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Can reduced sputum indicate healing is in progress?
This is my first time posting. What an amazing resource this is!
I was diagnosed 1.5 years ago with MAC. I have had bronchiectasis a long time. Initially my ID doctor said the MAC did not yet warrant antibiotic treatment and suggested we wait and watch, since treatment can be so difficult on the body. This was fine with me. Within 6 months the MAC got worse and, given my advancing symptoms, he reluctantly suggested I start treatment. I give sputum samples every month. I have noticed the last two times it has been very difficult to produce a sputum sample. Is there any chance this indicates the treatment is working?
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Hi, it may also possibly be your sputum is thicker and stickier. Are you also doing daily airway clearance?
But also, hopefully, it is a good sign 🙂
Did your sputum change color?
@eileen86 Welcome to Mayo Connect, where we share our journeys and experiences with this unwelcome visitor call MAC and Bronchiectasis. Have you found it difficult, as I did five years ago, to find someone who understood?
As the others have said, the answer is "maybe." In my case, getting on the antibiotics and using a levalbuterol neb and an Aerobika for airway clearance definitely reduced the volume of my sputum. But I didn't truly "turn the corner" and begin to really recover until I began regular airway clearance by nebbing 7% saline - at first twice a day, then once, and now several times a week.
Another question is - How do you feel? Are you short of breath, are you coughing less, do you have the energy for your daily life?
We're here to help and support you any way we can - just remember, we are a supplement to your doctors, but we don't replace them.
Sue
I am currently 10 months into the Encore drug trial that evaluates the use of Arikayce for first time treatment. I feel so much better this year than the year before the drug trial. I have energy, and ma no longer wheezing. Honestly, I feel better now than I have for years. I can no longer bring up much sputum for my monthly tests and I wondered if it might indicate I’m getting better.
I am not doing airway clearance other than nebulizing the Arikayce daily (or the placebo). I also take ethambutol and azithromycin daily.
Always consult with your doctor first, and if you can get a pulmonary physio to show you how, all the better, but I, and many others, believe that daily airway clearance is the number one in keeping the lungs as clear as they can be. There are links on Mayo Connect and several on YouTube. Different techniques work for different people. It is the one thing that I will continue for the rest of my life. There are no pulmonary physios in my area, so I had to use YouTube.
It is also worth checking out with your pharmacist regarding supplements (zinc & or copper) to take while on Ethambutol. They will know what and when you can take something. Always check any advice with the professionals!
You seem to mirror my experience, as I got better my sputum decreased dramatically. I would suggest That as you near the end of treatment, you consider adding saline nebs and airway clearance to your routine to keep you healthy.
Sue
less sputum usually is a good sign and indicates less infection and since you are using Arikayce and feeling better it seems like your less sputum is a very good sign.
Why do my lungs hurt so bad after nebulizing?
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