I've recently been diagnosed with MAC and bronchiectasis
I recently been diagnosed with bronchi ectasis and Mac lung disease. I don't really have very many symptoms and I'm not really wanting to take the antibiotics. Can anyone tell me the side effects of the antibiotics and should I consider taking them or should I wait? I'm female and 65 yrs old
Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the MAC & Bronchiectasis Support Group.
Welcome to our Mayo Connect Support group. If you do some reading here, you'll learn that many of us have opted for non-antibiotic approaches to dealing with MAC like airway clearance. It all depends on the severity and personal tolerance. You might want to start reading here;
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/resources-for-the-abcs-on-bronchiectasis-and-mac-ntm/
Did your doc suggest an alternative to antibiotics?
I'm taking the "Big 3" antibiotics for MAC which consists of Azithromycin, Ethambutol and Rifabutin. I've had minimal side effects from them. I developed a 10 cm cavity within my upper left lung in a short amount of time before starting them. They, along with inhaled Arikayce and airway lung clearance have shrunk that cavity and has kept me stable.