Tuberculosis

[Guest]

i'm a 23-year-old female from the philippines. i was diagnosed with acute pulmonary tuberculosis when i was 16. i underwent the intensive 2-month treatment, taking in 5 different tablets (rifampicin, vitamin b complex and i forgot the others) before or after meals as indicated by my doctor.
problem is, i think i was supposed to go on to the 6-month therapy of 2 tablets (i think, rifampicin and vit. b)a day but i never got to continue that. my chest x-rays for the past 7 years have been the same. no growth. radiologists report that the spot in my lung is just a "scar".
but through the years, i noticed that my lungs have remained weak. if i sleep for less than 5 hours in a day, i would cough the following morning. sudden changes in temperature/weather also bring incessant bouts of coughing and i have difficulty stopping them. oftentimes, i suppress this embarassing fit by deep breathing. when i have a cough, it still takes weeks to heal. i also feel the "itch" coming from the left lung where my spot is. apart from that, i am healthy and have even gained a lot of pounds (more than i would've wanted).

to the experts here, i need to know if this weakness of my lungs is normal or should i see a pulmo? if i should, what tests would be required?

if this is normal, what are your rxs to improve my lungs? vitamins, diet, etc?

please help. i want to sleep every night knowing that i have a clean bill of health. thank you and God bless.

[Guest]

you probably should have stayed on the treatment for 6 months total but it is good that your xray has not changed. The cough could be due to many things and may not be related to the tb. An evaluation by a pulmonologist would be helpful to sort this out.
[quote] i'm a 23-year-old female from the philippines. i was diagnosed with acute pulmonary tuberculosis when i was 16... [/quote]