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Exercise for BE/NTM patients

Posted by helen1000 @helen1000, Dec 30, 2025

I am not a fun for exercise in my whole life. If I exercise in a high intensity way for two weeks, I will get a cold for sure.

I quit jogging after I got MAC, as I am not sure jogging is the best way to exercise with lung disease like BE/ active infection as it may cause bleeding.

However after I did 50 push ups on Monday , I found I have a little bit sputum with brown color, not sure whether it is a bleeding caused by push ups. Does anyone share the same experience ever? Does it mean I still have ongoing infection/ inflammation in my lungs? I thought I can exercise in a more intensive way when my cavity is closed, but it seems I should not be such optimistic.

Walking is great but it is not strength exercise. Swimming is impossible for BE patients too. It is important to control the amount/intensity, which is my lesson.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the MAC & Bronchiectasis Support Group.

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lvnl | @lvnl | Dec 31, 2025

So interesting. Thanks Helen.

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blm1007blm1007 | @blm1007blm1007 | Dec 31, 2025
In reply to @helen1000 "@lvnl I found a paper from a top Chinese hospital that CF is a spectrum, depending..." + (show)
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@lvnl I found a paper from a top Chinese hospital that CF is a spectrum, depending on what genetic mutation ( variance) the patients have, and also Asian has different mutation from Caucasian in CF. Asian CF has less symptoms than Caucasian CF, mostly showing as frequent BE infections and/or frequent sinus infections. That makes me feel BE may be another form of CF, but in a less severe form. My genetic test shows I am a carrier and my sweat test shows negative. But if I develop another mutation, I will show more CF symptoms. Of course many healthy adults are also a carrier. That means if both parents carry such a type of mutation, the child will be a CF. If only one parent carries it, the children will not develop CF, maybe just BE. In one word, BE and CF are in the same family. That is why NTM is so recurrent because patients have the genetic defects.

I am not a doctor. I just do some research and find this correlation. Please correct me.

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@helen1000 Dr. Ann O'Donnell Pulmonologist at the Georgetown facility suggests wearing a backpack with weight when walking to get us to a point in our breathing that will help us bring the mucus up .....to come up. I wonder if this would be something that might help you in your challenge.
Barbara

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helen1000 | @helen1000 | Dec 31, 2025
In reply to @blm1007blm1007 "@helen1000 Dr. Ann O'Donnell Pulmonologist at the Georgetown facility suggests wearing a backpack with weight when..." + (show)
Profile picture for blm1007blm1007 @blm1007blm1007

@helen1000 Dr. Ann O'Donnell Pulmonologist at the Georgetown facility suggests wearing a backpack with weight when walking to get us to a point in our breathing that will help us bring the mucus up .....to come up. I wonder if this would be something that might help you in your challenge.
Barbara

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@blm1007blm1007 It is such a nice suggestion - I will definitely do it! Happy New Year! I wish 2026 is a better year for all of us!

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deirdre923 | @deirdre923 | Jan 8 5:42pm
In reply to @helen1000 "@sueinmn Thanks a lot for your detailed explanation. I agree that a single CFTR genetic mutation..." + (show)
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@sueinmn Thanks a lot for your detailed explanation. I agree that a single CFTR genetic mutation may not cause CF, but it may be the contributing factor of Bronchiectasis or other atypical symptoms. In addition, many BE patients including me have family history of lung disease such as COPD, BE, TB, or lung cancer. I believe we all carry some genes that make us susceptible to lung disease. As I know that some genetic mutation affects protein synthesis.

Like you, I also have wheat intolerance, while I was not aware of it and took it all the time, which may cause a lot of inflammation in my body and this inflammation goes to lungs via blood circulation and cause BE. In Chinese herbal medicine, if your digestive system is not healthy, your lung will not be healthy. I agree with this as most of us are slim, hard to gain weight.

I don't cough at all so I use saline to help me. My doctor advised me that one vial is enough but I did not follow their advices. Walking is great but it is relatively mild and it is not strength exercise. I will follow your advice to adjust saline and exercise amount.

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@helen1000 Thank you for your very interesting and helpful post. I had no idea about the possible genetic link and very interested as my father had TB. I was diagnosed with BE after being hospitalized with a serious bout of pneumonia in all five lobes. My pneumonia hospitalization happened in January of 2025 so I am relatively new to dealing with BE. I truly appreciate all the info and suggestions given on this site. Reading other people’s experiences is invaluable to me as it makes me feel less alone and isolated in living with BE. Have you, or anyone reading this post, experienced a serious loss of energy and fatigue?
Again, thank you and all the people who take the time to post their experiences and suggestions- they have really made a difference in my life.

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3 replies
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helen1000 | @helen1000 | Jan 8 7:09pm
In reply to @deirdre923 "@helen1000 Thank you for your very interesting and helpful post. I had no idea about the..." + (show)
Profile picture for deirdre923 @deirdre923

@helen1000 Thank you for your very interesting and helpful post. I had no idea about the possible genetic link and very interested as my father had TB. I was diagnosed with BE after being hospitalized with a serious bout of pneumonia in all five lobes. My pneumonia hospitalization happened in January of 2025 so I am relatively new to dealing with BE. I truly appreciate all the info and suggestions given on this site. Reading other people’s experiences is invaluable to me as it makes me feel less alone and isolated in living with BE. Have you, or anyone reading this post, experienced a serious loss of energy and fatigue?
Again, thank you and all the people who take the time to post their experiences and suggestions- they have really made a difference in my life.

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@deirdre923 Yes I experienced a loss of energy since 2020 esp after I got covid. I believe this triggered my BE. I only got pneumonia when I was an infant. So I never thought I will have respiratory disease and ignored to check my lungs when I grow up. I may have very mild bronchiectasis as a child.

So happy that my info can be help people. I also learned a lot from Sue and my friend, and everyone here, really appreciate it!

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lilianna | @lilianna | Jan 9 7:51am
In reply to @blm1007blm1007 "@helen1000 Dr. Ann O'Donnell Pulmonologist at the Georgetown facility suggests wearing a backpack with weight when..." + (show)
Profile picture for blm1007blm1007 @blm1007blm1007

@helen1000 Dr. Ann O'Donnell Pulmonologist at the Georgetown facility suggests wearing a backpack with weight when walking to get us to a point in our breathing that will help us bring the mucus up .....to come up. I wonder if this would be something that might help you in your challenge.
Barbara

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@blm1007blm1007 hi Helen. Does she say how heavy backpack

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pled | @pled | Jan 9 9:32am
In reply to @deirdre923 "@helen1000 Thank you for your very interesting and helpful post. I had no idea about the..." + (show)
Profile picture for deirdre923 @deirdre923

@helen1000 Thank you for your very interesting and helpful post. I had no idea about the possible genetic link and very interested as my father had TB. I was diagnosed with BE after being hospitalized with a serious bout of pneumonia in all five lobes. My pneumonia hospitalization happened in January of 2025 so I am relatively new to dealing with BE. I truly appreciate all the info and suggestions given on this site. Reading other people’s experiences is invaluable to me as it makes me feel less alone and isolated in living with BE. Have you, or anyone reading this post, experienced a serious loss of energy and fatigue?
Again, thank you and all the people who take the time to post their experiences and suggestions- they have really made a difference in my life.

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@deirdre923
My BE was discovered accidentally when I was scanned for stomach issues and the radiologist commented on the appearance of my lungs. I have no idea how or when my lungs were damaged and really had no symptoms until I had a MAC infection. That pretty much brought me to my knees. Serious fatigue and weight loss and non stop coughing, for months. I did not choose to take antibiotics and it cleared on its own in time. For me, life with BE includes a chronic cough, mask wearing in public, routines for airway clearance and cleaning of equipment. I do not experience serious fatigue unless I have a lung infection. And you are right - this group is a gold mine!

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ursala7 | @ursala7 | Jan 9 10:29am

If I exercise vigorously enough to get winded (SOB), I am able to cough small amounts of brown mucus, which in my experience, is the older, deeply trapped stuff. I feel this is important to do, so even at my age, I really try hard to get winded. At 76, I can't go briskly walking on the ice in the winter, so I bought a rebounder and do the best I can with that. Also, I noticed that the brown mucus doesn't have the small plugs anymore (as it did when I was new to this game) so I believe I have kept those airways open pretty well.

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Toni D. | @tcd518 | Jan 9 11:39am
In reply to @deirdre923 "@helen1000 Thank you for your very interesting and helpful post. I had no idea about the..." + (show)
Profile picture for deirdre923 @deirdre923

@helen1000 Thank you for your very interesting and helpful post. I had no idea about the possible genetic link and very interested as my father had TB. I was diagnosed with BE after being hospitalized with a serious bout of pneumonia in all five lobes. My pneumonia hospitalization happened in January of 2025 so I am relatively new to dealing with BE. I truly appreciate all the info and suggestions given on this site. Reading other people’s experiences is invaluable to me as it makes me feel less alone and isolated in living with BE. Have you, or anyone reading this post, experienced a serious loss of energy and fatigue?
Again, thank you and all the people who take the time to post their experiences and suggestions- they have really made a difference in my life.

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@deirdre923 Hi Deirdre. There is a lot of very helpful information in the following post: Resources for The ABC's on Bronchiectasis and MAC (NTM)

Best of luck to you!

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blm1007blm1007 | @blm1007blm1007 | Jan 9 4:28pm
In reply to @lilianna "@blm1007blm1007 hi Helen. Does she say how heavy backpack" + (show)
Profile picture for lilianna @lilianna

@blm1007blm1007 hi Helen. Does she say how heavy backpack

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@lilianna "How heavy a backpack."
I think that would depend upon each of us and what we were able to comfortably weight ourselves down with, handle etc. ..... at first..... and maybe gradually increase the weight as we experience it all. The weight is to help one to bring about a type of breathing that would help move the mucus up and out....from my understanding.
I do postural drainage and need to incorporate the weighted backpack when I do my walking.
Barbara

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