Pneumonitis

[Guest guest]

Dear Matt,

So sorry to hear about your problem. I looked up pneumonitis from Mayo clinic

to

see if it was the same thing I had while on Sprycel. They called it pneumonia

at

the time, but who knows, since I was on Sprycel, it could have been pneumonitis.

Of course I had other symptoms, like shortness of breath and ran a temperature.

I called an ambulance because I could not exhale and that was scary. If you

have

only pulmonary effusions, it would not necessarily mean you had pneumonia, but

inflammation of the lining of the lungs and I believe that can cause coughing.

The

same thing can occur with the heart. Have you looked at your monograth that

comes with the prescription? It may be listed as a side effect.

By Mayo Clinic staff

Pneumonitis (noo-moe-NIE-tis) is a general term that refers to inflammation of

lung tissue. Although pneumonia is technically a type of pneumonitis because the

infection causes inflammation, most doctors are referring to other causes of

lung inflammation when they use the term " pneumonitis. "

Factors that can cause pneumonitis include:

a.. Occupational exposure to airborne particles, such as asbestos or silica.

b.. Some drugs, particularly CHEMOTHERAPY drugs, or

c.. Radiation therapy to the chest.

My antenna immediately went up when I read your post because I get pneumonia

shots regularly and never had it before, but on Sprycel I did.

That is the reason they took me off it and put me in another trial. Perhaps

some other patients experienced the same. I think Bobby Doyle may have,

also. I think she was in that trial longer than I was. If you will note that

one of the factors is attributed to chemotherapy drugs. Only a sputum test

will rule anything out. My son was exposed to everything but chemotherapy,

but he had several infections, including aspergillius, for which there is no

cure for him, it's just a fungus he picked up from breathing spores on the job

as

a welder.

I'm sure you will do what is right for you after careful evaulation by your

doctors.

Good luck in getting answers.

Carpe Diem,

Lottie Duthu

Not everyone gets pneumonia from airborne particles and radiation, but some do,

so

any of those things are a possibility. I hope this brings some coherence to the

issue.