Also, If you have MAC, I don't think levoquin helps. They see bloody caugh as an infection but it is probably the MAC colony getting too close to a capillary and weakening and bursting it. Just make sure(and I know you know this) get the blood out! so no clotting.

AI am really learning allot from everyone. If you cannot produce any sputum, and I also was not able to produce sputum with the 10% Saline induction, has anyone

had to have a bronchoscopy to get sputum. I asked my MD and he said well it will just grow more MAC I we already know you have that. Isn’t the sputum also supposed to tell you if there is a subspecies that would be more susceptible to one of the antibiotics

over another?   I also was wondering about this concept. If nurses or teachers seem to get this allot, could it be that maybe during our day we did not drink enough liquid making lung secretions thicker and getting MAC stuck down  there?

JO Aann

Here's a thought: as teachers and nurses and other helping professionals, we all tend to be that special caring breed of people. Perhaps we have an invisible "welcome" sign on our chests. We used to live in an area where people randomly dropped off unwanted pets at our house, and lost people came to our home for directions. They never went to other neighbors! Maybe MAC is like that. Katherine is right . Even though it might drive us crazy - the not knowing, it really doesn't matter in the big picture. Anyway I was /am the non sputum gal. My MAC was diagnosed on a CT scan and confirmed via bronchoscopy. I was losing weight just breathing and exhausted for no reason so my OBGYN who is my brother in law ordered the CT scan! My husband with sarcoidosis brings up enough sputum for both of us. After that it was infectious disease, and the pills. I have had to be changed from clarithromycin to the azithromycin due to side effects from the first one. Apparently that happens sometimes. Most of us have had eye tests, hearing tests, and monthly blood work as our livers can become unhappy.

Wow didnt think of that!

@jkiemen Jo Ann, part of doing your "Due Diligence" and gaining knowledge about our shared disease is educating yourself .. see the below .. hope you find it helpful. re: the bronchoscopy. Jo Ann, I question just how well your doctor is answering your questions!

ie " I asked my MD and he said well it will just grow more MAC I we already know you have that. Isn’t the sputum also supposed to tell you if there is a subspecies that would be more susceptible to one of the antibiotics." Jo Ann, "It" does NOT GROW MORE MAC! The "wash" will merely show the MAC! BUT it will NOT SHOW the susceptibility to antibiotics .. THAT requires "Make sure your Pulmonologist is doing a 'susceptibility panel' IN ADVANCE of going on that particular antibiotic to tell EXACTLY what your MAC will respond to and WHICH one of the few drugs that will work on that particular mycobacterium. " Jo Anne, Do your "Due Diligence" .. SO YOU can become your OWN best advocate when conversing with your doctor! Hugs! Katherine

From My File Cabinet:

BRONCHOSCOPY Results of bronchial "washing make possible a diagnosis of MAC pulmonary disease." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11402614

USUALLY DONE IN CONJUNCTION WITH:
TESTING RECOMMENDED FOR ANTIBIOTICS:
IMPORTANT! https://labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/susceptibility/tab/test/
Make sure your Pulmonologist is doing a 'susceptibility panel' IN ADVANCE of going on that particular antibiotic to tell EXACTLY what your MAC will respond to and WHICH one of the few drugs that will work on that particular mycobacterium. This panel is done from a positive sputum culture or lavage of lung. Susceptibility testing is often ordered at the same time as a culture.

Susceptibility Testing for Mycobacteria
http://www.mayomedicallaboratories.com/interpretive-guide/?alpha=A&unit_code=34805
http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/31/5/1209.full
http://www.mmmig.nl/static/filebank/d073522b5602729078139d641a4cf987/antimicrobial-susceptibility-testing-drug-resistance-mechanisms-and-therapy-of-infections-with-nontuberculous-mycobacteria.pdf

@jentaylor, Jen, I can ONLY speak from my personal experience .. but it did ZERO for me. But that was when I was dealing only with MAC. I have found the Aerobika MUCH more effective in even less time now with the 3 bacteria. Just me. Hugs! Katherine

Jen....you could write a book about your experiences in AFrica.WOW! Tdrell

Irene5...I wish I had a tiny bit of artist ability in order to draw an "Unhappy Liver." Too funny!
I would also like to comment to the discussion re did our work/professions have any linkage to our current situations ....The lung/NTM ailment.Being teachers or nurses ( Or both).
Guess I recall that in the 60'S , the options for women consisted of Teaching, , Nursing, or Secretarial, or Housewife
.And if we did a survey of all of the site's members, we would have no connection to choice of job and infections with NTM.
And as far as the scientists know, NTM is not caught between humans....not communicable.tdrell

Jkiemen,as has been stated before....try to watch videos pisted here from the May 2017 conference and NJH from SEpt 2017 national jewish health. Tdrell also RN

Right! They just move right into our lungs with neither rhyme nor reason and certainly without an invitation! How rude!