Coughing spasm w/blood in it when swimming in pool treated w/chlorine

Posted by pammie52 @pammie52, Dec 4, 2025

I’m on vacation and have been swimming in a pool treated with chlorine. Every time I do I start coughing up small red blood clots and/or sputum which has bright red blood mixed in it. I’ve been on Brinsupri since October. Has anyone else had this issue. Plan on talking with my Pulmonologist when I go home.

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Profile picture for gigiv @gigiv

@blm1007blm1007, i think they mentionned swimming in a chlorine pool. They might not have hemoptysis had the pool been saline treated instead of chlorine.
By the way, Barbara, I wanted to thank you for that Amazon link for the long handle knot massager. It helps greatly perform percussions!
Best wishes of great health to all of us!

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Interesting thought...a salt water pool vs chlorine. If a type of pool chemical would make a difference in one area, health, it sure isn't the best for other pool materials..as you probably know.
I decided to look up information about saline vs chlorine pools and AARP, much to my surprise, had an article: 8 Reasons You Don't Want A Swimming Pool. One of the reasons being: "#4. Scary safety issues. Finally, there are the unseen, creepy-sounding things that can survive long enough in your pool — even those treated properly with chemicals — to make you sick: cryptosporidium, giardia, shigella and norovirus (diarrhea, stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting); pseudomonas (hot tub rash and swimmer’s ear); and legionella (respiratory issues), to name a few."
Oh well, nothing is perfect...including our own houses...there are 'sick houses."

The best we can do is be alert and reasonably careful. Dr. Honda has said and Sue has repeated in certain terms.....'know that MAC is all around us just live your life and know the major 'no no's' and the precautions one can take as you do all that is know to be best in caring for yourself with a lung disease or infection. '
Barbara

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Profile picture for bayarea58 @bayarea58

@blm1007blm1007 I would assume if there is in fact any connection between the pool and the hemoptysis it would be some sort of irritation from the chlorine with regard to the bronchiectasis (“BE”) (or maybe those backflips). The pool I was in was outdoor at a large resort, very busy, I assume it was heavily chlorinated. I did not have any history of lung infection/disease when I went to the ER, I would have told you then that my lungs were fine - it was quite a shock. I was eventually diagnosed with MAI, after sputum, but I doubt the MAI came from the pool or that an initial exposure of MAI would cause hemoptysis overnight. I have advanced disease so I must have had the MAI for some time and didn’t know it. As for whether swimming pools are safe for those of us at heightened risk for lung infections, the information I have seen/heard seems all over the place. I think it’s safe to say indoor pools are a hard no, but outdoor pools … well, we each have to decide what our comfort level is with what seems largely unknown/unstudied. For now, myself, I am staying out of pools, but it makes me sad. And if I were in my 80’s I don’t know that I would give up something so joyful when the risk seems so uncertain.

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@bayarea58 Yes...those indoor pools are for sure a 'no, no'.

Story: My kid sister last year went to a hotel with an indoor hot tub.
She came home, not feeling well, went to doctor and was told bronchitis. diagnosis with just a clinical diagnosis, no testing. With that she turned down the antibiotics suggested, as she always does, and looked to her 30 year belief in supplements. It apparently worked...all the symptoms 'cured'. My concern for her when I talk to her about being proactive, she is somewhat in denial, that she may be susceptible to develop a lung disease.
It is my understanding that they are looking at genetics with Bronchiectasis. Our Mother smoked 3 packs a day with eventual development of debilitating emphysema. Our brother smoked...emphysema and bronchiectasis late in life.

We just don't know for sure where it all comes from, lung diseases, but sounds like for sure indoor water facilities for those with weakened or compromised systems....or a unknown connection to family genes????
Barbara

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Profile picture for blm1007blm1007 @blm1007blm1007

@sweethighland @bayarea58 @pammie52 @sueinmn
Oh no....I have not put myself in my swimming pool for a couple of years due to not knowing if it would or would not bother the unexpected diagnosis of Eczema that was diagnosed about the same time I received the diagnosis of BE.
I have recently been thinking I will use that 'money pit' this summer. Especially since the dermatologist said the chlorine is O.K. with Eczema and can be helpful.
So now, after reading the recent posts because I did not see the original post, I don't think, I might not be swimming in the pool.
However, if I understood correctly our volunteer has said she has swam in a pool and apparently has not had any problems.???
I wonder if it is the type of bacteria one has and of course the actual condition of the lungs themselves with or without a bacteria????
I wonder if the chemical ratio of the pool water chemicals had anything to do with it..... especially a public swimming pool (indoor or outdoor) verses a homeowner's outdoor swimming pool...where one is diligent about the balance of the chemicals and range of each chemical ?????
I wonder if the swimming pool had had problems with pseudomonas to begin with???
@bayarea58 @sweethighland@pammie52 After the bleed and or before the bleed in the swimming pool were you then diagnosed with a bacteria or had you been previously diagnosed with a type of bacteria before the swim and bleed? Were they indoor pools, hot tubs, or outdoor???
Barbara

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@blm1007blm1007 My Nat Jewish doctor said the aerosol in indoor pools contains MAC and chlorine does not kill these bacteria. He said to me very unwise to swim indoors

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Profile picture for blm1007blm1007 @blm1007blm1007

@sweethighland @bayarea58 @pammie52 @sueinmn
Oh no....I have not put myself in my swimming pool for a couple of years due to not knowing if it would or would not bother the unexpected diagnosis of Eczema that was diagnosed about the same time I received the diagnosis of BE.
I have recently been thinking I will use that 'money pit' this summer. Especially since the dermatologist said the chlorine is O.K. with Eczema and can be helpful.
So now, after reading the recent posts because I did not see the original post, I don't think, I might not be swimming in the pool.
However, if I understood correctly our volunteer has said she has swam in a pool and apparently has not had any problems.???
I wonder if it is the type of bacteria one has and of course the actual condition of the lungs themselves with or without a bacteria????
I wonder if the chemical ratio of the pool water chemicals had anything to do with it..... especially a public swimming pool (indoor or outdoor) verses a homeowner's outdoor swimming pool...where one is diligent about the balance of the chemicals and range of each chemical ?????
I wonder if the swimming pool had had problems with pseudomonas to begin with???
@bayarea58 @sweethighland@pammie52 After the bleed and or before the bleed in the swimming pool were you then diagnosed with a bacteria or had you been previously diagnosed with a type of bacteria before the swim and bleed? Were they indoor pools, hot tubs, or outdoor???
Barbara

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@blm1007blm1007 I think it was chlorine that irritates my airways but also I'm colonized with hard-to-treat bacteria. So, I'm not sure what causes the bleeding.

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Profile picture for bayarea58 @bayarea58

@sweethighland yes, I have read about stretching the lungs causing hemoptysis. We were swimming and frolicking in the pool all day. Lots of play. But I am very active generally so hard to say. Though at my age I am definitely able to move my body in water in ways I can no longer move it on land. 🤣🤣🤣. Perhaps it was the endless backward flips in the pool that triggered the bleeding.

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@bayarea58 Yes, I was exactly doing backward flip when I bled that time. I have not been in the pool since. 🙁

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Profile picture for sweethighland @sweethighland

@blm1007blm1007 I think it was chlorine that irritates my airways but also I'm colonized with hard-to-treat bacteria. So, I'm not sure what causes the bleeding.

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@sweethighland
Inflammation

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