The bugs 'cause' the infections, the low IgG is part of the body's
failure to mount an appropriate immune defense.

It stands for Immunoglobulin G (IgG), which is one of many generalised
classes of antibodies produced by the immune system. It is a mixture of
antibodies for a wide variety of antigens.

Bloody oath! You should be mentioning this to your doctor ASAP!

Bacteria from the sinuses should not be able to get down there unless
your lungs are not clearing the mucus that they are producing in the
airways. All mucous flows OUT of the lungs, where it can be coughed out
or swallowed. You need to get this checked out very soon, please. There
are various bugs that can slowly grow and tear you up, especially when
on MTX (or other similar medications).

Regards,

Ari

are you taking any cough medicine for it?  I find when I'm at that kind of
point, taking some cough syrup with expectorant makes it easier to control
the major coughing fits, but I still cough out what needs to come out.  
And more.  The more I cough, the

you definitely need to talk to a doctor about this!  the sooner, the better.  
Coughing fits are one thing, the bloody taste/smell is quite another.  It
might just be irritated tissues, but it could be a host of more serious
thingss.  Please, don't delay taking it up with a doc.

It kinda depends on where in your chest the cough is coming from.  That
sounds kinda funny I know, but I find I cough from higher up when it's from
post-nasal drip that is draining into my throat and lungs.  Real chest
congestion gets major coughing from the diaphragm and I tend to feel the
congestion in my lungs when I breathe.  (but then, I've been dealing with
allergies and their complications for over 40 years and this is all stuff
I've realized slowly over time!)

I had one major sinus congestion that I tried to ignore and let clear up on
its own because it was during a personally traumatic time.  Big mistake! It
ended up goininto my throat and glands.  When I finally went to the doctor,
the first thing he asked was whether I'd ever had the mumps - my glands were
that congested.  So it's hard to know what the body will do and it's best to
get on top of things when you can.

I used to work with someone who had only a few mild allergies, but was prone
to nasal polyps for reasons no one understood.  They tried every trick the
ENTs knew, but couldn't stop them from recurring.  Ultimately, she just had
to have surgery for them every 18 months or so.  It sucked, but she was
philosophical about it.  Sinuses are strange thingss.  Sure makes you realize
why life expectancies used to be so much shorter!

After having sinus infections every time I turned around when younger, I've
finally gone a number of years without one.  A lot of this is the result of
learning how to keep stuff draining when I'm congested - irrigation and/or
saline sprays, medications, etc.  And I'm off enbrel as soon as I think I'm
getting a virus.  Oh, and I make a point of getting my flu shot every year as
the flu was guaranteed to turn into an infection for me.  I've not had a
single sinus or respiratory infection since starting enbrel, though I have
had a couple of other infections.  So, with you not being historically prone
to sinus infections, I suspect you might be fine on enbrel after successful
surgery.  Just pay close attention to what's going on with your body.

I recently learned I have "moderately low" IGG, though not as low as
DianeW's. What I've read says that sinopulmonary infections are much more
common among people with low IGGs.  Makes me wonder if more of us have that
than is generally suspected.  Probably wouldn't be tested for it unless
doctors were trying to get to the  of some other mystery