NHS follow up

I wrote last week to my NHS specialist, to let him know about my results with the ayurvedic medicine. On Saturday I got a lovely letter back. He says there's a lot we don't know about "alternative" medicine and, if I don't mind, he'd like me to come in so he can assess the change on my lung function etc. I think it's great that he's prepared to look at this with an open mind.

My story

I am writing my story in the hope that it might help other sufferers of bronchiectasis or other chronic lung disease. It is the story of my journey through illness to health, and it involves use of western and other "alternative" medicines, so if you have already decided against alternative medicines this site will not be for you. If you are undecided, I hope you will find my experience helpful.

It is my own personal story as I have lived it. I am just a normal person, a middle aged working mum with two great children. I make my living as an accountant and I have no financial interest in any type of medicine. I just want as many people as possible to live free from this illness, as I now do.

I was diagnosed with bronchiectasis in 2002, after a lifetime of repeat chest infections, sinusitis, hacking coughs, sensitivity to colds and low energy. I was registered with an NHS specialist at my local hospital, and I started a regime that will be familiar to many bronch sufferers. I had preventive antibiotics, emergency antibiotics, steroid inhalers and nasal sprays, tablets to thin the mucus and hay fever sprays to dry the mucus. Postural drainage that I found quite painful and left me in fits of hacking cough.

Despite all this, I kept getting worse and worse. By 2006 I was having around 10 chest infections per annum. I was struggling to have any normal life, for example I couldn't go on a bike ride with my kids, which really hurt me. Mucus in my lungs and nose was my constant companion. About once an hour I would have to go into the toilet and cough it up. I could frequently projectile cough lumps of green mucus and I lived in fear of this happening while I was talking to someone. To the extent that I started to talk to people slightly side on or with my hand over my mouth in some way. I was constantly tired and drained. My weight was below the BMI range despite me eating three big meals a day plus snacks between meals. I was going downhill.

At the start of 2008 I got a cold which as usual went to my chest. Courses of oral antibiotics weren't clearing it and by April 2008 my GP was mentioning that the next stage would be a stay in hospital for IV antibiotics.

Now I must say at this stage that I have no criticism of my GP or my NHS lung specialist. I believe they did the best they could with the medicines and techniques available to them. As I see it I just exercised my choice to choose a different approach and outcome. I wasn't happy with the results I was getting with western medicine.

First I tried acupuncture, which I thought was nice but didn't seem to be hitting the bug. I then tried yoga therapy, which was great and gave me techniques to clear my lungs which were much more effective and subtle than postural drainage. Some could even be done in public without people noticing!

But neither was really strong enough to hit the bugs that were still brewing away in my lungs. I then had the great fortune to find a posting by an Australian man, Andrew, on another website. Andrew had much worse bronchiectasis than me, he was on the lung transplant list. In desperation he went to India and tried ayurvedic medicine. He wrote that it took him one year to become infection free, and at the time of writing he had been infection free for 2 years. He wasn't trying to sell anything and this was wonderful news to me. I had never heard of ayurvedic medicine before but I thought it sounded worth looking into.

I searched for ayurvedic doctors on the internet and was fortunate enough to find one working 30 minutes from my house. I now realise I was extremely lucky as proper qualified ayurvedic doctors are very rare in the UK. I sent my health history by email and arranged an appointment. I was really nervous! But when I met the doctor his professional manner reassured me. He spent an hour with me, was very knowledgeable about bronchiectasis and very honest about the long term prognosis for bronchiectasis sufferers. I was sent home with an assortment of liquorice-like tablets and foul smelling pastes and then closely monitored for the first 6 months.

That was May 2008 and I was still on antibiotics for my chest infection. A reassuring thing about the ayurvedic approach was that I didn't have to stop western medicine. You can take it alongside for as long as you need. Anyway, I finished antibiotics at the end of May 2008 and the infection was completely clear by the end of June. My chest and nasal mucus had gone by the end of August and I stopped my steroids and other meds then. My health and energy continued to grow. Since Christmas 2008 I have taken one teaspoon of paste once a day and my levels of health and energy have grown and grown. Old friends say I look completely different, my skin is glowing and my mind is clear.

I had one small relapse; in March 2009 I went on a skiing holiday and took no medicines at all with me. After a long delay at the airport which resulted in a night coach journey, I developed a chest infection and had to go to a local doctor in resort and get some ciprofloxacin. I had forgotten how bad that makes you feel!! I will not go on holiday again without my pastes.

But overall I think my results have been amazing. I now live to all intents and purposes free of the disease. Any new acquaintance does not realise I have this problem. It's just a new lease of life for me.

A word of caution; anyone considering this should find a proper ayurvedic doctor. My doctor trained for 7 years in India and has studied western as well as ayurvedic medicine. You need to find one who is expert in bronchiectasis as the disease is complex and serious. Make sure your practitioner does not use the medicines with heavy metals, mine doesn't. Lastly, you should not be asked to spend a lot of money. The medicine is not (yet) available on the NHS and it does have a cost, but it is not £'000s.

Whatever you decide, I hope you have found my story interesting and informative, and I wish you well with your health.