Finished Antibiotic Treatment - On to Airway Clearance

@msk Hurray for you Miriam! 👏👏👏
This is indeed something to celebrate. And airway clearance just becomes something we do - like brushing our teeth. I have stayed of the antibiotics for almost 4 years now by doing it!
Sue

Thanks Sue! Soooo glad to be off the meds!!!

Congratulations! That is great news and encouraging!

In two weeks I’m off the big three. Then in Jan off the arikayce! Yeah. I’m struggling with airway clearance and am going to try a vest. I just can’t get mucous up. Any suggestions?

Is there a reason that you are continuing Arikayce alone, if I understand you correctly?

Many of us find postural drainage helpful- for me lying down, not flat because of Gerd
Middle of the day, but not too close to eating and with 3 x 4 minutes of using the autogenic drainage app
It is time consuming- usually about an hour, but effective and you can use the time for reading, email etc

There is a fairy newly acknowledged condition called "dry bronchiectasis" where little or no mucus is ever coughed up during airway clearance. So far the recommendation is to continue with airway clearance, especially using saline, to keep whatever mucus that is in the lungs mobile. It is when it accumulates that bacteria get a chance to set up housekeeping.

What does your pulmonologist say about this?
Sue

That’s helpful info. Thanks. My pulmonologist says it’s not that unusual and ordered the vest to see if that helps.

Hi and congratulations! I just started this three med regimen. Any suggestions on what to eat or take to keep from stomach pain/nausea/diarrhea? Did you take probiotics? Did you take all meds at one time or spread out during the day? Did you use nebulizer during the treatment or start it midway? My pulmonologist hasn’t mentioned airway clearance treatment. This is so new and I’m overwhelmed. I want to continue my normal days, working and enjoying my grandbaby so I want to do what I can to stay strong.

Hi for me my diet was normal. I ate everything. Probiotics helped because i had stomach issues due to the meds. Nauseous and diarrhea the day after. I eventually changed how i took the meds. Ethanbutrol after breakfast. Chlofazimine after dinner and Azithromycin before bedtime. I started with rifampin but we changed it because rifampin caused drug induced lupus. It helped some to take them this way. Its a long treatment and i just had to do it. For me fatigue was pretty bad and not feeling well. Everyone is different so you will figure out was better for you. Managing when to take my gerd meds was hard because you have to wait a couple of hours before and after and I would forget. This was a problem for me. I used nebulizer all the time and air way clearance. For me getting sputum for culture was difficult. I would always get sputum when i was in the car or didnt have a cup to use. For me thats the most difficult part. Even now that i have to keep it up.
Just take a day at a time. Being in this group really helped. Everyone is very encouraging. Hang in there. Miriam

Congratulations, Miriam! I hope you feel better and enjoy life without these tough medications. Stay strong!