DAILY SPUTUM VOLUME

Chest and lungs
1

I keep a daily dairy linked to my bronchiectasis. I frequently see postings in this forum about pleghm oroduction and how to handle it. I am curious about the amount of sputum each one of you produces on a daily basis. My diary is a printed pro forma with a scaling:

0 = none; 1 = less than a teaspoon; 2 = teaspoon to egg-cup; 3 = egg-cup to cup; 4 = more than a cup.

Do these scales bear any relation to your daily sputum production? My gunk is consistently at level 1.  Naturally you may well ask about the purulence of your sputum as well but maybe we don't want to go into that in any graphic detail?

Terry

2

Hi Terry

my level varies between 2 and 3

3

Hi Terry - mine is very variable but its between 2 and 3 mostly.  Level 1 eh?  Jolly good!

4

Mine is a 1 and diagnosed as mild. Even so, lots of difficulties when I have a cold in particular. 

5

Hi Terry

what a good idea to keep a diary - at least that way you can see whether it is getting more or less.

I am so pleased that you are at level one on your scale.  My daily production is well outside your range - around 50 ml (yes 50ml). When I am unwell, it goes up to 70 - to 80ml a day!

Consistently yellowish or brownish.

Keep well and best wishes

6

Thanks Sparkright (Broadsword, Operalyn and dancing queen) for your prompt responses. So far I appear to be 'normal' in sputum production but 50ml...that's frightening!(facepalm). To be honest Sparkright, my diary is issued by my local NHS Scotland respiratory group and has six categories - Breathlessness, Fatigue, Daily Sputum Volume, Sputum Purulence, Cough, Colds and flu symptoms -  Monday to Sunday columns in which I place my numbers, and 1-5 numerical range of severity.  Yes, the general idea is to help one focus on the daily experience, as well as maintaining a record. The diary is very apposite and functional.

7

That's such a sensible idea.When I visit my specialist she always wants to know how much and as it varies so much I'm never sure how much to say.

8

Mine is also 1. This is useful & reassuring. Thank you. How do you measure purulence, or do you just describe it?

9

Hello Jean,     The form that I use describes purulence as

0 = clear or no sputum

1 = white

2 = yellow

3 = green

4 = dark green

5 = blood stained

I hope that this is of some help.

Terry

 

10

Thanks Terry. Scottish NHS seems ahead of us in England!