Question: Hi, XXXX again from London, TB patient. I thought I will not need to contact you again but I am bit concerned. Recently I was coughing mostly in the morning and produce small amount of mucus with light brown colour which I thought was normal in TB patient. During day time my cough was almost none. My cough has almost gone now but last three days in the MORNING I noticed good amount of blood in my mucus. This blood was not coming before. I am bit concerned. It looks like fresh blood, red colour. Also my throat and mouth feel little sore (not too much). Blood is not like tissue or chunk but thick red together with mucus. What this could be? Is it related to TB? I thought if it was due to TB then it should have come before treatment, not at this stage. Also why little soreness in throat and mouth. I did not eat/drink anything too spicy which can upset throat. Please let me know what this could be? Thanks.

Latest:
Regarding my bleeding. Doctor took x-Ray and blood tests. Nothing abnormal. But I get fresh blood together with mucus. They prescribed me Tranexamic acid 500mg to take three times for three days and see what happens. Please let me know is there anything to worry or this bleeding could happen at this stage of the treatment? I am feeling well. No fever. Please reply. Thanks.

Hi, Thanks for your reply.
I have cancelled my subscription yesterday night so lets see whether I can still send you message and you get it.

Dr said my latest x-ray is as expected and he could see improvement in lungs compared to previous one.
1> Is it safe to take Tranexamic Acid 500mg for three days three times a day?
2> I know if its viral infection it should go away on its own in a week's time. But why bleeding if its not related to TB? This has happened first time. My throat and mouth feel very dry and scratchy. I need to drink water every few minutes. No problem in breathing or swallowing.
3> I could feel my throat like its bruised when I cough and try to expel mucus. My cough is very little now mostly in morning. Does this mean its not serious like cancer??
4> Any suggestions to improve throat and mouth dryness??
5> My mucus sample came back serum positive today. I have taken total of 10 days + 2 weeks gap + 13 days TB medicines. when it should come negative? I thought usually its 2-3 weeks.

Sorry for so many questions at one time but this website sent me e-mail that I am a unusually a higher user :((. so try to avoid sending too many queries in short time.

Many thanks for coming back to me.
Regards.

Thanks. I will see how bleeding is after three days of taking Tranexamic acid. I will contact you again if needed. thanks.

Hi,
Latest on me: I am still getting blood in sputum but only in the morning. Sometimes I can feel that it is coming from lungs as it is thick and mixed with sputum and only comes after trying to get sputum out. Other times it feels that it is coming from throat after I feel scratchy throat and try to clear it. When it feels like from throat it is quite fresh red blood but little thick than usual. I am confused and concerned where the problem is. Dr thinks its from lungs and should improve gradually. I am on only TB drugs at the moment and take Tranexamic acid when needed. Please advise what is it? I have appointment on Wednesday to see Dr and he will see what to do next, may be CT or brochoscopy or endoscopy or nothing.

My wife: She is on Rifampicin and Isoniazid from last 16 days. She was ok for first two weeks and day before yesterday she developed severe headache, fever and skin redness after one hour of taking medicines. She was unwell for 4-5 hours. We went to nurse and she said this could be one-off and continue your dose. She was ok for the rest of the day. She took medicines again yesterday and after one hours she started having severe headache and this time shortness of breath. This was going on 2-3 hours. We went to emergency and they did all blood test, ECG, BP etc but all were ok. She was given strong painkillers and after one hours she felt ok. Please advise whether this medicines are making her unwell. If yes then why she did not feel unwell for first two weeks of taking medicines? Are these the only medicines for treating latent TB or she can ask for another medicines, probably with lower side effects? Or this is something else that she has developed? The headache was worrying. Do you think if she continue getting severe headache, her brain will be damaged? Is there a possibility of brain haemmorage due to these medicines? Can we stop taking medicines for few days and start again? We are very concerned about this unusual sudden symptoms of my wife. Please advise.

Dear doctor, Thank you very much for your reply. I thought this website stopped my queries to you so I sent message on Facebook. Sorry for that.

Regarding me: I will ask my doctor what he thinks in regards to investigate my bleeding. I am not coughing now. Only at first thing in morning to clear chest and that time the blood comes. My chest x-ray was done last week and nothing worse was found in comparison to first x-ray three months ago. in fact Dr said it has shown bit of improvement. Currently I do not have any other symptoms. No fever, no chest pain, no loss of appetite, no weight loss. Only sometime I feel sore throat. Not coughing during the day. What this could be? What investigation do you suggest?

Regarding my wife: She was feeling ok for last two weeks and she was in her usual behavior. She was not stressed or anxious. Only last two days she started headache, red skin, fever, breathing problem just after taking TB drugs. After 2-3 hours each day her symptoms resided. Today she did not take any anti TB drug and still felt itchy skin and developed some raised spots on tummy and back similar to what happens after mosquito bites. Due to weekend she is thinking of skipping dose for two days and consult nurses on Monday and then start again in case she develops severe symptoms during weekend.
1> Can she skip couple of days dose as she has only latent TB, not active?
2> What happens if she wanted to stop treatment now?
3> Is it allowed to take smaller doses of anti TB drug for latent TB?
4> Can severe on and off headache cause brain problem/haemmorage?
5> Should she continue taking medicines despite side effects?
I have given her cetrizine 10mg today. Lets see.

Thanks.