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Bronchitis kicking my AZZ!!!!
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Posted by: KTM-Lew---------------------
This started back in mid Dec. Got the "flu" and thought I was gonna buy the farm. Got over it and then late Feb I got sick again. My dad developed a case of pnuemonia and while we had him in the ER I had them check me out too. Figured the green stuff I was hacking up indicated a problem. They put me on an antibiotic and after about 10 days I went back to work. Worked 11 days and am sick again. Antibiotic again and some kinda steriod pack, x-rays and blood test, no pneumonia......still hacking but getting better.
My dad died March 26 from complications of pnuemonia & end stage renal failure. Just received word that my sister is in the hospital with pneumonia. WTF??? She was here, dad's house for a couple of months,helping take care of him too.....we are wondering if the house is "sick"???
Posted by: MXTex---------------------
It's a possibility. You can check for mold and other fungi pretty easily with a kit that can be purchased at Home Depot or Lowes. Essentially, you set up petri dishes in several locations throughout the house for a predetermined time frame. Then you send them to a lab for testing. I did this for my house to rule out the possibility of mold. The entire process is pretty easy and very cost effective. Hope this helps and very sorry to hear about your father. Good luck and I hope things get better.
Posted by: KTM-Lew---------------------
MxTex
Thank you very much.......sometimes I don't think that "we" appreciate how much help these boards are. 
:thumb:
Posted by: joereitman---------------------
I am very sorry to hear about your dad and about your health issues too. Here is a mold link that is objective, not the sensationalization about mold that is now prevalent.
http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/airpollution/mold/stachy.htm
There is some level of mold in all homes. A positive will not indicate whether there is a level of mold that is the actual problem. There are some professional tests though that do quantify mold level.
Most mold is not that toxic. There may be something else going on. Allergies to other things may be a consideration. Pets, dust mites, smoke, food.
Have the water tested. Are there local industries that discharge to public water supplies? Lots of possibilities.
The pulmonary specialist who treated your father may have some insight, or be able to refer you to a subspecialist who can help. Good luck.
Posted by: Rooster---------------------
Lew - sorry to hear about your dad.
Above is good advise, mold can really mess things up. Best wishes.
Posted by: nephron---------------------
Lew--did you get temporarily better with the antibiotics, then relapse? Most people with chronic sinusitis feel the cough is coming from their lungs, but it's due to post nasal drip accumulating in the vallecula. At any rate, it's a classic presentation where a short course of antibiotics helps, but there's relapse. This is because the sinus cavities have poor bloodflow, and as such delivery of antibiotics, antibodies and white cells sucks. Throw in the accumulation of fluid there (stasis--promotes organism growth), and inability to drain the fluid due to meatus edema (drainhole swelling), and you've got a problem that can't be resolved with anything less than 4-8 weeks of antibiotics plus a sinus rinse kit.
As far as the mold goes, I remember the hysteria when babies were dying of hemorrhagic pulmonary disease when exposed to 'black mold'. This mold doesn't affect adults, and is called Stachyboytris. Other less well known molds and even common ones (Aspergillus sp.) MAY cause problems, but they don't cause your problems. It typically hits people with preexisting lung disease, and causes a dry NONPRODUCTIVE cough and bronchospasm (wheezing). Furthermore, the cost of testing for the mold and then cleaning the mold from your house is excessive (typicall 5000 to 10000 dollars), and the presence of the mold DOESN'T PROVE IT'S CAUSING YOUR PROBLEM. The only way to find that out is to draw blood and send it for antibodies specific for the mold in question. These are comp fix titers, and every time I've caved in to a patient and agreed to send it, they were negative.
So what could it be? Well, if you're really having recurrent bronchitis, you develop an immunity to common organisms and do not get the same organism more than once (unless you're immunosuppressed). The one CAVEAT is Mycoplasma, which can cause just such a presentation. This organism is only responsive to macrolides (Azithromycin/Z-Pak), fluoroquinolones (Levaquin, Cipro, etc.) or tetracyclines. Oftentimes, 2 to 3 weeks of therapy is required.
My best guess without seeing you would be Mycoplasma Pneumoniae or Chronic Sinusitis with various acute episodes.
If you have sinus pressure, congestion..I'd use BiaxinXL to cover the sinus issue plus Mycoplasma (in case that's it). Mycoplasma is easy to diagnose by checking a Cold Agglutinin antibody.
As far as explaining the association amongst family members, it doesn't make sense except in the off chance that one of you have served as reservoir for Mycoplasma. I'd say that's all been "true-true unrelated".
Posted by: dirt bike dave---------------------
Lew - Sorry to hear about your dad.
About 2 years ago, a nasty respitory virus swept through our family, and your symptoms remind me of what we endured. The virus is called RSV.
You can find info by searching for RSV on google. As with othe viruses, antibiotics do not help, and it pretty much has to run its course. RSV can be identified with a blood test. It's brutal on healthy adults, but its even worse for infants and the elderly.
Posted by: KTM-Lew---------------------
Nephron
YEP.....you have it pegged. I moved to NC 7 & 1/2 years ago and didn't have any sinus problems there. I had forgotten how bad my sinus problem was when I lived here in WV. The 2nd doc put me on the same antibiotic as the first one, Erythromycin, plus methylprednisolone 4mg dspk 21 and a cough suppressant, promethazine w/codeine. She mentioned that I had some serious sinus drainage and rec I try an over the counter med to treat that. I currently have no insurance and she was trying her best to get me well as cheaply as she could. I think she mentioned Clarinex (sp?)? The antibiotic gave me diarrhea.......not fun!
Since then I've been doing some research and found that the antibiotics don't normally "cure" this condition. So I decided to try a different approach. Now taking a 12hr decongestant, pseudoephedrine hydrochloride, and using Vic's Vapo-Rub on my chest. After the first night I saw dramatic improvement. It has been cold and damp all week and I work next to the main garage door......not the best way to get well so I took the week off! Going to go back to work Monday. Being an auto tech requires lots of trips in and out of the cold, so I'll see how it goes.
Thanks to everyone for the help!
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