Page 10 - NTM Insight Pamphlet 2024

YOUR TREATMENT: THE EMPHASIS IS ON YOU!
Living with a mycobacterial infection requires a skilled and experienced medical team to design and implement a treatment protocol. The success of your treatment relies on YOU, your medical professionals, and your medicines.
Fortunately, you can play an active role in the progress of your treatment. It is important to be committed to wellness and seek the support of family and friends. Your lifestyle and routines may have to change. The changes you make are to improve your health and lengthen your life, and with a positive attitude these can be rewarding rather than burdensome.
Once you have fully discussed your condition and treatment plan with your doctor, you have the responsibility to implement your treatment and follow through with full commitment.
1. Taking Medicines – Multiple medications are routinely prescribed. It is imperative to take medications as prescribed. Do not stop taking medications when you begin to feel better. The doctor will instruct you when it is safe to stop your medications.
Your medications may cause side effects. Call your doctor if you develop ANY side effects. Some of the antibiotics used to treat NTM infections may also interact with medicines you might be taking for other conditions, so it’s important that you give your doctor an accurate list of everything you’re taking (including supplements) and always check with your NTM provider before starting any new medications.
The American Thoracic Society (ATS) and Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA), and the British Thoracic Society (BTS) recommend a standard treatment for pulmonary NTM disease consisting of three or four medications. The ATS/IDSA statement also contains recommendations for standard regimens of antibiotic treatment for extrapulmonary NTM.
Specific combinations of antibiotics work better together because they attack the bacteria in multiple ways. Drug combinations are often prescribed to effectively treat a specific strain of NTM. For this reason, it is very important your sputum samples are sent to a qualified, specialized mycobacteriology lab for precise identification of the species and sensitivity testing.
INSIGHT - A Patient’s Perspective
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