Has anyone ever been cured of MAC?

Hi, I was diagnosed with MAC about 10 years ago and the doctor just started me on the 3 drug cocktail of azithromycin, rifampin and ethambutol every day. I have only been on the drugs about 19 days but the side effects have all but incapacitated me. Does anyone know if the body adjusts to the drugs and how long it takes before the drugs work? My doctors never mentioned any side effects, only said the course of taking the medicine was 9 months to a year. Thank you!

Hi, I was diagnosed with MAC about 10 years ago and the doctor just started me on the 3 drug cocktail of azithromycin, rifampin and ethambutol every day. I have only been on the drugs about 19 days but the side effects have all but incapacitated me. Does anyone know if the body adjusts to the drugs and how long it takes before the drugs work? My doctors never mentioned any side effects, only said the course of taking the medicine was 9 months to a year. Thank you!

Thank you Don, I am 20 days on the meds now and down almost 6 pounds! I am so nauseous it is hard to eat. I am not a complainer so this is such a new experience. I don't understand what the nebulizing 7% saline is but am trying to find it on the internet. Any information or thoughts on what i should get to try that would be appreciated. i have a call into my doctor now as a neighbor said there are anti-nausea meds? I need something if I'm going to do this for the next year! So thankful I found this site for a better understanding of what is going on! Ina

Ina, you said, " I don't understand what the nebulizing 7% saline is but am trying to find it on the internet." I'm not the Internet but here's an Okie's take on why it tends to be favored among MAC sufferers. People who know about such things tell us that although lower concentrations of saline are helpful to the extent that they thin mucous which presumably facilitates coughing it up, However, when the concentration reaches 7% it not only thins, but also becomes lethal to mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) infections. Which is most likely the reason a few years ago after switching to 7% from a lower concentration of saline, my Pulmo (for the first time) following a chest X-ray, told me that the radiologist reported that the MAC infection had diminished in size compared to an earlier X-ray.

This.
Mycobacteria can't survive conditions higher than 3% salinity. That's why sea/ocean water (which is 3% saline) is 'safe' from a re-infection risk perspective. Swimming pools, spas, etc. are high risk due to low salinity of the water.
At NJH, they go from 3% all the way up to 10%. I use 7%, which took some getting used to, but I'm convinced it's what dramatically reduced my colony count from over 200 to 3. 17% of people who neb with saline are able to convert to negative.

Very interesting extracare808. Thanks for posting. Don

This.
Mycobacteria can't survive conditions higher than 3% salinity. That's why sea/ocean water (which is 3% saline) is 'safe' from a re-infection risk perspective. Swimming pools, spas, etc. are high risk due to low salinity of the water.
At NJH, they go from 3% all the way up to 10%. I use 7%, which took some getting used to, but I'm convinced it's what dramatically reduced my colony count from over 200 to 3. 17% of people who neb with saline are able to convert to negative.

Ina, I consider antibiotics “cruel and unusual punishment” to force upon oneself; occasionally justifiable but to be avoided if possible. If nebulizing 7% saline won’t do the trick and one must use the microbe assassins I would take measures to offset damage to ones’ Microbiota. A probiotic pill might help. I rely mainly on fermented foods, chiefly kimchi and sauerkraut, some from the refrigerator case at the grocery, but predominantly my own creation.

I enjoy a quiet satisfaction when I realize I have have a “hands on” role in creating my own health supportive foods. Don

How do fermented foods help MAC, bronchiectasis?