This might be crazy illogical thinking but one reason I avoid azithromycin for maintenance (3x week) is azithromycin is one of the medications frequently used to treat NTM/MAC. Right now, no NTM/MAC etc show up on my cultures, working diligently to keep it that way with wisdom from the group. @wsbme74 I guess you could try azithro to see how it helps with inflammation. Before you begin you might want to get a culture to make sure your mucus is susceptible and not resistant to azithro.

Regarding oral or inhaled steroids, it seems taking anything that decreases the natural immune system may make one less able to fight off bacteria, fungus etc. An oral prednisone dose when necessary is a lifesaver as are antibiotics. My challenge is finding the smallest effective dose of inhaled corticosteroid that keeps asthma/bronchiectasis exacerbations to a minimum.