and uncomfortable. Have you ever been tested for COPD?
Frequent sinus infections can cause post-nasal drip, I call it "a tickle" in the back of my throat. Drainage of the mucous can trigger a chronic cough. ... It is caused by a build-up of mucus in the lungs, which the body tries to clear by coughing. Also, nasal polyps can cause a constant cough. I tend to get a constant cough more int he winter, even if I use an AC during the summer. And this year it's been especially bad. The only thing that I can say is that chronic coughs are self-propelling- once your throat is irritated it's a vicious cycle. I also found this: https://www.webmd.com/asthma/guide/cough-variant-asthma#1
Do you cough as much during the day as at night? I drink plenty of water and drink hot tea and honey every day. Have you changed your diet at all to try and calm your throat and drip?

Hi Ethan, thank you for your reply. I had wanted to post before but wasn't seeing the link to post. I am aware of the MAC & Bronchiectasis group and have read many of the stories there. I was not able to post there. In response to your question about medications. I initially I used Augmentin for the recurrent sinusitis and bronchitis. I was also prescribed an inhaler for asthma in 2017. Also a variety of allergy medications, flonase, azelastine nasal spray, OTC allergy pills, sinus rinses. It wasn't until September 2018 when I was referred to my sinus surgery doctor that my antibiotic was changed to Cipro after he did a culture and found pseudononas. I have had several sputum tests. A few have been positive for MAC but mostly negative. I have also been prescribed prednisone bursts a few times and antibiotics and steroids in my sinus rinse.

I am currently on two inhalers and started nebulizing 3 weeks ago with with 7% saline. I recently saw a infectious disease specialist. She was alarmed with how much I have been prescribed antibiotics. The nebulizer may help clear my air passages and prevent new infections but I continue to cough up phlegm and have constant irritation in my throat. I had a pretty good summer and early fall but my constant cough, sinus which won't drain due to thick mucous have been worse since late November. I have also had weight loss which may due to loss of appetite.

My pulmonologist was finally ready to consider a bronchoscopy when the COVID-19 crisis hit. Now it is a wait game as elective procedures are on hold. Also I would not want to go near a hospital now. Right now my primary goal is to stay safe.

I am looking into the possibility of changing insurance soon. It would not get me to the Mayo Clinic but perhaps Stanford or UCSF.

Thank you