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Treating flareups with prednisone and azithromycin

MAC & Bronchiectasis | Last Active: Jul 20, 2023 | Replies (26)
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@wsbme74

Hi, Sue.
Thanks so much for going through this so thoroughly. I really appreciate it and it's so helpful. That is wonderful how much you have been helped by Symbicort. I am now on it, twice a day. Though until recently, I didn't need any daily maintenance. Things change.

With this regimen, do you usually nebulize with saline 1x or 2x per day? Thanks!

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Replies to "Hi, Sue. Thanks so much for going through this so thoroughly. I really appreciate it and..."
Sue, Volunteer Mentor | @sueinmn | Jul 19, 2023

I'll be really honest - I nebulize 3-4 times a week, saline only, at this time, a while after my AM Symbicort. This is my usual warm weather routine - along with daily Aerobika, Symbicort & Mucinex. Sometimes when air quality is bad, or I travel, I go to daily for a bit.

Here is my logic - when I do airway clearance the day AFTER I neb saline, my mucus still tastes salty - and even sometimes that day after that. So I figure it is still down there, doing its job, and as long as I still bring junk up every day and feel healthy, it works for me.

If I (or anyone around me) gets a cold or other respiratory bug, I go to once a day. If I start feeling real congestion, or I wheeze, I jump to either budosenide or duoneb nebs plus saline twice a day (happened 4 times since December 2019.) If that is not enough, I have a standing order for oral prednisone (have only used it twice since Dec 2019.) December 2019 is when I switched from the Big-3 to 7% saline, even though I still had positive cultures. My last 2 CT's showed everything stable.

I am waiting for a call from my pulmonologist's office to see if we are going to do a sputum culture before my September appointment, or wait to see what my CT looks like.

My philosophy is that when we live with a life long condition, we need only to make enough adjustments and concessions in our life to stay as healthy as we can while still having a full life. Every person is at a different point in their condition, has different levels of comfort with their regimen, and different risk tolerance. I cannot see me spending over an hour a day nebbing and doing airway clearance, as I did when my MAC was acute, in addition to the 30 plus minutes of stretching I do every day to keep my pain managed, and the 30-40 minutes I (try to) spend walking every day, So I adapt - often my weeding and hauling in the garden replaces at least some walking, the bending and reaching help keep me limber, and help bring up the junk in my lungs! And I get time in nature.

What is your airway clearance routine like?
Sue

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