@pacathy thanks for the reply. No I have not tested positive for MAC yet. I don’t know my NTM type yet.

My lungs have upper lung (apical) scarring on both lobes. And in bud tree nodes in the right mid and lingual lobes. There are some bronchiectatic changes. My pulmonologist said the tree in bud nodules are typical for NTM. So we did the sputum samples. I’m waiting for results. By November 1st I’ll either know, or will need to re do them or get a bronchoscope. We were looking to confirm or deny the interstitial lung comment made by the radiologist. My doc says what I have is not interstitial lung disease. Probably this NTM.

I usually cough when I lie on my back. Or when I bend over.. However when I get sick with a cold and then bronchitis, I cough much more. And I notice rattling in those mid lobes. The last time I was sick, I was put on a steroid inhaler for a month. As well as oral steroids for 5 days and a z pak twice. I also did a lot of albuterol nebulizer and some acytylcistine nebulizer. And I had an albuterol inhaler for as needed. My O2 SATs dropped to where I felt like my head was in a box with cotton . My O2 was maybe 93 percent officially at the primary care’s office. I know this isn’t not horrible but enough to feel like my head was in a box with cotton. I felt distant from people. My fever was only slightly elevated. It wasn’t flu nor covid. RSV wasn’t checked. But the lungs took a long time to heal. I had to take cough syrup to keep from coughing all night long.

After all that medicine. I now notice I can lay on my back without coughing. Idk if all the inhalers and nebulizers helped that or not. For me, it is the upper lung tickling that makes me cough when I am not experiencing anything like a bronchitis experience. Upper lobes is where the scars are and taking a deep breath makes my lungs tickle in the upper area. Sometimes I will also feel thin mucus rolling inside which also makes me cough. That will often happen when I lie on my back. Sometimes it happens when I lie down or change side positions in the bed. Normally when I am not sick my O2 SATs are 98 percent. So I don’t know if this is like what any of you experience or not.

Idk if I have MAC or not. It seems by the CT I probably have an NTM of some kind. And I do know I only have some bronchial changes in the mid right and lingual lobes. At least knowing I have the bronchial changes helps me understand why it is difficult for me to get over bronchitis and probably why it is all my colds end up as bronchitis. So that is something good to know. I am not exactly sure what caused the scarring. I did smoke heavily for 7 years in my late teens and into my 20s. Don’t smoke anything now nor since 20s. Had pneumonia once, bronchitis several times. Maybe the illnesses or the smoking made the scars. 🤷‍♀️