Constant coughing

Thanks @1fancydancer for your information. Can you tell me how you got rid of the Pseudomonas in 2012 after having them a year? I had my infection for 1.5 years before I was treated with Cipro (10 days) and Tobi (2 weeks) which was about 8 months ago. It did knock back my infection but now a moderate growth has returned. It sounds like you have done well with yours. How did you get rid of them last year? Was it the Azithromizen? It would be grand if we could stop coming up with additional infections!!! I'm afraid our bronchiectasis just makes us so much more susceptible to germs taking hold.

Yes, in 2012 Levinquin worked for me with the Pseudomonas the first time. Took 90 days straight to get rid of it. In May 2023 , I had to take 20 days of inhaled Tobi. I have taken Cipro for one of the infections I can't remember which one now. I just today took 2 more septum samples to the Dr to be sent out for testing. Either my lungs have gotten much worse from so many infections one right behind the other in 2023 or I have another infection of some kind. I do understand that Pseudomonas will colonize in the lungs and can return at any given time. About 3 years ago I finally figured out that the Dr has no clue what kind of infection that I have and must send it out to a lab for growth. The lab report will tell the Dr. which drug will work best on the strain of bacteria present and also which drugs the bacteria are immune to. Sometimes there are a couple of choices for getting rid of it . .

I take Azithromizen for MAC. I think that was 2017 that I had MAC. Dr seems to be extremely fearful getting MAC again. He told me that I would be taking 500mg 3x a week for the rest of my life to keep MAC away. Thus far it has worked.

Yes, bronchiectasis makes for a difficult life for sure. I have found that moving a lot helps my breathing. The more I move the better I breathe. I mean like 12 to 20 thousand steps per day, yard work on my steep slope, I breathe so good. It forces me to breathe deeply. We tend to take shallow breaths. Deep breathing is a must for me. I have several little machines that I use in addition to my vest that I use 2x per day. I use a flutter valve and a little deep breathing device that I breathe out and it blows 3 balls up in little tubes. Then I hold my breath as long as I can. Sometimes it hurts. But if I want to live this is what I have to do.

Well I hear ya, but it is kinda hard after the fact to know what we should or shouldn't have done. I do think you are correct on the plumbing pipes . We are supposed to keep our water at 130 on the hot water heater and drain the hot water yearly. It collects all kind of bacteria I was told.

Do you remember when they recalled Pine Sol and Frabalose (spelling) that purple cleaner? Both had Pseudomonas in them and were recalled. Tell me how in the world does a cleaning product contain a bacteria?

How many time do you take Benzonate per day? My doc just gave me.

Hello 1fancydancer, I too have Burkholderia cepecia colonized. What antibiotics did you take for it? How did you get rid of it. Please let me know, this bug has been giving me problems.

I use it as needed. I typically will take it at night so I don’t wake up coughing or if I’m going out socially. OC, I take it more when in exacerbation. I think my rx says 3x day

Thank you!

I will search through my medical reports tomorrow and see what they prescribed. Righ now I could not tell you. What I do remember is that the infectious disease Dr says this is a rare one and told me you get it through the water. He told me to get a water filter for my shower head. I think the bacteria comes from the pipes and not necessarily the water supply. I do know that a plumber told me that we need to drain our hot water heater once a year because it gets so much gunk in the bottom and that includes bacteria. Also keep your water more hot than the average person. I think that I read it should be 130 degrees. I will see what I can find in my records tomorrow on the drugs that I took.

Hi @1fancydancer . I agree with the exercise routine...I have a similar regime, a minimum 4 miles a day, up to 7 mi.

What I am very interested in is specifically what antibiotic was prescribed to eradicate the pseudomona infection in 2012? Any help/information would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks again.
Kate