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Lung Mucus Clearance .. Reducing The Breeding Ground For Mycobacterium

MAC & Bronchiectasis | Last Active: Jan 19 8:01pm | Replies (70)
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@sueinmn

Hi Cynthia - Not Katherine (she is no longer with our group) but I'll try to answer.
Get ready for it...It depends...on the individual, on what else is going on in the body, sometimes even on the season.

When I was being treated for Pseudomonas and then MAC, I thought I would never see clear mucus again - and it took almost a year of daily airway clearance after I stopped antibiotics before my sputum was normally clear. Now it is one of the things I monitor closely.

For example, when I don't have any infection or allergy going on, my mucus is clear. But if I am out and about during allergy season, especially doing vigorous activity, my mucus can be cloudy, white or even slightly yellowish. If I get a cold or other respiratory bug, my mucus turns opaque and yellowish - BUT if it ever starts to turn green or brown - I know I have an active infection & I need to find out what is going on. Also, my mucus gets stinky if I have an infection. It's not always MAC though - once it was strep throat (no sore throat) and another time it was a sinus infection. So, my mucus is a great barometer. Not everyone can say that.

What does everyone else experience?
Sue

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Replies to "Hi Cynthia - Not Katherine (she is no longer with our group) but I'll try to..."
cynthia69 | @cynthia69 | Dec 6, 2023

Hi Sue,

Thank you very much for your prompt answer. You are so faithful to this group.

When I started ACT is was lumps of gray/green. After 6 weeks is is clear and sticky and small specks of yellow or light green.

Thanks again. You are the best.

Cynthia 69

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blm1007blm1007 | @blm1007blm1007 | Jan 15 4:25pm

Sue- Thanks again for sharing your experiences, knowlege and time.
I am so beside myself in terms of what I am producing and that it is constant.
Throughout the day I will have a feeling of a "lump" in my throat and am constantly clearing it out by sucking it up and out and sometimes cough it out.
What I bring up and out ususally has three layers as seen by using a medical clear specimen cup.'
The "sputum", substance that I bring up and out, the three layers, are
Top Layer: Foamy White and bubbly,
Middle Layer: Clear in color and
Bottom Layer: Light grayish in color and can have or not have tiny white specs or tiny yellow specs of what I believe to be some of what one would think of as parts of mucus plugs.
I tried chewing a 1/4 piece of gum and found that it helps, usually, to stop the feeling of a "lump" in my throat and the need to clear it out. For some reason it does help me from feeling I have to clear my throat and get out what I believe to be sputum out.
It is hard for me to huff cough and expect to get anything up and out other than what is clear, bubbly and gel like in substance.
I was lucky that with the help of a respiratory therapist last week when I huff coughed three good mucus plugs. I can't seem to do it on my own.
Question: Do you know, have any idea about the three layers I described AND what others mean when they talk of constantly bringing up a substance etc. through out the day????

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