What are the odds that the antibiotics will kill the Bronchiectasis?

Posted by designsbyginny @designsbyginny, Jul 6, 2025

I was diagnosed in 2017 but I think I've had it years before the formal diagnosis. Being very sensitive to meds, I had opted not to take the antibiotics but to nebulize, etc. This worked pretty well until I had several nights coughing up excessive amounts of blood after laying down. I received Intervention Radiation at the hospital to embolise those areas where blood was leaking. What was supposed to be an in-and-out procedure ended up being a 6-day hospital stay. Right after the treatment, ID recommended I start on Bactrim & Azithromycin.
Not sure if the nausea I'm experiencing is solely from the meds or also part of the healing from the procedure. I guess time will tell, but it's not a happy place to be.

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paxmundi | @paxmundi | Jul 10, 2025

I had a massive bleeding episode (hemoptysis) and had Intervention Radiology as well. In my case, my bronchial artery burst so it had to be embolized in two places. I felt fragile for a good while after that. It sounds like a quite similar scenario to yours. It was only many years later that I found out that I had had Bronchiectasis then and probably earlier from a serious case of tuberculosis that I contracted traveling in India.

I understand Bronchiectasis to be a STRUCTURAL disease that occurs from repeated infections and makes the airways distended, floppy, stiff (as Sue explained), and increasingly incapable of pushing through secretions the way normal airways do. Then mucus pools there and infections of all kinds ensue, such as pseudomonas, mycobacterium avium or abcessus and many others.

I am happy that you have a great doctor and that is a great advantage. However, really educating oneself about exactly what we are dealing with is invaluable as the best of doctors need to be held accountable and they come and go. This site has been invaluable as a research resource and emotional support as has NTMir.

I hope you get clear on what actual infections you presently have and that you make sure you get susceptibility testing so you get all the right meds for your particular infection. Self-empowerment through knowledge is an invaluable tool to have. I wish you all the best on your health journey and you are in great company here as you must already know.