A quirky manifestation of bronchiectasis

Posted by paxmundi @paxmundi, Nov 20 5:59pm

I have a history of moderately advanced tuberculosis I contracted in India at age 19. I am now 73. Had a massive hemoptysis in 2012 and almost died; my bronchial artery was embolized in two places. Slowly after that the bronchiectasis symptoms kicked in.
Coughing up the phlegm doesn't work for me. It always feels unreachable and the trauma of coughing feels and is dangerous in my case. My airways are delicate and bleed easily. The way I have controlled my bronchiectasis since it worsened in October 2023 is by drinking copious amounts of warm water throughout the day ( I now add minerals to it) and eating only soups with high liquid content. Periodically in a day, I can feel a mucus plug building, and then I start drinking a lot of very warm water. It usually clears it within minutes. I cannot handle eating ordinary meals anymore as they cause a lot of congestion and soon thereafter, I start spitting up blood. Once in a great while, I can eat some chinese vegetables, or some other light meal, but very infrequently. When the bleeding comes, if it persists, I end up needing a CT scan to rule out a major rupture, and then a round of antibiotics for a good 10 days. The only other things I don is daily yoga, guaifenesin occasionally, and stack breathing. Does anyone else with bronchiectasis have a profile anything like mine?

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jnmy | @jnmy | Nov 22 9:26am

@paxmundi Would the amino acid NAC also be something you could take as well as Musinex?
I’m not dealing with the symptoms you have experienced, but it seems that for people with larger amounts of phlegm, drinking lots of water helps clear out mucus as you said. I’ll try more warm water or decaffeinated tea. I use NAC and it seems to help thin out my mucus. Do some people use NAC regularly and Muscinex(Ex) a few days a week too?

paxmundi | @paxmundi | Nov 22 9:48am

In reply to @jnmy "@paxmundi Would the amino acid NAC also be something you could take as well as Musinex?..." + (show)

I just started taking NAC so can’t say yet how much it helps, but I’m optimistic. Will report back to the group. In my case, where the small airways in the upper right lobe are most affected, I have to absolutely have a lot of warm liquid in my food and warm liquids throughout the day or I can count on an exacerbation—regardless of what else I take. The very warm water is miraculous—so far, as long as I am also very careful to keep my diet liquidy. Last night, for instance, I woke up at 5 am with a mucus plug I could feel in my upper lobe. It’s always scary because it gives me the urge to cough and coughing is dangerous for me. Instead, I sat up and slowly drank ten ounces of very warm water. That dislodged it after a few minutes and I neither had to cough nor clear my throat. I just pray that keeps working.

jnmy | @jnmy | Nov 22 11:59am

@paxmundi It’s great that the warm water helps and hopefully NAC as well.
Do you mean that without huff coughing you are able to dislodge and expel the mucus plug?

This chronic condition seems to manifest so differently in each person. There are commonalities in symptoms, but there are many differences too.