Aspergillosis

[Elizabethk]

Hi everyone. Anyone out there have experience of aspergillosis?

[Hidden]

Morning! I have the allergic type ie ABPA (thankfully not invasive) and am on itraconazole

[Elizabethk in reply to Hidden]

Hi Hanne62. Thanks for your reply. Just wondering how you knew you had the condition. I live in an old, cold and damp house, have been struggling with lung infections since August and know that I’m allergic to mould spores. If I’m to ask a dr about aspergillosis I need to have an evidence-based discussion so they don’t think I’ve been cherry-picking conditions. Take care E x

[Hidden in reply to Elizabethk]

Hi again. Your gp can do a blood test for aspergillus IgE levels using the usual microbiology form. ABPA is a known complication of asthma (and bronchiectasis) so I’m quite surprised you haven’t been tested for it before. It causes a great deal of inflammation which of course increases the potential for chest infections. It needs to be either ruled out or treated.

There’s a great website for patients nacpatients.org.uk/ but I urge you to stick to reading about ABPA. This is the most common & easily treated form of aspergillosis. Unless you have lung cavities (caused eg by TB in the past) you’re highly unlikely to have an invasive form, so don’t scare yourself by reading about it (which is what I did 🙄) There’s also advice about living in damp environments (really bad for lungs - any chance of you moving house?!)

Do you have a consultant? If so, maybe email about this recent downturn in your health & get your next appointment brought forward. Good luck! Hanne x

[Elizabethk in reply to Hidden]

Thank you, that’s great advice. E x

[Slonce in reply to Hidden]

Hi, I know it may seem like a strange question, but how you know it is not invasive? I am asking as my asperogillus test IGM and IGG were done, but doctors can't tell me more. Doctors started treating me for 20 days with vorcinazole without any further tests. I've done RTG of the chest, seems to be clear at list pulmonologist said so after seeing the result, I am waiting for the description of the radiologist. However, I have the impression that doctors in Poland do not know what to do next, how to treat it, what tests should be done. I also asked about the scale, whether the test result may indicate invasiveness (I found such tables on English pages), but I have no answer. Can you recommend a doctor in the UK, I will gladly pay for online consultations or come. Here, I feel like I came from space. I read it myself, suggests research. I feel helpless and scared. Thanks in advance!

[peege]

Hi, if you write aspergillosis in the search bar you should find lots of older posts with interesting information. There's also a window to the right (or scroll down if using a mobile) titled Related Posts which may help. P

[Elizabethk in reply to peege]

Thanks peege. E x

[peege in reply to Elizabethk]

As you're allergic to mould spores I'd ask for some allergy tests so you can take precautions in avoiding what you need to. If GP refuses could you afford to get them done privately? I would for sure, I'd have to use a credit card.

When I was under the consultant I had allergy tests done as there was a suspicion of aspergillis. There were six samples scratched in to my arm. The mould came up strongly as did aspergillis but it went down & the reaction wasn't large enough to test positive. It was still there an hour later so I take precautions anyway, avoiding damp, leaf mould and compost etc

I gave a small dehumidifier for a small patch of damp in the basement, it's amazing how much water it draws out. P

Good luck