Lucky me

[tvmangum]

I am so lucky and I know it. I have been diagnosed with Acute Infective Bronchitis now after just having completed a Z-Pack in November for regular bronchitis.

I am wondering if I should do anything different with my CPAP and FFM due to this infection? It is fairly common for me to get bronchitis in the fall/winter but I don't want it to continue on longer like it did several years ago when I had it for 3-4 months. The doctor has me on Proventil and a nasal spray. They were going to put me on cipro but there is a national shortage of cipro and it has been backordered for months. We are going to now try Levaquin.

So, I'm waiting to hear everyone's advice on CPAP, FFM and bronchitis.

[roster]

Sorry to hear that. I have no experience with that and can offer little advice.

You need to find out if there is the possibility of reinfection from germs left in the mask. If there is, your cleaning routine may need to be adjusted.

Let us know how you are progressing.

[SnoozyWoozyCat]

Hi Tv. I have a friend who has the same problems with bronchitis this time of year. Her doctor put her on a different class of antibiotics because the FDA has recently issued a black box warning on Levaquin and Ciphro. Apparently in some people this class of antibiotic can cause tendon ruptures and severe tendonitis months after taking the drug. My friend had used these drugs before with no ill effect, but her doctor wanted to try her on something different due to the warning. He did say that for a lot of people, Levaquin and Ciphro is the only thing that will work and for the majority of users it's not a problem, but just in case you've never taken them before, I thought you might want to be aware of potential risks. Hope you feel better soon!

[Muse-Inc]

Bronchitis last Dec turned into asthmatic bronchitis at the end of the month; mom also had bronchitis. Mom took levaquin & warned about the dangers. Started me on Avelox which I became allergic to, so switched to Keflex (IM to start and then pills). Proventil for both of us (she has ongoing asthma). I was on prednisone too. Half doses of Tussionex for coughing (has codeine).

Used Afrin this way:
Night 1: 1 spray both nostrils
Night 2: 1 nostril, 1 spray
Night 3: same nostril, 1 spray
Night 4: switch nostril, 1 spray
Night 5: that same nostril, 1 spray

Lots of saline spray and Nasonex too. Doc OK'd repeating that Afrin schedule to keep me breathing at night and able to use my mask. Upped my humidity.

Now, my vitamin D level was still barely normal back then. D is a hormone intimately associated with immune system health. To get my levels up to optimal (I cannot get in sunlight as a drug I take photosentized my skin so I burn in 6 mins total day exposure) I take 8000 IU/day and get my levels tested quarterly. I started to get some sort of cold-virus over Thanksgiving and followed a protocol I recently learned about taking 50,000 IU/day...for me it worked but I hesitate to recommend to anyone who hasn't done their own investigation. I learned about it on this blog http://drbganimalpharm.blogspot.com/200 ... chive.html scroll down to "Vitamin D: Flu, Asthma, Bronchitis, H1N1 Protection" and this one http://drbganimalpharm.blogspot.com/200 ... 0k-iu.html. If you haven't had your levels tested, I highly recommend testing ASAP. Only take the D3 form, not the D2 form!