Does anyone with Bronchiectasis have trouble breathing on/off throughout the day? (Like if you were trying to breathe with a small child sitting on your chest) I have this every day.
24/7 , sometimes feels like I’m breathing thru a straw 
24/7 … gets worst later in the day.. feels like I’m breathing thru a straw. Or sometimes I gasp for air… couph all day too.
Yes, especially if i’ve been skipping my nebulizers.
hello, that is a very good description and, yes, I do too. It feels like you just cant get enough air into your lungs.
I was finally told that difficulty breathing could be caused by spasms in vocal cords which have been stressed over the years by the “bronchiestasis cough”. When this happens, I visualize my vocal cords relaxing.
I am not trying to be flippant or rude but isn’t that definition of bronchiectasis ? I was just diagnosed a few months back and it was a few months before that when my problem start happening . but the one thing I found consistent is that when I had these feelings my oxygen saturation was good in the low-90s but still good enough. so this was very confusing to me. And it made the doctors dismiss my feelings of
thank you! its oddly comforting to know Im not alone!
Which I got tired of using… no wonder. Darn it . Guess Im dragging it out. Im so sick of being sick.
Im a retired nanny, so I KNOW how it feels to have a small one resting on top of your chrst … im not very big myself! 藍
wheres the rest of your post? And yes, i dont understand how our oxygen can be fine and we still feel “labored” breathing. i live close to the CLEVELAND CLINIC 4 hrs away, and would love to visit a pulmonologist there to explain things better. I have other docs there- they are a teaching hospital and ate used to explaining things.
It is a royal pain and consumes my day but without it I am coughing non-stop yet unable to get the gunk I can feel up & out. Miss enough treatments and I start feeling compromised in breathing.
I do 3 neb meds twice daily, 2 of same neb meds once, and 1 of them once more. Do my Smartvest twice, following each 3 med treatment. I have a hard time getting out of the house before noon. The med i’m supposed to take 4 times also comes in an inhaler. Less effective but sometimes a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do ;-p
no, . my mother and aunt have bronchiectasis and they hardly cough and have never felt it hard to breathe. Both do not use any puffers. I’ve had mine diagnosed 12yrs ago. Was found after I had Pneumonia. I hardly coughed.. mine was “dry bronchiectasis” . As the years have gone by , my cough and breathing are getting worst.
no cough? thats wild! my cough is dry- but boy do I COUGH.
The straw description is commonly used in the States for COPD, especially I think for asthmatic bronchitis and chronic bronchitis. Some of us here had those DXs long before BX. I don’t know whether that description is used for bronchiectasis.
my description of “feels like I’m breathing thru a straw” is just my personnel description… could say " feel like I’m breathing with a pillow over my face " " bricks on my chest" "coughing up a lung " 
It’s very apt and so many people come up with the same description that you can google the phrase. Still original to you in your situation. Docs here sometimes ask patients if that’s how it feels when they breathe.
I really don’t know where the rest of my statement went. and I even proof read my posts before I press send so it must have disappeared when I pressed send. however looking at it I don’t think I was missing more than one or two words. the message I was trying to get across was that the doctors dismissed my feelings of being unable to breathe since my lungs sounded clear to them. And for most of the Year prior to my diagnosis this was the case. several different doctors listen to my chest and said that I sounded clear leading them to the conclusion that it must be allergy related. I think you would do good by going to a pulmonologist at the Cleveland Clinic. I live in Wichita Kansas and I wish we had a good medical Hospital like the Cleveland Clinic or the Mayo Clinic, close to home. the closest thing we have is Kansas University medical school about 4 hours away. but since I suffer from bad back pain I can’t make that drive.
i HATE when doctors act like all is cherry pie because your lungs (and I QUOTE HERE) “sound nice and clear”
My comeback is " i think you ought to know they were clear at another doctors office and that night I coughed up blood and was diagnosed with pneumonia at the ER (every word is true)
JUST SO THEY LEARN that sometimes with BX clear soundless lungs means NOTHING. If they dont learn it in med school, we MUST teach them.
My pulmonologist tells me to inhale/exhale deeply through the mouth rather than the nose whenever docs listen to my breathing with a stethoscope. This is also what he always teaches his shadow/student, to tell the patient to breathe that way. It does tend to display my rattle better, especially for docs over 45 who may have beginning hearing loss.
Amkoffee, I guess you can’t make it over to the Jewish Lung Clinic in Denver, either. They’re ranked #1 for pulmonology in the country by many docs. I’m about 800 miles further from them than you are & haven’t been able to think about making the trip.