(MAC/MAI) Mycobacterium Avium Complex Pulmonary Disease: Join us

Posted by Katherine, Alumni Mentor @katemn, Nov 21, 2011

I am new to Mayo online .. I was hoping to find others with .. MYCOBACTERIUM AVIUM COMPLEX PULMONARY DISEASE (MAC/MAI) and/or BRONCHIECTASIS. I found only 1 thread on mycobacterium accidently under the catagory "Lungs". I'm hoping by starting a subject matter directly related to MYCOBACTERIUM AVIUM COMPLEX PULMONARY DISEASE (MAC/MAI) I may find others out there!

I was diagnosed by a sputum culture August 2007 (but the culture result was accidentally misfiled until 2008!) with MYCOBACTERIUM AVIUM COMPLEX PULMONARY DISEASE (MAC/MAI) and BRONCHIECTASIS. I am now on 5 antibiotics. Working with Dr. Timothy Aksamit at Rochester Mayo Clinic .. he is a saint to have put up with me this long! I was terrified of the treatment . started the first antibiotic September 3, 2011 ... am now on all 5 antibiotics for 18 mos to 2 years. Am delighted at the very bearable side effects!

I wrote on the 1 thread I found: If you google NON-TUBERCULOUS MYCOBACTERIUM AVIUM COMPLEX PULMONARY DISEASE (MAC/MAI) you will learn a LOT about the disease. But PLEASE do NOT get scared about all the things you read .. that is what I did and nearly refused to do the treatment until after a 2nd Micomacterium was discovered! Educate yourself for "due diligence" .. but take it all with a grain of salt .. you are NOT necessarily going to have all the terrible side effects of the antibiotics! Good luck to you!

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January 2017 Update

One of our great Connect Members .. @Paula_MAC2007 .. had a wonderfully helpful idea that I wanted to share! Her idea .. as you read through the pages to gather information on our shared disease of MAC you can develop a personal "file cabinet" for future reference without the necessity of reading all the pages again!

If you have the "MS Word" program on your computer:
- Document Title Example: Mayo Clinic Connect MAI/MAC Information
- Then develop different categories that make sense to you such as: Heath Aids .. Videos .. Healthy Living .. Positive Thinking .. Baseline Testing and Regular Testing .. Antibiotics ..
Tips for
- As you read the pages .. copy/paste/save things of interest into that MS Word document under your preferred categories for future reference.

Then as you want to refer back to something in the future .. YEAH! You have now created your own personal "file cabinet" on MAC/MAI! Go to it!

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the MAC & Bronchiectasis Support Group.

Terri Martin, Volunteer Mentor | @windwalker | Sep 22, 2018

In reply to @heathert "Hi all there is a message https://www.ntminfo.org/ about writing to the FDA to approve Inhaled Amikacin,..." + (show)

@heathert Thank you for posting this. How about each of us check in here and say that we did this? Is the deadline coming up soon?

Terri Martin, Volunteer Mentor | @windwalker | Sep 22, 2018

In reply to @pattriciaann "@irene5 I cannot get private messages to work either. It did a couple times now I..." + (show)

@patriciaann Hi. I just sent you a pm. Look and see if you can reply back. Thnx!

Terri Martin, Volunteer Mentor | @windwalker | Sep 22, 2018

In reply to @amn17 "@jms64 I have the same kind of chest pain too. Chest discomfort, tightness and pressure... not..." + (show)

@amn17 Hi. I used to get that tightness in my chest a lot when I had an active infection. I used Breathe Easy tea by Traditional Medicines. It has various medicinal herbs and root herbs in it. It worked great to open the chest and relieve the tight feeling. It also worked well to relieve my cough and congestion. I bought it at Kroger's grocery in the Natural Food aisle. Krogers is the same as Fry's in some states. I am sure you can order it online too. I took a box of it to an American Lung Association meeting I chaired once. We made the tea and the patients that tried it couldn't believe the instant relief. I hope you feel better soon!

Terri Martin, Volunteer Mentor | @windwalker | Sep 23, 2018

Hey everyone! There is a PBS special about the Mayo Clinic that will air this Tues & Wed night Sept. 25 & 26. 9:00 p.m. in my area. I saw the pre-screening of it last week, it is awesome! And very moving. Well worth watching.

beverly1945 | @beverly1945 | Sep 23, 2018

@windwalker thanks I hope I get it here .Do they speak about MAC

heathert | @heathert | Sep 23, 2018

In reply to @windwalker "@heathert Thank you for posting this. How about each of us check in here and say..." + (show)

@windwalker not sure about deadline, I have written to them and got a standard reply saying they would consider my info. Fingers crossed. On the NTM site they suggest what to write about, very handy.

boomerexpert | @boomerexpert | Sep 24, 2018

In reply to @windwalker "@amn17 Hi. I used to get that tightness in my chest a lot when I had..." + (show)

I, too, use Breathe Easy tea...good stuff

boomerexpert | @boomerexpert | Sep 24, 2018

In reply to @oldkarl "@boomerexpert It is simple. If you get hereditary Gelsolin Amyloidosis, you will, as part of it,..." + (show)

Thanks for the explanation... wonder if this has any connection to Alzheimers...

america | @america | Sep 24, 2018

In reply to @windwalker "Hey everyone! There is a PBS special about the Mayo Clinic that will air this Tues..." + (show)

Yes I’m hoping to watch it tomorrow!!! But I also has it on my DVR so if I do fall asleep I can always watch it again. Since I started Toby I get so tired on evenings and sleep through an entire movie! But I did completed 1 week of Tobramycin!!!! I am still struggling with some side effects but it’s getting better daily. Thanks Terri.

Terri Martin, Volunteer Mentor | @windwalker | Sep 24, 2018

In reply to @boomerexpert "I, too, use Breathe Easy tea...good stuff" + (show)

@boomerexpert It really is good stuff.! I used to drink 2-3 cups a day. Now that my infection has cleared out; I rarely use it. Maybe twice a month now.

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