What restrictions with water usage and ice cubes should I be following

@snoei Great question and a hated answer - It depends! I am a person who lives life with asthma, bronchiectasis, rheumatoid arthritism and a few other "disorders", but I am not defined by them, nor obsessed with every aspect of my health.

You sound like me - a person who tolerates some risk in order to live their life - I call myself a "belt or suspenders" type. Then there are those who are more cautious - let's call them "belt and suspenders" types. Finally, there are those who try to totally avoid risk - I'm not sure what to call them - maybe "belt, suspenders and superglue" types?

Common sense tells us that with bronchiectasis we have "an increased risk of lung infection" - but not in a critical way like someone who has had their immune system killed by chemo. And not every encounter with a germ leads to an infection, otherwise we would need to live in a bubble. So each of us needs to find our own risk tolerance.

Like you, I tend to "live my life in the world" with the fewest restrictions possible, but having survived MAC antibiotic treatment, I know I don't ever want to go there again! As a precaution against reinfection, I do daily airway clearance sometimes with saline.

With respect to drinking water and ice - If you have gastroesophageal reflux (GERD) - either diagnosed or "silent", ice and drinking water precautions can help avoid infection because you reduce the risk of aspirating water with NTM in it.

Showers, on the other hand, seem to pose a greater risk if your water is contaminated with NTM. By repeatedly inhaling aerosolized particles, you have a greater risk of infection. To minimize the amount of NTM in your hot water, according to Dr Joe Falkinham, increase the temperature on your hot water heater to be above 130F. Other recommendations would include cleaning the shower head, ventilating the bathroom, and short showers.

Another of the bigger risks for inhaling too much NTM & getting infected is indoor pools & all hot tubs, where the air above becomes filled with concentrated, aerosolized NTM. Outdoor pools and lakes are not so risky, as any bacteria is highly diluted by fresh air.

How do I live? I hang out with my dear grandsons, who could be described as germ factories. We wash hands, cover coughs, and go on adventures. I swim outdoors in the pool, lakes and ocean. I entertain, eat out and drink the water/have ice in my drinks. I travel - a lot - and wear a mask on planes with their close quarters and recycled air. I garden - in wetted soil or with a mask, leaving the dusty tasks to someone else. I constantly gather with others, indoors and out, but usually avoid crowds in cold and flu season or mask, and stay away from sick people.

Some of the places I think people tend to go overboard on precautions - worrying about NTM on produce, steam from the dishpan or dishwasher, getting a shampoo and haircut, never going out unmasked, even worrying about passing neighbors in their apartment building hallway.

If my level of caution happens to shorten my life a bit, I will go out with great memories, a song in my heart and a smile on my face.

What precautions or changes have you made since diagnosis?

@snoei I would like for you to do a taste test. Buy unfiltered water. Make a soup with unfiltered water and then another at the same time with city tab water. Big difference.
Also, boil city tap water in a pot. Once close to empty do not wash it fill it again with city tap water and let it boil down. Do not wash it again. Boil it again until there is no water in it and you will have allowed all the calcium and particles to have surfaced and remained on the bottom of the pot.
Also, all water is best boiled, hard boil, for ten minutes to be sure to rid any water of possible bacteria. Spring water....what spring is it from....how do we know the particular spring is what would be considered safe. So much to reflect on and decide on.
I use purified water, hate buying it, but I do. I bring it to a hard boil and boil it for ten minutes. I also think of it as helping to bring moisture into a dry winter home heated with forced air heating system.
Barbara

@snoei I'm doing the same as snoei. Roz

@blm1007blm1007 I will have to think about this. Thank you for your reply. Blessings to you.

@snoei I would like for you to do a taste test. Buy unfiltered water. Make a soup with unfiltered water and then another at the same time with city tab water. Big difference.
Also, boil city tap water in a pot. Once close to empty do not wash it fill it again with city tap water and let it boil down. Do not wash it again. Boil it again until there is no water in it and you will have allowed all the calcium and particles to have surfaced and remained on the bottom of the pot.
Also, all water is best boiled, hard boil, for ten minutes to be sure to rid any water of possible bacteria. Spring water....what spring is it from....how do we know the particular spring is what would be considered safe. So much to reflect on and decide on.
I use purified water, hate buying it, but I do. I bring it to a hard boil and boil it for ten minutes. I also think of it as helping to bring moisture into a dry winter home heated with forced air heating system.
Barbara

@blm1007blm1007 Unless @snoei perceives a problem with her tap water, what would be the point of doing this?

Minerals in water, which is what is left behind after boiling/evaporation, is not necessarily a bad thing. Also, tap water comes in many different qualities around the country.

In Minnesota our municipal well provides wonderful water, and we drank from the tap for most of our lives.

In Texas, our municipal water from the yucky river tastes awful, and we have never used it for drinking or cooking. Our place used to have a private well with nice water, but years of drought ...

All that said, we do filter our water with 10 micron and .2 micron filters to eliminate possible NTM and (the nasty taste in Texas.)

@blm1007blm1007 I will have to think about this. Thank you for your reply. Blessings to you.

A question for our mentors--are all of these precautions necessary for those of us with uncomplicated bronchiectesis? I continue to use unfiltered city tap water, shower and live my life in the world as before diagnosed.

@snoei We who have pseudomonas were once exactly like you. It's a matter of time. Avoid it. Learn from us.