My infectious disease doctor and my lung specialist had advised me to refrain from taking antibiotics unless my condition worsen. When I was initially diagnosed, I coughed a lot and even coughed up blood. That only happened twice. The coughing continued for some time. Presently, it has eased up considerably. However, it never forgets to remind me that it's still there. Recently it's sleep time that I worry about it showing up. Even if I would take the two antibiotics that work with my MAC, they will only work 50% of the time.

It seems as though doctors do not prescribe antibiotics like they use to.

@gaelawree Hello, and welcome to Connect. We are glad you found us also. I am not surprised that you had to push for your doctors to find the mac; not many are aware of it to check for it. Are you seeing a private practice physician?

@gaelawree as you've read here, there's many forms of treatment, many varieties that don't depend on just the "big 3" anymore...so take heart (and lung...)...with a good doc you'll find help best suited to your needs and with the least side effects!

Hi Teri, I have Kaiser Senior Advantage, & it is my Pulmonary specialist who discovered the MAC after my urging to find the cause of my COPD.

@gaelawree Do you have confidence that he knows how to properly treat you? Have you asked him how many cases of mac he has treated?

@jspremich Hi. Like @boomexpert said, there are other ways to treat mac. I was on alternating monthly antibiotics for 10 days each month, and no side effects. I was on them 3 yrs. It was a less toxic route for me. Just in the last year; newer drugs have been released. There are some that are now nebulized (inhaled). That puts the antibiotic directly into the lung and bypassing the rest of the body and organs. You will need to talk to your doctor about it.

@gaelawree welcome to this group!  I am Nick an I have bronchiectasis and had a MAC!  ( Lab test revealed no more MAC since last fall.  My infection doctor 4 years ago didn’t recommend the big 3 antibiotic because of the secondary affects. He said that it hasn’t

proven very effective so they only prescribe it on severe cases.  Apparently when you have bronchiectasis you are more subject to catch bacteria and other organism.  MAC  is found also in the earth and you do gardening so you should wear a mask.  If you have

problem breathing, you may ask your doctor to perform a bronchoscopy to clean your lung. It is also the most effective method to find out if you have a MAC. Sputum is not an accurate test according to my doctors.   I know it did an excellent job to have much

less problem breathing.  Also, I have used natural herbs to clear my lungs called CLEAR LUNG FROM RIDGECREST ( the bleu bottle) (i had to order it from the web because I couldn’t find it home)  when I was having problems breathing a bit.  I happen to know

reflexology so when I had a problem I was able to feel it and treat it. According to the infectiologue (french) mucous get worst if you have an acid stomach so I was treating my digestive system also.  You will find out on this chat site that we all have our

story of MAC.  Make sure you have had the right test done! I had no other disease so everyone is different! We will enjoy hearing from you and please feel at ease to ask all kind of question.  If you want to ask a question to someone specific at the beginning

of your message write @ and the name of the person you want to ask a question.  XxooxNick52

@nick52, Hi Nick thanks for the welcome. I had a bronchoscopy & was diagnosed just last Friday. I also have aspergillis infection in the lungs. I do feel confident with my doctor, he tracked this down, most docs just want to give pills for symptoms. I have thyroid disease & Hoshimoto’s which is an autoimmune disease. I was also on high doses of Motrin for about three years for herniated disk, & then frozen shoulder. I went through a 9 months naturopathic protocol for the thyroid & Hoshimoto’s which worked very well, also cost nearly $4k. I know this is going to mess that progress up & I’ll have to do that over again. I do work in a garden & I also work with horses & there’s lots of dirt in doing that. I’m also allergic to dust & have asthma, what a mess. I’ve been using Advair & Flonase & Proair(albuteral). I see my doctor to talk about the MAC on Thursday. I’ll know what the plan is after that.

@windwalker, I do have confidence in my Pulmonary doctor, he worked at finding the problem, most docs want to give you meds for symptoms. I will be seeing him Thursday to ask questions & Hear what he thinks we can do.