From my ID doc (also an NTM & tropical disease doc) (pre-Covid):
"NTM is everywhere. So are other pathogens, speeding cars, lightening bolts, vicious dogs and and crazy people. Your goal is to live a life where you minimize risks. The only way to eliminate them is to live in a sterile bubble - and that's not living!
When to mask:
If it is dusty and windy, mask.
If you are going to mess with soil, mask.
If you are going to be around sick people, mask.
If you are coming to the doctor's office or ER in flu season, mask.
Otherwise live your life knowing you are going to encounter NTM everywhere, even in your home air. You nose will filter most of it. Do your airway clearance. Eat a healthy diet and get adequate rest. Then go live your life."

Now, I'm sure he would add - indoors where there will be Covid risks, mask.

By the way, he also does not believe in boiling ones water UNLESS you have diagnosed GERD as well as NTM. But he does recommend staying away from hot tubs & taking short showers.

I have followed this for over 3 years, have been off meds & doing airway clearance for over 2 years, had only one exacerbation, and my CT is as good as the day I stopped meds.

Your results may vary, but this is how I choose to manage.

Sue

Hi Nancy, good luck with your treatment. I've had MAC three times at five year intervals, with and without cavities, and recovered fully each time. I resumed a fully normal illness-free lifestyle in between each infection as I have been led to understand that it's impossible to prevent exposure to mycobacteria unless you live in a bubble. The only exception to that was I would don a mask when driving through a construction site or when the wind picked up dust (in the desert).

In addition to what you wrote about staying well, I would reiterate living and enjoying life as much as possible. Regarding drinking water, I use an undercabinet, reverse osmosis filtration system and bottled. I think RO systems are the best regarding removal of all types of contaminants. I shower mostly and don't use a filter. I never wore a mask in nature to prevent MAC, I do now in crowded spaces to prevent Covid.

Regarding other questions pjas972j, I have houseplants, I don't wear a mask while cleaning, don't know if the big 3 are considered old school. After I was first diagnosed, I declined treatment in favor of alternative therapies (there weren't any really, I just didn't want to take three antibiotics per day for two years. I thought it was nuts!). I only had a little hacky cough at the time. I changed my tune six months later when I was admitted with community-acquired pneumonia secondary to MAC with a cavity. Then I cut myself a lot of slack and rested, in bed, I don't remember how long. So my recommendation is take good care of how you feel, physically and emotionally, checking in multiple times a day, "how am I doing now? what do I need to do now? what would I like to do now? what's possible right now?" I wish you both the smoothest recovery. Roisin