1. < MAC & Bronchiectasis

(MAC/MAI) Mycobacterium Avium Complex Pulmonary Disease: Join us

Posted by Katherine, Alumni Mentor @katemn, Nov 21, 2011

I am new to Mayo online .. I was hoping to find others with .. MYCOBACTERIUM AVIUM COMPLEX PULMONARY DISEASE (MAC/MAI) and/or BRONCHIECTASIS. I found only 1 thread on mycobacterium accidently under the catagory "Lungs". I'm hoping by starting a subject matter directly related to MYCOBACTERIUM AVIUM COMPLEX PULMONARY DISEASE (MAC/MAI) I may find others out there!

I was diagnosed by a sputum culture August 2007 (but the culture result was accidentally misfiled until 2008!) with MYCOBACTERIUM AVIUM COMPLEX PULMONARY DISEASE (MAC/MAI) and BRONCHIECTASIS. I am now on 5 antibiotics. Working with Dr. Timothy Aksamit at Rochester Mayo Clinic .. he is a saint to have put up with me this long! I was terrified of the treatment . started the first antibiotic September 3, 2011 ... am now on all 5 antibiotics for 18 mos to 2 years. Am delighted at the very bearable side effects!

I wrote on the 1 thread I found: If you google NON-TUBERCULOUS MYCOBACTERIUM AVIUM COMPLEX PULMONARY DISEASE (MAC/MAI) you will learn a LOT about the disease. But PLEASE do NOT get scared about all the things you read .. that is what I did and nearly refused to do the treatment until after a 2nd Micomacterium was discovered! Educate yourself for "due diligence" .. but take it all with a grain of salt .. you are NOT necessarily going to have all the terrible side effects of the antibiotics! Good luck to you!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
January 2017 Update

One of our great Connect Members .. @Paula_MAC2007  .. had a wonderfully helpful idea that I wanted to share! Her idea .. as you read through the pages to gather information on our shared disease of MAC you can develop a personal "file cabinet" for future reference without the necessity of reading all the pages again!

If you have the "MS Word" program on your computer:
- Document Title Example:  Mayo Clinic Connect MAI/MAC Information
- Then develop different categories that make sense to you such as:  Heath Aids .. Videos .. Healthy Living .. Positive Thinking .. Baseline Testing and Regular Testing .. Antibiotics ..
Tips for
- As you read the pages .. copy/paste/save things of interest into that MS Word document under your preferred categories for future reference.

Then as you want to refer back to something in the future .. YEAH!  You have now created your own personal "file cabinet" on MAC/MAI!  Go to it!

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the MAC & Bronchiectasis Support Group.

Katherine, Alumni Mentor | @katemn | Dec 15, 2016
In reply to @nelisabeth "I don't know if i am posting correctly! here goes. I am 76 year ol lady!..." + (show)
@nelisabeth

I don't know if i am posting correctly! here goes. I am 76 year ol lady! Was hospitalized last Oct .... x-ray showed NADA. i do have COPD. For five days was treated with MASSIVE steroids. Hospitalist ordered CT/contrast ...... sent me home on the Fri. after test saying it showed nothing and i was not getting welll there. So .... was sent home with MORE steroids. Could NOT function. AT follow up with MY N.P., she said the Ct showed
both lungs had pneumonia. She sent me to Pumonary Dr. He ordered a sputnum test. (they also did one in hospital but said nothing about it.)
Six weeks later, Dr. Pulmonary called me to come in .... told me i had Macobacterium Nebraskan....i do not remember how to spell it. His office staff left nothing to be desired ... so when he made appointment with Infectious Disease doc at Novant in Winston Salem .... I live 34 mins away ... I went myself to get discs, etc etc. Dr. Priest at Novant ..... even WITH directions from hospital could NOT pull up the CT himself. However he said the notes showed nothing signifigant. and dismissed me. I had of course by now on my own stopped the steroids. I was on Levaquin in hospital.
Now nausea was rendering me useless. On an intuition, saw ENT doc here in my hometown. He ran camera down my nose .... could not see any
infection but felt there was on and he put me on a hi powered antibody ... Vantin? something like that. After prescribed time ... no better. Still coughing up suds, pain ... so went back to him. This time he did a sinus CT. showed very deep pervasive infection. Put me on rounds of 3 different antibiotics
with baby dose of steroid .... for six weeks. In the midst of the last round .... the nausea began to abate. and i DID get much much better ... until ..........
began to experience upper respiratory symtoms again early November of this year. so bad on a weekend .... went to Urgent Care. would NOT inhale steroids ..... xray showed nothing ... accepted Albuterol inhaler and Levaquan. sp? The following Monday kept a pre op apt at hospital for hip replacement the 19th of this month. I continued to get worse however. Was working with scheduler nurse at Orthopedic surgeons's office ...... followed through with next pre op appt. bloodwork slightly ... very minor .. off .... everything else ok. no MRSA .. urine fine. When Lisa (wonderful woman
from Ortho) called me with results she could clearly hear i was not well. Intervened and got me into see MY N.P. She took one look and said OH MY! HO! told her i wished to go on with surgery but wasn't sure i could and she and I are going to make decision together. She immediatly took me off
Levaquin .,.. put me on Arithro .. zpak and again ... baby dose of steroid which i am tolerating. She had done a little research into the MAC i have
and finally said ..... NO ... to surgery. So ... it is postponed. I absolutely do NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO NEXT.
The Dr. i saw in winston salem at Novant, Dr. David Priest had given the go ahead for surgery. We now have a new Pulmonary Dr. here in Elkin where i live. My N.P. said she did not think a CT/wcontrast would telll if pneumonia or MAC and my bloodwork did not call for CT. BUT ... she is now wondering if that is what i had a year ago. ??????????????????????? Having had paralytic polio when young .... was several years ago i learned about Post Polio Syndrome. Verified by docs and spinal fluid. Fatigue is a part of PPS .... as is pain, etc ...... but i can cope with that. I meditate ....
exercise ... have wonderful caring friends .. have been an activist all my life but no longer.
Any ideas folks? There has been a dreadful upper respiratory virus going round here ....... it is just so hard to figger out what is tit and what is tat!
I do MAKE myself MOVE. But the fatigue is awful. and i do hurt in right lung area with this. probably all the coffing!!!!!!!!!!! ??????????
One question i do have is .... can "dese bugs" migrate? Is that a sensible question? I quit the FLucotinase...sp? Zycam spray seems to help
much better. I was told that many people are walking around with this particular MAC and don't even know it. The first doc who found it said i could have gotten it anywhere. I garden assiduously and he thot probably there ..... as am inclined to continue working if i get poked er scratched er whutevah! Have to work on my bum because legs are not strong enough anymore from PPS. whatta mess! HO!
I do know that without HUMOR ..... none of us could put up with whatever it tis that we deal with. That and meditation are my go to AND
i do exercises in the hot water of the BATHTUB!!!!!!!!! It CAN be DONE! hO! Thank you for taking the time to read this if i can figger out how
to get it to stick! nelisabeth

Jump to this post

Terri, I am going to copy/past your post to an email to my husband's best friend if you don't mind! Why? Because we just got off he phone with him. I am SOOOO frustrated. He has been to numerous doctors .. had several diagnosis .. NOW been told there is a lung culture that shows two different "things". I asked him what they were? He didn't have a CLUE! I asked him to call the doctor's office with pen and paper .. ask them the NAME of what the sputum culture shows .. write them down and call me. Truthfully I do not think he will.

Why? Inertia .. stubborn .. too much faith in local doctors. Makes me crazy! I love this man. He has MUCH more money than we do .. he could fly to Mayo Clinic in a heart beat as we are begging him to do .. will he? Probably not. OK .. I am venting but we are a family here on our Forum .. I knew you would understand. Now off to do the email (without your name of course!) Hugs to all! Katherine

REPLY
Mentor
Terri Martin, Volunteer Mentor | @windwalker | Dec 15, 2016
In reply to @nelisabeth "Yes ..... Nebraskanse .... sp? The Pulmonary doc who identified it said i MUST go NOW..." + (show)
@nelisabeth

Yes ..... Nebraskanse .... sp? The Pulmonary doc who identified it said i MUST go NOW to see I.D. doc which i did but he could not read the
scan .... puter incompatible. nelisabeth. gittin on it TODAY! HO!

Jump to this post

Duke Medical University is up that way as well and has a great reputation for lung care and diseases.

REPLY
Mentor
Terri Martin, Volunteer Mentor | @windwalker | Dec 15, 2016
In reply to @katemn "Kay, you are SO totally correct!! In my absolute "paranoia" .. now much to my chagrin..." + (show)
@katemn

Kay, you are SO totally correct!! In my absolute "paranoia" .. now much to my chagrin I began to try to anti mycobacterium every water source in my home! In retrospect .. SO SILLY! Luckily Dr. Aksamit brought me to my senses! Truth is NO ONE actually knows exactly how/where we get mycobacterium in our lungs. It is all over our bodies .. it is in water .. it is in the soil .. it just is NOT supposed to be in our lungs. But not enough research has been done to figure out how/why it gets in our lungs.

So my wild goose chase was silly .. fear drove me and I'm not afraid to admit it. Even if we have GERDS/reflux filtered water is not an issue/does not help. With GERDS the theory is that GERDS MAY be a breeding ground for the mycobacterium ie .. as the reflux sits there it BECOMES the breeding ground for mycobacterium. One theory only .. no one knows.

Thank you for pointing this out .. it is NOT even proven that we get iMAC/MAI from "breathing it in" showering .. just one more theory. LOTS of theories .. not one single PROVEN one. Wish there were! All we can do is take shorter showers .. no tub baths ..stay away from hot tubs .. perhaps wear a mask while gardening .. etc. The usual precautions. Hope this help? Katherine

Jump to this post

From what I have read about MAC is that EVERYBODY has it in their lungs to some degree. It is the folks with immuno-compromised bodies that cannot keep it at bay. That mycobacterium is in the air as well as water and soil. There is no way to avoid it really.

REPLY
Katherine, Alumni Mentor | @katemn | Dec 15, 2016
In reply to @katemn "Kay, you are SO totally correct!! In my absolute "paranoia" .. now much to my chagrin..." + (show)
@katemn

Kay, you are SO totally correct!! In my absolute "paranoia" .. now much to my chagrin I began to try to anti mycobacterium every water source in my home! In retrospect .. SO SILLY! Luckily Dr. Aksamit brought me to my senses! Truth is NO ONE actually knows exactly how/where we get mycobacterium in our lungs. It is all over our bodies .. it is in water .. it is in the soil .. it just is NOT supposed to be in our lungs. But not enough research has been done to figure out how/why it gets in our lungs.

So my wild goose chase was silly .. fear drove me and I'm not afraid to admit it. Even if we have GERDS/reflux filtered water is not an issue/does not help. With GERDS the theory is that GERDS MAY be a breeding ground for the mycobacterium ie .. as the reflux sits there it BECOMES the breeding ground for mycobacterium. One theory only .. no one knows.

Thank you for pointing this out .. it is NOT even proven that we get iMAC/MAI from "breathing it in" showering .. just one more theory. LOTS of theories .. not one single PROVEN one. Wish there were! All we can do is take shorter showers .. no tub baths ..stay away from hot tubs .. perhaps wear a mask while gardening .. etc. The usual precautions. Hope this help? Katherine

Jump to this post

Terri, agree .. EXCEPT to stay as healthy as possible .. mentally and physically! Katherine

REPLY
Katherine, Alumni Mentor | @katemn | Dec 15, 2016
In reply to @nelisabeth "Yes ..... Nebraskanse .... sp? The Pulmonary doc who identified it said i MUST go NOW..." + (show)
@nelisabeth

Yes ..... Nebraskanse .... sp? The Pulmonary doc who identified it said i MUST go NOW to see I.D. doc which i did but he could not read the
scan .... puter incompatible. nelisabeth. gittin on it TODAY! HO!

Jump to this post

Terri, I do NOT have personal experience .. but if people read back pages of our Forum .. some have had not so great experiences at Duke. Read and proceed. Katherine

REPLY
Mentor
Terri Martin, Volunteer Mentor | @windwalker | Dec 15, 2016
In reply to @nelisabeth "I don't know if i am posting correctly! here goes. I am 76 year ol lady!..." + (show)
@nelisabeth

I don't know if i am posting correctly! here goes. I am 76 year ol lady! Was hospitalized last Oct .... x-ray showed NADA. i do have COPD. For five days was treated with MASSIVE steroids. Hospitalist ordered CT/contrast ...... sent me home on the Fri. after test saying it showed nothing and i was not getting welll there. So .... was sent home with MORE steroids. Could NOT function. AT follow up with MY N.P., she said the Ct showed
both lungs had pneumonia. She sent me to Pumonary Dr. He ordered a sputnum test. (they also did one in hospital but said nothing about it.)
Six weeks later, Dr. Pulmonary called me to come in .... told me i had Macobacterium Nebraskan....i do not remember how to spell it. His office staff left nothing to be desired ... so when he made appointment with Infectious Disease doc at Novant in Winston Salem .... I live 34 mins away ... I went myself to get discs, etc etc. Dr. Priest at Novant ..... even WITH directions from hospital could NOT pull up the CT himself. However he said the notes showed nothing signifigant. and dismissed me. I had of course by now on my own stopped the steroids. I was on Levaquin in hospital.
Now nausea was rendering me useless. On an intuition, saw ENT doc here in my hometown. He ran camera down my nose .... could not see any
infection but felt there was on and he put me on a hi powered antibody ... Vantin? something like that. After prescribed time ... no better. Still coughing up suds, pain ... so went back to him. This time he did a sinus CT. showed very deep pervasive infection. Put me on rounds of 3 different antibiotics
with baby dose of steroid .... for six weeks. In the midst of the last round .... the nausea began to abate. and i DID get much much better ... until ..........
began to experience upper respiratory symtoms again early November of this year. so bad on a weekend .... went to Urgent Care. would NOT inhale steroids ..... xray showed nothing ... accepted Albuterol inhaler and Levaquan. sp? The following Monday kept a pre op apt at hospital for hip replacement the 19th of this month. I continued to get worse however. Was working with scheduler nurse at Orthopedic surgeons's office ...... followed through with next pre op appt. bloodwork slightly ... very minor .. off .... everything else ok. no MRSA .. urine fine. When Lisa (wonderful woman
from Ortho) called me with results she could clearly hear i was not well. Intervened and got me into see MY N.P. She took one look and said OH MY! HO! told her i wished to go on with surgery but wasn't sure i could and she and I are going to make decision together. She immediatly took me off
Levaquin .,.. put me on Arithro .. zpak and again ... baby dose of steroid which i am tolerating. She had done a little research into the MAC i have
and finally said ..... NO ... to surgery. So ... it is postponed. I absolutely do NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO NEXT.
The Dr. i saw in winston salem at Novant, Dr. David Priest had given the go ahead for surgery. We now have a new Pulmonary Dr. here in Elkin where i live. My N.P. said she did not think a CT/wcontrast would telll if pneumonia or MAC and my bloodwork did not call for CT. BUT ... she is now wondering if that is what i had a year ago. ??????????????????????? Having had paralytic polio when young .... was several years ago i learned about Post Polio Syndrome. Verified by docs and spinal fluid. Fatigue is a part of PPS .... as is pain, etc ...... but i can cope with that. I meditate ....
exercise ... have wonderful caring friends .. have been an activist all my life but no longer.
Any ideas folks? There has been a dreadful upper respiratory virus going round here ....... it is just so hard to figger out what is tit and what is tat!
I do MAKE myself MOVE. But the fatigue is awful. and i do hurt in right lung area with this. probably all the coffing!!!!!!!!!!! ??????????
One question i do have is .... can "dese bugs" migrate? Is that a sensible question? I quit the FLucotinase...sp? Zycam spray seems to help
much better. I was told that many people are walking around with this particular MAC and don't even know it. The first doc who found it said i could have gotten it anywhere. I garden assiduously and he thot probably there ..... as am inclined to continue working if i get poked er scratched er whutevah! Have to work on my bum because legs are not strong enough anymore from PPS. whatta mess! HO!
I do know that without HUMOR ..... none of us could put up with whatever it tis that we deal with. That and meditation are my go to AND
i do exercises in the hot water of the BATHTUB!!!!!!!!! It CAN be DONE! hO! Thank you for taking the time to read this if i can figger out how
to get it to stick! nelisabeth

Jump to this post

Also note, have to ask your doctors to test the sputem cultures for anti-biotic specificity. There is a name for that, but it escapes me at the moment. Good advice is NEVER take an anti-biotic without a sputem culture. Preferribly sputem tested for anti-biotic resistance or for proper anti-biotic. I was given randon anti-biotics for years without a single sputem test. Consequently, my lungs got scarred big time from improper treatment. One example is: I was treated repeatedly for pneumonia, when what I really had was Valley Fever that I contracted in Arizona. It is a type of desert spore that can be deadly. When I had that, I thought I was a goner for sure. I was very sick for months!

REPLY
Mentor
Terri Martin, Volunteer Mentor | @windwalker | Dec 15, 2016
In reply to @nelisabeth "Yes ..... Nebraskanse .... sp? The Pulmonary doc who identified it said i MUST go NOW..." + (show)
@nelisabeth

Yes ..... Nebraskanse .... sp? The Pulmonary doc who identified it said i MUST go NOW to see I.D. doc which i did but he could not read the
scan .... puter incompatible. nelisabeth. gittin on it TODAY! HO!

Jump to this post

Really and truly, I feel the Mayo clinics are the GOLD standard in healthcare. I will never go anywhere else.

REPLY
irene5 Irene Estes | @irene5 | Dec 15, 2016
In reply to @katemn "@windwalker Hi terri! I have LOTS of notes .. and just found: Also, if you are..." + (show)
@katemn

@windwalker Hi terri! I have LOTS of notes .. and just found: Also, if you are concerned that you have alpha-1 antitrypsin disorder, take a look at the Alpha-One Foundation - there's a lot of information at that site - your doctor can order a blood test to test if you have alpha-1 - since you have bronchiectasis, I am rather surprised that it hasn't already been done -

I know you have an interest in the Alpha 1 gene .. I did not pursue it .. perhaps you would like to? So far this is the only thing I found in my notes about the gene .. it was in reference to Bronchiectasis not 23and me. Hugs! Katherine

Jump to this post

I think statistically more non smokers get MAC than smokers. Weird. I too never smoked Katherine. Irene

REPLY
irene5 Irene Estes | @irene5 | Dec 15, 2016
In reply to @katemn "Kay, you are SO totally correct!! In my absolute "paranoia" .. now much to my chagrin..." + (show)
@katemn

Kay, you are SO totally correct!! In my absolute "paranoia" .. now much to my chagrin I began to try to anti mycobacterium every water source in my home! In retrospect .. SO SILLY! Luckily Dr. Aksamit brought me to my senses! Truth is NO ONE actually knows exactly how/where we get mycobacterium in our lungs. It is all over our bodies .. it is in water .. it is in the soil .. it just is NOT supposed to be in our lungs. But not enough research has been done to figure out how/why it gets in our lungs.

So my wild goose chase was silly .. fear drove me and I'm not afraid to admit it. Even if we have GERDS/reflux filtered water is not an issue/does not help. With GERDS the theory is that GERDS MAY be a breeding ground for the mycobacterium ie .. as the reflux sits there it BECOMES the breeding ground for mycobacterium. One theory only .. no one knows.

Thank you for pointing this out .. it is NOT even proven that we get iMAC/MAI from "breathing it in" showering .. just one more theory. LOTS of theories .. not one single PROVEN one. Wish there were! All we can do is take shorter showers .. no tub baths ..stay away from hot tubs .. perhaps wear a mask while gardening .. etc. The usual precautions. Hope this help? Katherine

Jump to this post

I think you are correct about MAC being everywhere, but I don't think it is supposed to be in our lungs. And yes, it needs a susceptible host. Why some of us fall into that susceptible category is only speculative based on skeletal structure and age etc. (e.g. Lady Windemere syndrome). Irene

REPLY
Katherine, Alumni Mentor | @katemn | Dec 15, 2016
In reply to @katemn "Kay, you are SO totally correct!! In my absolute "paranoia" .. now much to my chagrin..." + (show)
@katemn

Kay, you are SO totally correct!! In my absolute "paranoia" .. now much to my chagrin I began to try to anti mycobacterium every water source in my home! In retrospect .. SO SILLY! Luckily Dr. Aksamit brought me to my senses! Truth is NO ONE actually knows exactly how/where we get mycobacterium in our lungs. It is all over our bodies .. it is in water .. it is in the soil .. it just is NOT supposed to be in our lungs. But not enough research has been done to figure out how/why it gets in our lungs.

So my wild goose chase was silly .. fear drove me and I'm not afraid to admit it. Even if we have GERDS/reflux filtered water is not an issue/does not help. With GERDS the theory is that GERDS MAY be a breeding ground for the mycobacterium ie .. as the reflux sits there it BECOMES the breeding ground for mycobacterium. One theory only .. no one knows.

Thank you for pointing this out .. it is NOT even proven that we get iMAC/MAI from "breathing it in" showering .. just one more theory. LOTS of theories .. not one single PROVEN one. Wish there were! All we can do is take shorter showers .. no tub baths ..stay away from hot tubs .. perhaps wear a mask while gardening .. etc. The usual precautions. Hope this help? Katherine

Jump to this post

Irene, you are so right. It is NOT supposed to be in our lungs .. as Dr. Aksamit told me .. there is just not enough money for research to find out just HOW/WHY it DOES get into our lungs. My personal viewpoint is that it is going to be found it is a combination of genetic/environmental/immune deficient. No one thing. Dr. Aksamit said a couple could be together for 20 years doing exactly the same things .. one gets it .. the other does not. Complicated. Lady Windemere .. well men get it also .. just not in the same numbers. Best, Kaherine

REPLY
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