Hi Folks.
Has anyone had success in getting rid of Pseudonomas? I have been given the following for two weeks of each: Amoxycillin. Doxycycline, Cyproflaxacin, followed by hospitalisation and two weeks of Tazocin and Ceftazidome. Nothing has worked. I have never been given anything nebulised. Any ideas?
It looks as though you have had pretty standard treatment for pseudo although amoxyl is useless against it. Unless the dose and duration has not been sufficient. 2 weeks. There are other IV antibiotics which they can use such as meropenem and gentamycin. Sadly, once pseudo is in there it does not go away. The intention is to get the numbers down as low as possible with IV and then keep the numbers low enough to lead a normal life by diligently emptying the lungs every day and nebulising an antibiotic. I hope that you have a bronchiectasis specialist, not just GP or general respiratory consultant. Sometimes it seems as though the pseudo has gone because it does not show up on a lab plate. Standard lab tests cannot show up the very low numbers but they are lurking.
Thank you Littlepom. I was hoping that I would get a reply from you.
My consultant is not a Bronchiectasis specialist unfortunately, but he has been my consultant for a very long time and I trust him. I have managed to get an appointment to see him next week so I will ask him about nebulised antibiotics.
When you speak of nebulised antibiotics do you mean a particular one? I have no experience of nebulisers. Are they used at home? I have never seen one.
I am experiencing breathlessness and dizziness too, something which I have never had with non-Pseudonoma infections in the past despite having much more on my chest than I have at present. Is that normal do you know?
Sorry to bombard you with questions. I feel that I have to be as informed as possible when I go to see my consultant, particularly as he is not a specialist.
I am not a doctor remember and only speak from my experience. Your consultant does seem to know about bronch in the treatment that they have given you so I think that discussing the way forward with him is a good thing. We are all different so finding the right ab is often 'suck it and see' rather than looking at lab results. Ceftazidim, gentamycin,colistin, tobramycin can all be nebulised for pseudomonas.. As you have recently had IV the numbers should be quite low so a good time to go on to nebulised abs. You have a test of the ab in the nebuliser at hospital then take it home. Sometimes the hospital supplies the drug and sometimes the GP does. You keep your nebuliser at home and it is a long term treatment. I nebulised cefatzidime for15 years. You will need to talk to the doc about the dizziness and breathlessness because so many things can cause it.
That was very helpful. Thank you very much Littlepom.
I am same exactly as littlepom says, i have had iv it still there, he tried long term antibiotics for mon wed fri it kept it down, samples still show its there along with others so it was working ,but since had another infection there, if it keeps happening ,that more are joining then he wants me to go on nebulisers but as little pom says they are always there they colonize i just have to keep sputum samples going to keep an eye on the new ones growing, i do see a specialist good luck hope you get it under control ,x
Thanks Elsie. I have heard on this site of people taking Azythromycin three days a week. Is this a solution which people have tried successfully?
Yes this is what i am on, not had a big chest infection for4 months now ,i have had sputum samples that have still got them all in,think he said they have conlonlised but hopefully under control , not sure how long for it keeps on adding on another bacteria
I presume you've had your sputum tested to see what bug has invaded you, and then the hospital propose the suitable antibiotic that will defeat it. This maybe an intravenous AB.
The bug is Pseudonoma. Have had intravenous antibiotics for two weeks but it’s still there.
I had the same treatment that Littlepom has suggested. Two weeks of iv antibiotics and then nebulised colistin at home twice a day. I’ve been on the nebuliser for over five years. The idea is to get the numbers down and the nebuliser keeps them down. Good luck with it.
Thanks Mooka. I’ll suggest that to my consultant on Wednesday.
They put me on Colomycin powder (2 million unit vial) with a Sodium Chloride solution (0.9%) to be taken twice a day via the Nebuliser. This is just to try and keep on top of the Pseudomonas. Not sure if it's working but I've not had any flare ups so far.
Thanks Shogun
I had pseudomonas for more than a year but a nebuliser with Colomycin via my resp specialist did wonders. Within two days I stopped coughing my breathing improved and my lungs cleared. Maybe I was lucky but it worked for me. Good luck!
I hope I am as lucky. Thanks
I am on Nebulised Colomycin for Pseudomonas and l am also experiencing breathlessness much worse than normal and also feel lightheaded. I have been told that'll will need to be on it for a year. I must say that l am not feeling that great and l am going to speak to my respiratory nurse tomorrow. Not feeling the love for feeling like this for a year. Hope you get the right treatment and feel better soon.
You could be experiencing lung spasm caused by a reaction to breathing in the colistin. I have come to a point where sadly I get spasm (breathlessness) whichever ab I nebulise so only IV for me now on. Changing the ab which you nebulise might help.
I haven’t been offered nebulised antibiotics yet. I am expecting that my consultant may put me on them or perhaps on Azithromycin. So the breathlessness and dizziness I experience isn’t from breathing in colistin.
I was replying to falcon 68 about nebulised colistin. Azithromycin is good drug because it tackles inflammation and copd people find it v good. It can be helpful in bronch but is not particularly effective against pseudo. I took it for 5 years and whilst I didn't seem to get other bugs, every time pseudo had a party I had to take cipro
Ha I see. Sorry. I misunderstood and thought you were speaking to me. Cyproflaxacin didn’t seem to work for me.
I have had pseudo on and off for about ten years now, keeps coming back like an old penny!!
It's usually oral antibiotics that never usually work and end up having IV in hospital, Gentamicin, Cefdazadine and another one whose name escapes me.
I'm usually very breathless and wheezy with it, more so than my usual bronchiectasis infections but I don't usually get fever and other symptoms. At thr end of IVs, I usually have to nebulize at home, Gentamicin and just have to monitor and send lots of samples to my hospital.
It would be good for you to ensure that your GP is liaising with you Bronch specialist (hoping you have one?)... I cannot imagine that my GP would have a clue what to give me if it was left upto them.!
I hope you are feeling better and managing to get the right ppl involved in your care. Tc.
Thank you very much for your input. I see my consultant on Wednesday and I will bear your comments in mind.
Pseudomonas is in the air earth and water, and lives in our nasal passages, healthy non immuno compromised people do not normally get an active infection. For CF sufferers, and others, it is a very dangerous infection and can be virtually impossible to eradicate completely, and even if it is, unless things like hot tubs, showers, kicking piles of fallen leaves, gardening without gloves and mask is avoided, pseudo will invariably re-infect again. Often, pseudo will be a hospital acquired infection, due to ineffective infection control, multiple bedded wards and free contact between patients. Treatment often only results in a non active infection which leaves you "colonised". Regarding oral antibiotics, to my mind only Ciprofloxacin is effective. My rescue pack at home is Co-amoxiclav and prednisolone. I am on salbutamol, Ipratropium, 6% saline and gentamicin nebs twice a day and take 250mg Azithromycin every day. I am colonised with pseudo, I had stayed clear of an active pseudo infection for years, but succumbed recently to a low pseudo infection, I had IV imipenem and colistin IV push for two weeks whilst still nebbing Gentamicin. This has led to less crackles and wheeze, and much less sputum being produced, so I am counting that as successful. If possible, this IV treatment should be self administered at home, you are much less likely to be re-infected. So, at this point, no matter what you do, if immuno compromised, short of living in a sterile bubble, you will probably be colonised with pseudo for life, with hopefully, only occasional active infections. I spend up to 4 hours a day in chest clearance and treatment. Perhaps, in the future things will change, I am keeping my fingers crossed. good luck in your future. For more information you could join this site; bronchiectasis.info/forum/d...
Thanks for your detailed reply! I will know what my consultant intends for me when I see him on Wednesday but I feel better informed now.
Are nasties still partying in my lungs? And flu and booster jabs.
available medications Now
Secondary Infections Relating to Bronchiectasis
Follow up x-ray pneumonia 
