@ronaf, good thing you didn't continue with the cough suppressant. Coughing helps us expel the mucus accumulated in our lungs. The excess mucus is hot bed for bacteria. When coughs are suppressed, it makes it easier for the bacteria to grow in our bronchi. MAC is ubiquitous. It is found in water and soil. Most people don't get sick when they are exposed to it. When some of us catch MAC, it is because of damaged/weakened bronchi making it likely for the bacteria to be trapped and fester. Not everybody who has bronchiectasis has MAC. But I'm not a doctor. I only state my personal understanding from what I have read about the problems.

@ronaf See?
Here is an example of a sputem test done correctly. Three consecutive days,
three samples. This is what Drs at the conference are trying to get passed as
the standard that ALL physicians use.
 

@ronaf Also want to add that your drs must be top notch if they are this
current as to do three sputem tests. Not many do it.
 

Stanford Medical in Palo Alto CA. is top notch. I'm lucky to live here.

@ronaf I'd say so.
 

@windwalker, Three sputum samples in 3 consecutive days. That was how mine was done. But I had to do two rounds of 3 samples because they thought I had TB in the beginning and were only testing for TB with the first 3 samples. When they came back negative for TB, they then ordered the second round of 3 samples for MAC.

@ling123,
Hello. Where did you have these samples tests done? JNH? Mayo? or private
practice? Just wondering who out there is doing a great job. Thanks!

@windwalker, I don't have JNH or Mayo near me. I live in Madison, Wisconsin. I believe the samples were either tested by a state lab or by the university hospital lab. I'm not sure which. But I suspect it is the university hospital because I had sputum samples tested there for TB many years ago when a skin test came back positive for TB. It turned out that I did not have TB (still don't) but was possibly exposed to it when I was a child because the chest X-ray did show some old scarring in my lungs. I wouldn't be surprised that that has been the cause of my bronchiectasis/MAC.

@ling123,
whoever did your tests did it the proper way, using three samples. That is
good that you have access to healthcare that is on the ball. I had a TB
skin test come up positive also, but turned out that I too was exposed at
some point in my life. That is how my MAC got discovered. I have old
scarring in my lungs too from a terrible bout of pneumonia when I was 18
yrs of age. There seems to be a lot of commonalities among
us.
 

In my particular case, my pulmonologists think my arthritis (anklyosing spondylitis) has caused my rib expansion cartilage to stiffen, not allowing enough air to get to the farthest reaches of my lungs, where MAC can flourish.