Hello Gang.
I have been lurking in the background for ages now so i thought it was about time i joined this really great site. I'm a 55 year old non smoking male and i have Bronchiectasis. I had pneumonia as a child, well i had it 3 times before the age of 3 actually and that left me with scar tissue on my lungs, so i grew up with dodgy lungs which was no big deal really at the time i guess. I have 11 brothers and sisters and in Eire at that time you had to pay for doctors and medicines and my parents just did not have the money and none of the doctors would treat me without payment so the pneumonia took it's course and the damage was being caused to my fragile lungs, but by the 3rd time getting pneumonia my lovely mum found a doctor that would treat me for free, YIPPEE. Anyway (Long story short) growing up i was just a bit chesty but as fit as a fiddle, even at the age of 30 i was able to run 35 miles a week and i did that every week for 5 years until i was about 35. I was really fit and healthy until about 5 years ago when i got pneumonia again and that just tipped me over the edge and i was gifted with Bronchiectasis, boy was that a quick change of lifestyle.
So today i have the chronic lung disease Bronchiectasis. I am being very well looked after by my local hospital in London where i live and my GP. I take Azithromycin 250mg 3 times a week which has done wonders for getting rid of the chesty squeak i used to have, the squeak was so bad it used to wake me up from a deep sleep sometimes, i sounded like a hinge that needed oiling, badly Hehehe. Postural drainage is vital, i know it's hard to do sometimes and it's a pain in the you know what, but it has to be done and in the great scale of things it's just stupid not to do it if you can, i mean 10 minutes twice a day, we can probably all do it can't we. Anyway i have found a great way to help with the Postural drainage, i got so bored and fed up with hanging over the end of the bed whilst furiously banging my ribs with my free hand that i went out and bought one of those lightweight tables that tilt you upside down or at an angle, i think it was about £100. It's so easy now to do the postural drainage and i do it every day, twice a day, No bother. So that's about it really, i'm really fit and healthy apart from the Bronchiectasis, I have just started to go to the gym again, i'm going to put on some muscle and get rid of the small amount of fat i have gained whilst i was sitting around feeling sad for myself. I look around sometimes and i think to myself, you know what, i'm really lucky, things could be so much worse. Now having just said that, i found out this week that i have Coeliac disease. Another challenge to overcome i guess, Coeliac disease sounds so bad but it just means i have a wheat intolerance, so no more Guinness, now that was bad news i can tell you, i'm Irish after all ;-) .
Hiya, I'm stuck at home with loads of snow outside, lovely and cosy with yet another chest infection. Thanks for your posting, it made me smile and feel that there are so many more people out there experiencing this antibiotic, steriod, acapella life called bronchiectasis.. This is my first posting and I wanted to be able to go to my doctor with some options from where we have already gone. I have mostly been put on amoxicillin and when its bad, a cocktail of both amox and prednisolone. I wasnt shown how to do postural drainage, just the acapella. I try to walk everyday, but days like today, even the stairs are too much. I used to dance modern jive and salsa and was a person focussed on living. The last year has all been responding to and getting used to the first year of diagnosis. I want to be proactive - I have that dance floor firmly in my sites. Can anyone suggest any ideas to take to my doctor?
Bev in Bradford
[quote:dfb0b4f0ef=\"BevMon\"]Hiya, I'm stuck at home with loads of snow outside, lovely and cosy with yet another chest infection. Thanks for your posting, it made me smile and feel that there are so many more people out there experiencing this antibiotic, steriod, acapella life called bronchiectasis.. This is my first posting and I wanted to be able to go to my doctor with some options from where we have already gone. I have mostly been put on amoxicillin and when its bad, a cocktail of both amox and prednisolone. I wasnt shown how to do postural drainage, just the acapella. I try to walk everyday, but days like today, even the stairs are too much. I used to dance modern jive and salsa and was a person focussed on living. The last year has all been responding to and getting used to the first year of diagnosis. I want to be proactive - I have that dance floor firmly in my sites. Can anyone suggest any ideas to take to my doctor?
Bev in Bradford
Hello, I am new to this site (any bronchiectasis site for that matter) and I too got a kick out of \"bronchi-ecstasy\" and like the positive attitude which is so difficult for all of us sufferers to maintain. I would like to hear more about the \"table\" for drainage. I use the flutter valve but unless I do a nebulizer breathing treatment which I have to use every 4 hrs. right now, I don't get much up. I too was always so active. We retired here to the Smokey Mt. area of Tn. so I could spend a lot of time outdoors but the air pollution is so bad that it is high asthma/allergy state. Therefore, I am now even afraid to spend much time outdoors. So much for this wonderful long front porch and rocking chairs we have. I would do anything to find something that can help as I am always worse the day after being outdoors. I am seeing a new Dr. on the 22nd and am so hoping she can give more help. The only thing that gets the trapped mucous out is prednisone and then Levaquin antibiotic to kill the microbacterium gordonnae infection that I get so often. My present Dr. is now reluctant to give me either of these meds. I have to sleep sitting up in my bed with large pillows behind my back for support so I am not getting much sleep either. I can't stand hearing the wheezing which is worse when I lay down. I am so glad to have found this site as I am already finding it very encouraging to read what the many like yourselves have written. Thanks!
BevMon asks for ideas to present to his doctor. Ask the doctor to try you on azithromycin. It's an antibiotic which has worked wonders for me, and I don't know why more people don't try it. It has stopped my sputum virtually altogether.