Coughing up small amounts of phlegm and blood

[hope4eternity]

I'm on the Abbvie trial and yesterday developed a cough that gradually worsened. This morning I coughed up some phlegm and wasn't too worried, but then when I coughed a few hours later, I noticed bright red streaks of blood in the mucous. I suspect I picked up a lung infection and am guessing that it will clear with time. I already did one set of antibiotics at the start of this treatment with a head cold and hate to do another. I feel fine, other than the cough every hour or so, but I don't want to take any risks. I wrote to my research nurse and will probably hear back from her on Monday, but I'm wondering if I should take more aggressive action until then, or just wait it out. I also feel more tired than usual, but then I've been on Ribavirin for 8 weeks! So far, there's no fever.

[copyman]

Probably just a cold.
If you are in a trial then you should notify your study doctor or nurse. This type of information goes into a database of drug reactions that occurs with study participants. It can help if they see a pattern of same conditions happening others.

Hope you feel better
Best of luck

[ceanothus]

I'm no doctor, but blood in phlegm sounds pretty scary. On the other hand, I know how bad emergency rooms can be. Can you phone your doctors office and have the answering service page her/him? I'd try that first, but if its not an option then I'd wait until Monday but only as long as there wasn't any fever developing. If you get a fever then you must take your chances with the emergency room. Good luck!