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Do you have increased coughing at night?
MAC & Bronchiectasis | Last Active: Jul 4, 2023 | Replies (74)Comment receiving replies
Thanks for your reply. I ended up in the ER on Friday night because of the amount of wheezing and mucus I was experiencing. It was a tough night. I wasn't seen for about 4 hours after arriving , After bloodwork and an Xray, I was discharged about 10 hours with the xray being clear...no pneumonia and the bloodwork was ok.
I coughed and wheezed all night last night and brought up copious amounts of clear mucus. I see an ID doctor on WEdnesday and I have placed a call today to the pulmonologist. I have no appetite as I am afraid to eat that I will start coughing.
The ER doctor told me he could not give me a steroid since I have MAC lung and I am still on 3 antibiotics.
Wondering again if nebulizing hypertonic saline twice a day is creating too much mucus. I am beyond frustrated and can't believe that the way I wheeze and cough all day is part of bronchiectasis and MAC lung.
Thanks for listening to me. I just don't feel like I am being heard by doctors.
Replies to "Thanks for your reply. I ended up in the ER on Friday night because of the..."
Did the ER doctors do a sputum test?
If not, get one done — even your primary care doc can order it.
I had similar experience a few weeks ago and ended up in hospital for three days then back again for four days — violent unusual coughing cracked a rib and pulled back muscles. Sputum showed I had Acinetobacter Baumanni and was put on IV antibiotics and steroids.
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I understand "I just don't feel like I am being heard by doctors." And I would guess that at least 80% of the people on this site have had the same feeling at one time or another.
The ER is the most frustrating place for me - but my daughter (formerly a paramedic & ER nurse) explains - "Our job is to stabilize people and move on, so rare diseases and infections are out of our realm. Most of the docs and nurses have never seen or heard of MAC, and may even try to tell people that they are on too many antibiotics." This is not an indictment of the system -simply an acknowledgement that every part of the medical "complex" has a role - theirs is to make sure we stay alive until we can see our own provider.
Perhaps you can discuss lessening the saline nebs - maybe go to 3%, or once a day? One question, since you mentioned that coughing can follow eating - have you been evaluated to see if you have GERD or a swallowing disorder?
Sue