Other conditions

Hi I’m new on here I have had asthma since childhood wondered why so many people with asthma are now getting broncheticas I have heard of quite a few lately and I suffer badly with this

[tigga61]

its one of the ailments that you get with Asthma rather than a new diagnosis. people are usually diagnosed with bronchitis before they are diagnosed with asthma. its an infection of the airways that causes gunky mucus.

[Hidden in reply to tigga61]

Hi it’s not bronchitis it’s bronchetieas different from bronchitis this is only diagnosed through a ct scan and means pocket of pus forms in the lungs but can also be in the brain and nose so many people have this now who haven’t suffered with any vest conditions before people with cystic fibrosis are also prone to this

[tigga61 in reply to Hidden]

my bad sorry, i got you diagnosed with a ct scan something they never used to do as routine for asthma patients but now they do would possibly explain why its becoming more heard of.The most common symptoms of bronchiectasis include:

a persistent cough that usually brings up phlegm (sputum)

breathlessness

The severity of symptoms can vary widely. Some people have only a few symptoms that don't appear often, while others have wide-ranging daily symptoms.

The symptoms tend to get worse if you develop an infection in your lungs.

[Sparkywoo]

Hi Freckless22 - I am the same as you although mine is still quite mild. My asthma has started to cause me more problems than the bronchi. Bronchiectasis in a lot of cases is the result of life long asthma. The damage to your lungs is done when you’re young, repeated asthma attacks, chest infections etc. Like the rest of our bodies that damage becomes more problematic as we get older and manifests as Bronchiectasis 😕

[risabel59]

Hi,

I was also recently diagnosed with mild cylindrical Bronchiectasis on a ct scan. When I asked my consultant why it hadn’t shown up on a previous scan I had about 10 years ago he said that the reason so many more people are being diagnosed is because the scans have improved so much.

I have had Asthma since I was a child, I also got whooping cough and bad flu as a kid. My consultant thinks these are probably the cause. I don’t have many day to Day symptoms but have to mucus clearing exercises. However if I get a cold I get very sick very quickly and always get a chest infection.

R

[BarrieB]

Hi Freckles

Me too. Long story but was eventually confirmed with bronchiectasis after a CT scan. In my case it does not look as though it was brought on by asthma as I had no history of asthma symptoms until my 50s and even this now looks suspect ( still take a preventer but not sure it does any good). I had bronchitis when I was about 7 which might have caused the lung damage but seems like a long time to develop! My related symptoms are silent reflux which turned out to be the main cause of the persistent cough that was originally diagnosed as asthma and, over time, this may have damaged the lungs. There is tentative research linking the three ailments. So now I take omeprazole which has all but removed the persistent cough (touch wood) but I have also reduced a couple of food items which seemed to exacerbate the reflux (pasta and mashed potato) . I am left with the slog of Active Breathing Control to clear the gunk out. A nuisance but so far seems to have worked. No chest infections for over two years.

It would be interested to hear from anyone else with these three related ailments.