Hi Lvnl,
I have been using a Smartvest for several months now. At first I noticed I was producing more sputum. Most of the time now the sputum is clear, which I think is a good sign. My pulmonologist ordered it once a day for 15 minutes. Some days it really irritates the arthritis in my neck and back so I lowered the time to 10 minutes on those days. First however, I neb w/7% saline, then do the vest. I do think it helps and am not willing to give up any part of my routine because I am paranoid that I will get worse again. Right now I am dealing with maybe a virus, or perhaps something else, but on the whole I am not ready to give the vest up for any reason. Some days I have more sputum than others. I also neb in the a.m.'s but do not use the vest then.
ALSO, I have an EXTRA MEDIUM VEST. I had to get a 'small' size. The company won't take it back and I only used it a few times. It is clean and I'M HAPPY TO SEND TO ANYONE FREE.