Newly diagnosed

[Park-Lane]

Recently diagnosed with bronchiectasis, cough isn't too bad but really suffering with blocked sinuses. Anyone else find this? Also beginning to slowly come to terms with the fact that this is a permanent situation and finding that a bit hard to reconcile.

[primrose123]

Try not to worry too much Park-Lane,so long as you keep it controlled you will be fine,firstly you must ask your doc for a rescue pack of antibiotics,that is the main medication for bronchiectasis & in the event of a flair up you arebetter having them on hand..I was diagnosed 3 years ago with asthma/bronchiectasis & yes I too got quite a shock but once you are on the correct treatment you will feel much better,you will have to hand in a sputum sample to your GP or practice nurse &that will determine the correct antibiotic to be prescribed for you... If you also do breathing exercises which you will find on You Tube, that too will be a tremendous asset in helping you Park-Lane,nust try to think positive, &as much as possible train yourself to be stress free and you will do alright!!! I wish you well Park-Lane,Take care,&God bless you always!!! xx

[O2Trees]

The shock will pass Park-Lane , I promise you. When you get your rescue pack as suggested by primrose remember the protocol for antibiotics when taken for bronchiectasis is two weeks , not one. The exercises she mentions are called Active Cycle of Breathing. There may be others too. And there's a thing called a flutter devise which you breath into and it oscillates your lungs loosening the gunk and making it easier to cough up. I think you can get it on prescription.

You'll be fine but keep posting any questions - Ive had this for three years on top of copd, but there are some like littlepom who have had it most of their lives and are real experts. GPs dont always know much about bronch as they equate it with copd which is much more common but a totally different lung condition.

[Shancock]

Cleaning the sinuses everyday with a saline rinse helps and prevents infection too. Neilmed sinus rinse is great it comes in kit form with the bottle you can order from Amazon. Make sure you thoroughly read the instructions as water needs to be preboiled then cooled. Throughout the day Sterimar helps too.

[Ortho10]

I take a nasal spray called Avamys and it’s works for me, prescription only.

Are you also Asthmatic?

[Tinker26]

It is a shock as no one fully understands just how you feel ,as with everyone else try to see a chest physio to teach how to get rid of the junk ,I was having chest infections all the time but this year has been the best as the bugs have been identified and treated correctly,like littlepom says it’s all about self management,when you start to feel unwell pass a pot into your gp and start your emergency meds ,take care x

[Park-Lane]

Thank you for all the replies. Just reading them has eased a bit of my anxiety and some helpful advice. I am visiting the chest clinic today so will discuss everyone's suggestions with the consultant. Thanks again

[Hidden]

Welcome Park-Lane. I can’t really add much to the excellent advice from the others except to say that you are the same person that you were before your diagnosis only now you know what you are dealing with. Knowledge is control and control is power and confidence. Because bronch is rare compared to copd - 10 patients per practice on average compared to 1500 copd we have to be vocal in our own interests and vociferous in sourcing the right treatment. Make sure that you get a bronch specialist, even if it means changing from the one whom you are seeing now. Most general respiratory consultants and all GPs know very little about bronch. They aren’t trained because the emphasis is on copd. The bronch specialist will have a physio to teach you tecniques to empty your lungs which is the most crucial part of bronch self management. All bronchs are different and there are many different combinations of treatment (usually antibiotics in different delivery forms). The specialist will tell your GP which to give you. My relationship is with my consultant and my GPs appreciate this support and are very cooperative with her.

Once it becomes a daily routine you will hardly notice its intrusion into your daily life. Do keep coming back for advice. As you can see, the bronchs on here are a friendly, supporting and knowlegable lot.

[Carkaisabellacolin]

Hi Park lane i have had this most of my life and its only now in my 40s i am able to understand it more.

I finally have a great dr and physio. Before it was always put down to my asthma but now with the correct info the confusipn and frustration has eased.

Keeping relaxed and exercise help enormously. Knowing will help to keep it under control.

All the best x x😁

[cofdrop-UK]

A very warm welcome but sorry to hear you have bronchiectasis. . With regard to sinuses, Shancock’s advice re Neilmed is spot on. I was lucky enough to be involved as one of the pat ad in the following link and I hope you will find it helpful.

europeanlunginfo.org/bronch...

Cx

[Hidden]

I also have bronchiectasis and suffer with chronic sinus problems. I have been attending the ENT department since 4th February 2014 I have to have removal under local anaesthetic every 8 to 10 weeks - two years ago i had an operation on my sinus but it was unsuccessful- so mine is diagnosed as unfixable - good luck to you hope you get better news than mine.