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Replies to "Thank you Sue. I think I do too much because I am afraid to stop if..."
MAC & Bronchiectasis | Last Active: Mar 15 7:56pm | Replies (36)
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Replies to "Thank you Sue. I think I do too much because I am afraid to stop if..."
Everybody is different. My original pulmonologist's excellent RN said "On days when nothing comes out, nebulize, talk a brisk walk or do an active chore for 10-15 minutes. Come back and try for 15-20 minutes, whatever way works best for you. DO NOT strain your throat or vocal chords. Expelling every drop is not the goal - it's to get the sticky stuff moving so most of it comes out. After that stop, go on with life and try later."
I never thought I would need this advice, because my lungs flowed like a river at the time. But later, as the infections and coughing got less, there were a lot of days I followed this advice and continued to get better.
And now, I use the inhaler, occasionally my neb, get moving then come back and cough it up - somedays teaspoons full, other days a little gob or two. Every so often, my husband will have his hand on my back and say "your lungs are crackly." Then I do serious airway clearance for a few days.
Over these years, I have used many different techniques, if one isn't moving anything after 4-5 minutes, I switch to another - Aerobika, active breathing, huff coughing, postural, yoga...pretty much every technique you have seen in every video - except the vest not recommended due to my arthritic spine and chronic pain.