Allergy to Albuterol and chronic eosinophilic pneumonia

In dire need of some suggestions. I have someone I am close to in the hospital right now with what has been diagnosed as chronic eosinophilic pneumonia.

This 40 year old woman, with immune deficiencies and considerable allergies, contracted pneumonia after a radical hysterectomy and was administered albuterol 6 - 8 times per day as a breathing treatment. They were instructed to test everything put into this woman but did not test the albuterol and after almost two weeks another Dr. came in and upped the dosage and she broke out with a rash. Obviously allergic.



She has been in the hospital for almost 5 months and has endured one thoracotomy and 3 thoracoscopies scraping her lungs and high doses of filgrastim to raise white blood cell count. After the third one, I dug into the research and brought questions to the Dr. such as "why not treat the cytokine activation and the fluid to the alveoli with glucocorticoids?"



They then stared a treatment of prednisone and she started improving. Going from 3 drainages per day to not being drained for 4 days until they decided to jack up the dosage of filgrastim for her white blood cell count. She started regressing again due to the immobility caused by the pain and other side effects of the filgrastim. They finally pulled her off filgrastim.

They upped the prednisone and she is back to 3 drains per day and fluid is building. 

The albuterol is clearly at work here as she is continuing a reaction causing the fluid.

Can anyone offer some information to help this poor woman who has been in ICU for over 4 months???

We need some therapy that will address the effects of the albuterol without stripping her immune system too severely. 

The Dr. has suggested dexamethasone and kenalog.

Thank you for your consideration.

Dear lonesome devil,

So sorry you had to come to the forum. Although we welcome you, we are just patients, not doctors. We can only tell our stories.

I feel for this woman. I became allergic/sensitive to albuterol the third time it was administered. I was given some cardiac support but mainly just waited for my body to get rid of it.

I know this doesn't help, but I wish you well in your search of something that works.

I'm not a doctor, but have some experience with my own Asthma and my DH has Asthma and also Eosinophilic Gastroenteritis.

Are they still giving her albuterol? Why wouldn't they try a different bronco-dialator instead?

Have they tried oral or IV antihistamines?

Have they considered a fungal or parasitic lung infection as the cause of the chronic eosinophilic inflammation? Both fungus and parasites are known to cause eosinophilic inflammation...

Other things that may help:

Glutathione nebulized can sometimes help with airway reactivity.

Quercetin + Vitamin C is known as a good combination to combat allergies.

Medications that can stop eosinophilic inflamation:

Glucocorticosteroids

Ketotifen (antihistamine/mast cell stabilizer)

Zyrtec (antihistamine with some kind of anti-eosinophilic properties)

Macrolide antibiotics apparently may have anti-eosinophilic properties.

I hope this helps...take care,

---

-Razzle