My loving and sharing children have given me a garden variety cold. I know the cold will end up going to my lungs and give me an exacerbation that will require antibiotics.
If I lived in the UK, I would have a rescue pack to use. In the US, I have to email my pulmonologist, state my symptoms, and wait for him to issue a prescription to my pharmacy.
I always wait until my symptoms get bad enough to merit emailing my doc. But, I'm kinda sick of the waiting game given the inevitability of the exacerbation.
I wonder when you typically take your rescue pack? Do you take it with the onset of a cold, or wait until it becomes a lower respiratory infection?
I just really dislike waiting for things to get worse because it's inevitable. I would like to nip this illness in the bud before I develop a terrible cough that keeps me up all night and hurts my lungs. But....is there a point to jumping the gun?
To treat or not to treat, that is the question! And since UK broncs make this decision all the time I wonder if you have any insight.
Have a good one! Chicago is expecting 1 to 2 inches of snow tonight, so feel free to post happy spring pictures!
Sarah
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Schmu
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Welcome to our forum. Lovely to hear from you. I can’t help as I don’t have bronchiectasis. But there are many here who do, who will share with you their experiences. We are a very friendly, supportive group. Enjoy your snow. K xx
Hi and welcome Sarah. I have COPD not bronc but I wouldn't take my emergency pack for a cold. Hopefully some of our forum members who have bronc will come along with their advice. Best wishes
I don’t have bronch and wouldn’t know what to suggest to your question, but I thought I’d send you some spring flowers 🌺 instead! I love Chicago! I have great memories of my few days there 😊
Spring flowers 🌺
Hi Schmu and welcome to the forum and the bronch club in particular. I am one of the lifelong bronchs on here. Diagnosed at 3 and now nearly 72. You have posed the question which gives us all trouble. WHEN to start the abs. We are all different and others may give you another opinion which may suit you better. If I have a head cold I use coldzyme or some other cold fighter and wait to see if it goes to my chest. If it is a chest virus- sore persistant cough, I know that for me this will inevitably end up as an exacerbation and as soon as I see the signs - thicker mucus, darker colour, more of it, feeling horrible, I start my abs. For bronch these should be 14 days of a high dose. My suggestion is that you contact your pulmonologist when you get the cold. Get the abs from the pharmacy and hold on to them if the infection does not go down into your lungs and take them if it does. If you don't need to take them you will have them at hand for any future exacerbation so that you can take them at the first sign of one without waiting for the doctor to contact the pharmacy.It can come on very quickly and we really do need to have them to start as soon as we feel we need them. I simply do not understand why some doctors do not trust patienrs to know when to start the abs. I hope that helped.
Hi, if I had the same symptoms as you and certain the cold would end up as a lung infection (which I understand full well as this used to be me. A cold or sore throat absolutely always would go downwards) I'd be emailing the consultant right now & laying it on a bit thick to ensure I got the the antibiotics and steroids asap. That way you're covered if, in a day or two it goes to full infection the sooner treated the better. If you escape it you can stash the meds for the future - a bit like a rescue pack!With bronch here, our National Health Service/ NHS guidelines are that we're entitled to: be under the care of a hospital consultant, to have our sputum analysed and prophylactic antibiotics ie I take Azithromycin 250mgs on Monday Wednesday & Friday from December to April. Since starting this regime I've not had an infection 🥳 I feel very lucky. Mind you, we've had to wear masks a lot for 2 years so that's been a protection from bugs as well as covid.
Good luck, hope it doesn't turn bad. Peege (with a nephew in Chicago)!
Another life long bronch Schmu and I agree with LPom. I know a virus will most definitely turn into a bacterial exacerbation. Docs don’t always seem to get that although abs for virals in the normally fit and well are of no use, for us they are essential as the bacteria soon becomes top dog.
I would start rescues once I became unwell or contact resp team if I need a decision on IVs.
It must be so hard for you if it all kicks off at weekend or high days and holidays. I would be inclined therefore to contact quickly and as peege says ‘lay it on a bit thick’, as I think it is important for you to have treatment to hand as soon as it is required. It is a shame your system or doc doesn’t allow rescues.
As others have said,I'd be emailing consultant asap so u have rescue meds if needed.im same,everything goes into lungs but I do tend to wait for symptoms as described by Littlepom.i also get wheezy,tight chest+ difficulty breathing as have asthma too.past cpl years,I treat as early as poss otherwise it lingers forever.the deciding point is hard but longer we leave,more damage to lungs xx
Hi Sarah and welcome to the site, I have COPD won't beuch help, but it's nice to meet you. Someone will be able to help you on here. Have a good day and take care 😊 Bernadette and Jack 🐕 xxxxxx 🌻🌻
Full disclosure! I'm not new. I just don't post a lot. I really get a lot of help from this forum but I usually don't have much to add. I think I have to work harder at replying to posts!
Hiya Schmu 😃 As a bronch, I know as soon as there is a change in my cough (and it literally only takes one cough for me to know) that it’s all going south and that’s when my rescue pack comes out. It is a balancing act. To drug unnecessarily or not to drug and suffer the consequences. I find that the downward travel is much faster than the drugs effects, so I don’t hang about otherwise it takes me a lot longer to get through it and I feel very unwell very very quickly.
It will be interesting to read how the other bronchs react. Good luck
I used to take my antibiotics/steroids as soon as my mucus changed colour or my breathing changed . I think you have been given excellent advice from our members and agree to getting the meds now. Sounds like it is cold in Chicago so wrap up well and stay warm x
Hi from Bristol, I always keep a resume pack in and start it when cought barks at me and muck changes colour. I ring my doc to let them know I am starting my pack, I also send in a sputum sample to the docs for testing to make shore the meds are correct for the bug. I also use my saline nebs more to help clear the muck. Good luck, hope you feel better very soon.
I'm an asthmatic, not same as you, but when I get any little bug, it triggers a flare. I start my rescue albuterol MDI then nebs if it worsens. And contact my MD. We have a sick plan in place and know when I need steroids and or antibiotics.
Welcome to the gang! I'm another lifelong bronch - result of TB in early teens, now 76, but only given a proper diagnosis a few years back. I very rarely produce any sputum, unless I have a severe exacerbation, so can't use changes in the colour of that as a guide as to when to start rescue pack. I don't take ABs for a head cold unless it causes a big increase in post-nasal drip. A raw throat, I monitor carefully and, the minute I feel the raw/painful sensation start to move downwards, I start the meds - also if a cough seems to be coming from anywhere south of a tickly throat. Consultant once said to me that "It's a lot easier for meds to rescue something before it has a chance to develop fully, don't hang around too long" so I take him at his word!
I think the suggestion from Littlepom and others is a good one - get the meds now, use them if the cold develops much further, then argue the toss with your consultant to get a pack for next time. If you don't need them this time, hang on to them for future. BTW, if you know someone who is going on holiday to Thailand, ask them to bring back some packs from there - no prescription needed. (but don't ask for cocodamol over the counter, the pharmacist looked utterly horrified!)
The thing about bronchiectasis is that it affects everyone slightly differently, you have to learn to monitor its effect on your own body. Good luck, and take care! x
Hi Sarah. When you were in the UK, did you ever use Vicks Vaporub, it is a decongestant ointment. I have used this each time I've had a flare-up in the past 8 months. I rub a small amount on the upper chest area at night-time. It loosens the 'junk' and I have not needed to use my Rescue packs of antibiotics. I also use a steam face mask which helps clear the lungs.See: vicks.co.uk
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