Hi imeehaight: Sometimes I am afraid to cough because of blood also, but I do to get stuff out. if I cough really deep, it hurts, and I think blood will come, but most of time it does not. My doc said sticky phlegm from not drinking enough water.

@unicorn .. Christa and @imeehaigt Imee .. YES drinking LOTS of water is VERY beneficial .. but you will ALWAYS have sticky mucus .. it is a symptom of our disease. Personally I have a HUGE red glass that I keep beside me to remind me to drink lots of water .. and to refill .. but I STILL have sticky mucous .. it is the name of the game .. so don't flog yourself that you are not drinking enough water. Just keep trying to do it! Hugs! Katherine

I agree with Katherine. I drink a lot of water all day long but still have sticky phlegm. We do need to drink plenty of water but sticky phlegm is the name of the game for sure. I've had it for over 20 years. Drive me crazy but manage to live with it.

@windwalker Terri, neither my husband or I care for much garlic, nor do our closest friends. My husband is of Italian heritage and his parents didn't use garlic either! People have this impression that Italians eat a lot of garlic but when we have been in Italy none of the restaurants smelled heavily of garlic like many Italian restaurants do here. There are some we have walked into here and walked right back out of because the smell immediately assaulted us. I do actually like some garlic, I mainly do not like that for about three days after eating I feel like it's coming out of my pores.
JK

Thanks @windwalker i usually dont chew it i just pinch it and leave it for about 10 to 15 minutes and swallow it like capsule. I usally take it as soon as I wake up in the morning. Its been a year that i did not take antibiotics and whenever I feel like having sore throught I take it 2x a day.

I agree the smell is horrible thats why i dont chew it and make sure to brush and gargle with mouthwash. Also im worried too that my sweat will smell like garlic lol. Im just thinking of the benefits that I get whenever I take it.

@imeehaight Definitely the sweat and in the shower stall I can't stand the smell of myself.
JK

hi Katemn.....during my visit to have my situation evaluated at NJH in January.....and when they concluded my issue was GERD....not an NTM/ MAC infection they gave me new fluid guidelines......whereas for 30 years as part of my Asthma protocol, I always drank water to flood myself and my thick mucus with.....BUT since the test at NJH showed l did not have asthma, but that my GERD was causing mischief in my lungs, I now have to carefully limit fluid intake....especially before bedtime with aspiration of gastric contents into my lungs more likely. And interestingly my mucus continues with the same consistency .Tdrell

@tdrell, Terri, OK .. then just WHAT is your "thick mucus " coming from?? Did they evaluate that?? BUT drinking lots of water if we can is really good for our kidneys if we are able to! Plus flushes any meds out of our bodies! Thanks for the info! Hugs! Katherine

Katemn....great question....where does my mucus come from if not an active pulmonary NTM infection. I assume a combination from
-chronic allergicq rhinorrhea....when pulmonologist at NJH was doing a laryngoscopy on my nose he noted and put it in the written summary "there was a copious amount of mucopurulent material present thru out" i already use steroid nose sprays as well as antihistamine nasal sprays as well as oral ones.
-esophagram I had over a year ago showed when i eat the food does not enter into the stomach at the normal speed.....it sits a long time....i notice more mucus coughed up after eating.
- i have allergies.
The above is my interpretation?...tdrell