Living Well With NTM Living Well With NTM | Page 9

Treating NTM Pulmonary Disease
Your Treatment Team
Your treatment team wants to help
you live with and treat your NTM lung
disease. The team may include these
medical professionals:
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Pulmonologist – a lung doctor
Internal Medicine/Primary Care
Physician
NTM are relatively resistant to
antibiotics. They can become more
resistant if only one antibiotic is used.
Effective treatment requires two to
three drugs. The exact drugs and
combination of drugs depend on the:
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NTM species
how bad the infection is
results of drug susceptibility testing
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Infectious Disease Specialist
Pharmacist
Respiratory Therapist
Dietician/Nutritionist
Mental Health Professional
Exercise Physiologist
Pulmonary Surgeon
Remember to take all medications as
prescribed by your doctor. Things to
consider are:
• the best time to take your
medications
•
should the medication be taken on
an empty stomach
Let your doctors know if side effects
develop. Many times, you can lessen
the symptoms by changing the type or
amount of medication you take.
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