carbocisteine (Mucodyne)

Is any one else taken these for asthma my friend has them for mild COPD and asthma my friends daughter has them for CF.. i have been on them a while now and initially they helped shift the extra mucus build up i was getting and having difficulty shifting and also i was told they would help with the frequency of infections. but lately they are having no effect i spoke to my con about it today and he just said to keep taken them and they may become effective again! he just went on about how stressful things are in my life at the moment and this may be a reason for my lungs taken a great dislike in me at present. i can understand him mentioning stress but stress i feel has not played a part in my symptoms before. Has any one had experience with this drug as to the true effectiveness of carbocisteinie use in asthma.any response would be helpful.

kind regards Jaycie

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Hi Jaycie,

I have no personal or professional experience of this I am afraid; I will see what evidence I can dredge up from the literature but it may take me a day or two!

Take care

Em H

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I take carbocisteine (Mucodyne) but in addition to the asthma I also have mild bronchiectasis, and I think it was prescribed primarily for this. They have certainly made a difference to me - my mucus is a lot easier to cough up so it is easier to keep my chest clear and thus I have had fewer infections. I find it is harsh on my tummy though...

I have to say, I haven't noticed any reduction in effect over time - I've been on them for about three years now. Perhaps you need to change the dose? I take 2 tablets (250mg each, I think) twice a day, but I think you can take them three or four times a day if necessary? I could be wrong though.

Could it be that something else is contributing to your chest, rather than that the effectiveness has worn off? The weather is upsetting quite a lot of people at the moment so could it be something like that?

Hope things stabilise for you soon.

xx

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thank you both

i take two 375mg three times a day mucodyne capsules (carbocisteine) the weather is playing a part but its just still i am struggling to shift the excess mucous build up and the feeling that a lump is inside my chest i have discussed this with both GP on Monday and con today but i feel like no one is listening any more and concentrating on 1, my weight gain since been on long term pred and 2 my recent bereavement rather than the current instability of my lungs.i came out of the room today feeling like i was being told off for being fat and its my fault that i am and also what do i expect with what has happened that my current problems are down to my life events what a load of BS .i was not ill when my live turned inside out and that was stressful!

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I know, Jaycie, it is really annoying when people just automatically blame stress, isn't it? When I was working I was constantly getting asked 'don't you think having such a stressful job could be making your asthma worse?' to which I would reply 'Well, I would be a h*ll of a lot more stressed if I couldn't do the job I love'.

Even now that I am unable to work I still get asked if it contributed to me getting worse; all I can say to that is that if that is the case, why am I no better having had eighteen months off work?

I am well aware that stress can and does affect my asthma, but it certainly is not a simple cause-effect relationship. For example, when my dad died 8 1/2 years ago it was one of the most stressful times of my life, there were problems with the estate etc and I was also a third year medical student desperately trying to get used to life on the wards. And yet my asthma was in a brilliant phase, I had no admissions for ten months which I believe is the longest I've ever gone since the whole thing really kicked off twelve or thirteen years ago!

I sometimes think that stress is a convenient fall-back for some clinicians when they are not sure what to do next - it takes the responsibility for action off them a bit.

But - even if it *is* stress - life is full of stress and surely our clinicians should be helping us to deal with our illness in the context of that, rather than telling us to avoid stressful situations - which is impossible anyway.

Okay, I will stop ranting now, but I do know where you are coming from, Jaycie!

Take care

Love Em