Coughing up Yellow gelatinous gobs after finishing antibiotics

Good questions. I ve brought pictures of my sputum to my ID and pulmonary doctor. No one wanted to look at this yelliw ,greenish, darker mix of sputum gloss in mucus. I was drowning in mucus when I laid down. I have cocci plus much more and psuedanomas aerigenosa . Which after 7 m of drowning in it I git very sick with fevers and chills. Double pnuemonia from the PA was determined. Final IV finally pushed it back. Dont know for how long. Anyone have answers on how long you can keep living with this PA?

@jimpop738 Yes, it is normal fot mucus to "hide" deep in our lungs and continue to be expelled after an infection, especially if you are using 7% saline and doing airway clearance.
Have you ever diagnosed with MAC or pseudomonas?

So good to get those globs out, regardless of color. Pulmonologist says that no two days will be the same in terms of what we bring up (color, quantity). All variable. I relaxed a bit after I learned that. What's important is to keep your lungs as clear as possible. Sometimes that means 2x day clearance, for others less.

@scoop
THANKS FOR THE REPLY. (wooops, all caps were on.)
i am new to Bronchiectasis having been diagnosed recently.
Up until this i considered myself very healthy!
I never coughed up yellow gunk before, unless i had a lung infection.
I just want to make sure that I still don't have an infection.
Even at the peak of previous infections, almost non stop coughing and little sleep, I never had a fever. Even when diagnosed with pneumonia at the beginning of this, there was no fever.
So, I was wondering how to tell if I had an infection.
Thanks for letting me know that in your experience the color does not matter.
Your reply is much appreciated!

@sueinmn Thanks for the reply!
(I was recently diagnosed, so this is all pretty new to me.)
No, Thankfully! I have not been diagnosed with MAC or pseudomonas.
I have been coughing up the yellow gunk for several months (new to me)
I stopped antibiotics about 6 weeks ago, and thought maybe that the sputum would eventually turn clear.
I am doing quite well, and only have a little cough, and a little fatigue now .
So far I have had Heavy H. Influenzae, a couple times (diagnosed via bronchoscopy, and later a sputum culture later) even with antibiotics.
I am feeling better now, but was concerned about the darkish yellow color of my sputum.
Since I did not get a fever with my recent pneumonia, or BE exacerbations, I thought that the color of the sputum might be an indicator of infection.
My pulmonologists were noncommittal on that.
Thanks Again for the reply!

@smc17 I am so sorry to hear of your severe illness, but glad to hear that the IV helped it some.
I am sorry that I can't answer your question.
However, from what I've read BE can often be managed well.
The key is finding the right Pulmonologist, (best if they specialize in BE.)
The Pulmonologist needs to treat it aggressively.
I have seen 3 Pulmonologist.
I have an appointment with a 4th pulmonologist (in June) that specializes it BE and is dual certified in pulmonary critical care and Infectious Disease.
The most important thing is to advocate for yourself, and find the right doctor, which i know can be very difficult with you being so sick..
Also from what I have seen, many major hospitals have BE specialists.
Best wishes and prayers for your health.

@jimpop738 The color of mucus ( and the amount) is linked to the higher levels of inflammation in the lungs. I think it indicates colonization of some bug.
It can also be a sign of infection from what I’ve read, if the amount increases and the colour changes.

Thank you all for your testimonials. So valuable! My BE finding came after a CT-scan of my lungs August 1, 2025. Ever since, I've been navigating my way through treatment. I get the best results clearing out the goopy mucus from my breath work and postural draining (somatic based yoga). My focus is on non-drug airway clearance, trying to avoid steroids, antibiotics and other drugs with known and nasty side-effects.
Here's my question: Has anyone in the group been treated for their bronchiectasis with glutathione or its precursor, NAC --N-acetylcysteine? There are some research studies that show promise, but not many. Treatments create the smell of rotten eggs, so that's a drawback, but it works to reduce the bacterial load and more. My pulmonologist is not 100% sold on it, but keeps an open mind. So I turn to anecdotal evidence, which is fine with me. Anyone treated with glutathione? Anyone with NAC, nebulized or pill form? Thanks.

@mp22 If you go to the top of this thread/page to the left you will see in Blue 'MAC and Bronchiectasis" Click on int and it will take you the the page where you can put words in the search box that you want to search. NAC and Glutathione have had conversations as you will see in doing a search.
I do not use them but others may answer you here or there might be some answers when you do the search.
Barbara

@blm1007blm1007
Thanks. I'm working my way through the comments. Nothing too promising yet. I appreciate the guidance. Will keep looking at NAC and glutathione results, when I can find them. There was a trial/study in 2023 but I'm not seeing a lot of support for it from my pulmonology team.