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When do you do your airway clearance treatments?

Posted by deestrada @deestrada, Jun 16 12:23pm

I do two airway clearance treatments a day. My pulmonologist told me to do the first one when I first got up. I'm finding that this often delays or inhibits any appetite I might have in the morning, which affects my whole day. When do you do your treatments, morning when you first get up, after breakfast, etc?

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deestrada | @deestrada | Aug 16 1:26pm
In reply to @blm1007blm1007 "Diane Are you doing sodium choride or hypertonic saline solution? Not good, 'to the point of..." + (show)
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Diane Are you doing sodium choride or hypertonic saline solution? Not good, 'to the point of vomiting." I don't know how long you have been doing all but it takes time, as many have said, to find your way to what is best for you. I also think in the beginning it takes time to loosen the mucus...with needing to get enough moisture in the lungs. No different than taking certain medications and knowing it will take time to see results. What do you think???
Barbara

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I’m using hypertonic solution. I see my pulmonologist on Monday and I’ll talk to him about switching back to the 3% hypertonic solution. BTW I appreciated the deep breathing tip the video mentioned, and thanks for your support and caring to respond!! Diane

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bernadene24 | @bernadene24 | Aug 17 1:56pm
In reply to @deestrada "I’m using hypertonic solution. I see my pulmonologist on Monday and I’ll talk to him about..." + (show)
Profile picture for deestrada @deestrada

I’m using hypertonic solution. I see my pulmonologist on Monday and I’ll talk to him about switching back to the 3% hypertonic solution. BTW I appreciated the deep breathing tip the video mentioned, and thanks for your support and caring to respond!! Diane

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Hi Diane:
I have been using 7% saline for about 4 months. I was really coughing a lot to the point that I strained my muscles in my chest. After some experimenting, I discovered that if I breathed very gently, slowly, and not too deep for several minutes of the treatment, I would not cough too much. Then after that time I could breathe more deeply for the rest of the treatment.
Last week I attended an NTMr zoom with Dr. Pamela McShane on airway clearance. One thing she suggested was after nebbing to take 3 slow deep breaths and hold each for 3 seconds, then do the aerobika lying down. I have trouble getting mucus up, and find this helps. Another thing I discovered was that if I sit up to do the huffing and coughing, I have a better chance getting mucus out.
Hope this helps.

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deestrada | @deestrada | Aug 17 2:47pm
In reply to @bernadene24 "Hi Diane: I have been using 7% saline for about 4 months. I was really coughing..." + (show)
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Hi Diane:
I have been using 7% saline for about 4 months. I was really coughing a lot to the point that I strained my muscles in my chest. After some experimenting, I discovered that if I breathed very gently, slowly, and not too deep for several minutes of the treatment, I would not cough too much. Then after that time I could breathe more deeply for the rest of the treatment.
Last week I attended an NTMr zoom with Dr. Pamela McShane on airway clearance. One thing she suggested was after nebbing to take 3 slow deep breaths and hold each for 3 seconds, then do the aerobika lying down. I have trouble getting mucus up, and find this helps. Another thing I discovered was that if I sit up to do the huffing and coughing, I have a better chance getting mucus out.
Hope this helps.

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Thank you very much! Yes this really helps!!

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Mary | @mjb24 | Aug 17 2:47pm
In reply to @deestrada "Thank you Barbara for this video. It got me wondering about my nebulizer sessions in the..." + (show)
Profile picture for deestrada @deestrada

Thank you Barbara for this video. It got me wondering about my nebulizer sessions in the morning. I find I don’t have much mucous in the morning now and the 7% sodium chloride makes me cough violently often to the point of vomiting. When I don’t get much up that first treatment, later I seem to be experiencing more phlegm during the day. I’ve started delaying my first treatment until after breakfast and getting into my day. But even that isn’t consistent with ease of phlegm removal initially. I use the aeobeka and a SmartVest additionally. Now Im wondering what is best for me.
Diane

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@deestrada Hi Diane, We are indeed all different and have to experiment to find what works best. Dr Pamela McShane now recommends nebulizing saline without the Aerobika and waiting an hour or so allowing the saline to do it's job, and then using the Aerobika. I tried that but found that I get more out when I nebulize the saline with the Aerobika. I tolerate the 7% saline just fine using the Aerobika on the breath actuated setting. I first tried the Pari XL cups but the aerosol came out so fast and strong that I also coughed uncontrollably. So now I nebulize 7% saline while using the Aerobika. The 1st 15 minutes, I take deep breaths and hold for a count of three, then exhale for as long as possible. This brings up alot of mucus and after a few weeks I started seeing mucus plugs coming up as well. After 15 minutes, I just breathe normal to complete the entire 4 ml vial of saline. I do this 1st thing in the morning and again before dinner. For me, the deep breaths, breath holds and long exhales make a big difference.

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deestrada | @deestrada | Aug 17 3:52pm

Thank you! What is the breathactuated setting on the Aerobika. I’m not familiar with that.

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Mary | @mjb24 | Aug 18 2:39pm

@deestrada My apologies, it is on the aeroclipse nebulizer cup not the Aerobika. With the breath actuated setting on, the aerosol is only released when you breath in rather than continuously. https://www.saveritemedical.com/products/monaghan-aeroeclipse-xl-breath-actuated-nebulizer-ban?variant=33232366633046

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deestrada | @deestrada | Aug 18 7:41pm

Thank you for clarifying,

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