Feeling better

Hi, yes doing the breathing exercise helps a lot.

When I was working full time about a year ago I also was having difficulty clearing my airways in time. Now I am at home I find that I can do it throughout the day, and afternoon is always easier. My cough was always worse and I was in and out of the office on numerous occasions, my manager knew so it was OK. It was very tiring for me.

I am suffering at the moment due to allergies, which I'm told doesn't help if you have bronchiectasis. But as time goes on you learn to cope the best you can. Have you tried doing the huff exercise in the evening?

This message is for Debra 28257 that asked about Pseudomonas aeruginosa and anne63515 asked about bronchiectasis. I have both and have had both since at least 2010 when I was near death and in a coma for 6 days. First with Anne and the bronchiectasis, I do not remember having only a couple of bouts with pneumonia which my Doctor says can lead to that condition however several CT scans and they all say that is what it is. Which is a deterioration of the bronchi tube ends. Debbi I have my worst problem in the morning when I get up. I think it has a lot to do with being horizontal and the mucas flows toward the esophagus and near where the airways meet. I also Huff technique but after a minute I can get most of it out. The rest of the day I only have a couple other occurances and the next morning it starts all over. All in all i only produce about 32-3 tablespoons of mucas a day. My pulmonologist told me he has some patients that will cough up a 1/2 cup. So I feel good I am not like that . Yet anyway? Don't know it it will get work. Another thing you can look at is your Thumb and fingers. Hold your nails together putting the nuckles closist to the nail and look at the nails to see if they are clubbing. In other words not straight and are curling. That is also a sigh of bronc and other related problems. I think the wintertime is worse for me because of the dry weather. make sure you drink a lot of water.

For Debra, I have like I said had Pseudomonas Aeruginosa since 2010 and I still have it. It is very very hard to eradicate and I have been off and on with inhaled Tobryamicin and Cipro for years off and on. Finaly I asked my doctor if I could cut back on taking the 28 day on and 28 day off and he said yes. So that was 3 years ago and I have not taken either the Toby or the cipro in over 1 year. My excuse good or not was that the medication was not doing anything for me and I still tested positive toe the Pseudomona. I don't recommend anyone doing this without talking to their DR.

So to get to your question,I would do what others have said and that is drink plenty of water(stay hydrated) wash hands,wash/clean shopping cart handles,shop at the least busy times and try and stay away from crowds of people or people in general. Don't hug,kiss, shake hands ot share anything with anyone.

If you haven't already get a regular flu shot and get a good nights sleep.

Wish you all well!😊

Chest exercises are the best, in my experience. I was given albuterol to nebulize, plus sodium chloride when I was diagnosed in 2017 with bronchiectasis, and am down to just once (well sometimes twice) a day nebulizing, with sodium chloride AND the Aerobika I was given at Natl. Jewish Health, best place in US for pulmonary evaluatioh. In 2018 I had a bout of pseudomonas aeruginosa, fixed that with a week of Levaquin antibiotic, rest, etc. But I'm 67 and retired. I can't imaging working any more, although I do a ton of volunteer work and head committees, lol. Anyway, I was freaked about spending 2 hrs. a day doing nebulizing, and went to Denver to best pulmonology place in US for 2-week workup. They didn't say much new, BUT gave me STRICT RULES: 1.)** Elevate the head of bed at least 30-45 degrees.

Get a wedge pillow, or electric bed with head that goes up, or a recliner. I hate all those, and slide down by morning, but hey...I'm going to try. and get a recliner next, because I found a comfortable one and can't slide down and it may help me live longer.I have GERD and they think I must've aspirated tiny particles from food, etc. into lungs...

2.) NEVER lie down after eating, wait 3 hours,

3.) DON't Exercise right after eating, ideally, wait 3 hours. (I'm not great at that stuff; still have too much stuff coming up, but that's my old digestive system, probably...

NEXT: They gave me an AEROBIKA device, which. connects to the nebulizer, so I can nebulize and do the chest huff stuff at the same time; the sodium chloride is what works for me to bring up stuff (I spit in a cup; up to 1/4 c. maybe), and it's nontoxic, no cortisone, no albuterol, so I'm delighted. I put sodium chloride 3% (or 7%) saline solution in it, and nebulize for about 20 minutes, and that is what I've been doing once a day, usually mornings before I do a few exercises.

You can also put albuterol in it (not combined), but do that first, (when you have exacerbations or a cold or feel the need), if you get that (I have it, but kept getting thrush last fall, because the head pulmonologist at Nat'l Jewish said, "you can save time by skipping the nebulized albuterol and just use the emerg. inhaler" - instead of nebulizing the albuterol, but that gave me oral thrush 3 times, so I stopped the albuterol, and realized it's better to use the nebulizer with albuterol if nec., to prevent thrush, which I never had in my life).

So I started with albuterol and sodium chloride nebulized, and BREO inhaler, plus Flonase, and now I just do generic Flonase, and use a neti pot sometimes with just salt and distilled water, and the sodium chloride (get from Rite Aid presc.). I stopped the Breo too, because I think it has stuff I don't need, after READING THIS BOOK, which told me it's an individual management journey. It's optimistic, and helped me: Beating Bronchiectasis** by Daniel Pecaut. 84 pages or so, cheap, and explains his journey, and he is still working too. But it has affected his life. (I'm on a toxic chemo for too high platelets, which is likely to kill me in 5-15 years, but keeping a positive, happy outlook can change brain/body cellular connections, anything is possible, and it is SO important. Sending you waves of healing energy, patience, and understanding. You have to eventually manage how to manage living with it, on your own, I think, per this guy in the book, and it is empowering. The answers sometimes lie within, but we need to understand it all, and get the tools and info first. JR

PS. I just read that 1 in 3 people may get this in older ages; you're not alone. I met 3 friends in our little town, 2 friends this past week, who have bronchiectasis. Had no idea I was not alone.

I'm not going to tell you how bad it is for me. If you feel better after a few days, fantastic. Keep doing everything healthy that you can.