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Percussion Vests: Are you using one? Is it working for you?
Anyone willing to guess how many “regulars” on this forum use a vest?
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Anyone willing to guess how many “regulars” on this forum use a vest?
Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the MAC & Bronchiectasis Support Group.
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New to this forum. I just started to use the smartvest. I have bronchiectasis. Recently diagnosed back in Dec 2019. Took two years to discover this illness. But any way, hi. My name is Mikel. Funny incident with the smartvest. During the first few treatments. I set the machine up on 85%. Yes it was shaking the cheap out of me. The machine have me vertigo. Learn my lesson. Start low. I initially had fun with the higher setting. Signing and making strange sounds to my dog who was amused by my silliness. But getting vertigo was not nice. Anyway hope everyone gets better.
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1 ReactionThis is Mikel again, I should have proof read my post. Typos, sorry.
Hi Mikel, when I got my Smartvest in December 2018, someone came out to my house and set it up. Last fall, when everything got worse for my breathing, I set another weaker program which I have used most of the time rather than the one set by the Smartvest rep. I assume it is the coronavirus stopping anyone from coming out to help set you up with a program. 85% is way WAY to strong for me but I am old and have several lung diseases. My highest is 55%. The purpose of the vest is to shake loose sputum caught in our airways so whatever setting does that without causing side effects is different for each of us.
I also enjoy making sounds when I'm on it which my dog sleeps through.
Maybe Thumper, our resident vest expert, will chime in. Rita
That’s funny😂😜😂. I can’t even imagine 85%! I can’t even get higher than 45% yet without starting to feel sick. Kudos to you! Feel well!
Kate, I'd feel better using cleaning grade vinegar. We know for sure that kills it. I do not know what percentage of salinity is in the ocean, but mac can be found there as well.
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1 Reaction@windwalker ...Thank you Terri!! When you say cleaning grade do you mean the white vinegar off the shelf at the grocery store?
Update. I had to play around with the setting. So I went low and worked up. Due to me getting vertigo from a high setting when I first got the machine, I was a bit nervous. Trial and error. So a comfortable setting now is 40%. Which still gives me positive results and not getting vertigo. Best of luck to all the other folks dealing with this or any other illness. Stay safe.
It looks like no one else has a doctor who introduced the VibraLung as an excellent alternative to the Smartvest, especially for small women. As the Mac specialist and the pulmonary therapist explained to me in the hospital, vests can leave soreness and have to be cleaned. The Vibralung produces the same results without those. Cystic fibrosis patients, whose lives depend on mucus clearance, found this device worked well for them.
/agj53 My neck hurts and I've had some headaches, which I rarely get. I stopped putting my arms threw the vest because it caused pain in my shoulder. I wrap it around my chest, connect the straps and, while I have reduced the pain, it has not gone away. I also wonder what its' doing to my brain. Flib
@woot Thank you, I'm going to look into that. small woman,Flib