What causes the bacteria to grow in some people and not other?

Welcome to the group! I find that certain foods cause the flood of phlegm...experiment and find out what your usual suspects are...

Welcome, @jensfcv. I'm bringing @lindam272 who has atypical cystic fibrosis as well as MAC.
Jen, how do you manage the phlegm?

Good morning....I am not managing the phlegm very well at the moment. I take a Zyrtec every p.m. to help control my sinus drainage as I have had major surgery and now have zero turbinates- so steady stream of fluid. I stay away from milk products and that does seem to help. For several years I was sleeping on incline related to reflex problems however as I aged it began to really put pressure on my lower back so we have removed the incline at the moment. I would be very happy for any suggestions. My usual plan is to arise two hours prior to any appointment and cough the majority of the phlegm up!!! Warm black coffee is a help!
Regards, J

I submitted 2 sputum samples prior to starting the meds, I think I only got stuff from my throat. One was neg and the other was positive. I truly believe there is some of the MAC that lives in my throat. I had a little less of it about a month after starting the antibiotics but now it is hard to tell since I had some cold symptoms recently. I will wait to see once that clears up if I have less than prior to the meds.

Hi @kiemen, I also had to do sputums and had none in my chest. I think MAC is in our throat/mouth becauce that is where mine was from and it was positive for MAC. They have so much to learn about these bugs.

@jensfcv...After what I assume was sinus surgery, are you allowed to use nasal lavage with saline? I find that it cuts down on nasal mucus.
You might want to try an acid reduction diet to see if that helps.

I saw my MD and asked him about the Nitric Oxide. He said, he thought the treatment would be very expensive. I will be interested to see how this continues to progress.

Thank you I am starting with nasal lavage again especially as we are in the pine pollen season. Have been doing bland food for a while since I have pancreas issues.

As I mentioned below, there's certain foods causing your phlegm...start by noting what you ate the night before a particularly bad attack and go from there.
As for the bed, only an adjustable will give you the relief without the backache.

@jensfcv - Welcome to the group! I have Bronchiectasis, MAC and atypical CF. I don't have the gene but I tested positive on multiple sweat tests. I have another one coming up in April so we will see what happens with that. I do breathing treatments with 7% hyper saline every morning and evening beginning with a couple of puffs of Albuterol to open the airways, the saline treatment to thin the mucous, then the Aerobika to pull it up and out. It takes about 30-40 minutes. It works pretty good. If I have a runny nose in the morning, I take a Sudafed to try and cut down on the drainage. I rarely battle with phlegm during the day; however, there are some nights when I go to bed that I'm coughing up more that came out of nowhere. Probably caused by something I ate but I haven't put much thought into what causes what. I just eat what I want. I notice that when I do yoga and lay down on the mat, I cough up phlegm even when I do my breathing treatment before I go. It's pretty embarrassing because everyone is all "zenned" out and I'm coughing my brains out. I usually have to tip toe out and go to the ladies room to cough up my stuff. I'm not sure if the Bronchiectasis is causing most of the phlegm or the CF. It's a mystery... Linda