Welcome to Mayo Connect where we are a community of people and their caregivers navigating the waters of many illnesses and conditions.

Can you give us a little more information about yourself and whether you have been diagnosed with Bronchiectasis and MAC? If so, and you have been asking Dr Google, you must be concerned about what you are reading - lots of the postings can sound pretty dire.

Rest assured that many of us are walking (or running) around many years after our initial diagnosis. Once you get a good pulmonologist who is familiar with these conditions, you should be having either a sputum culture or bronchoscopy to determine exactly what infection is in your lungs AND imaging and a full exam with medical history to determine how severe it is.

Only then is it time to talk about whether to take antibiotics and which ones. Many in this group manage their condition without antibiotics.

What led you to consult a pulmonologist?