The Wages of a missed Neb session.

Posted by thumperguy @thumperguy, Jun 3, 2021

Here I am at 10:30 Thursday evening, aerosolized saline pestering my throat. Later getting to this chore tonight; tuckered, secondary to deciding earlier today that some soil in my yard would better suit me if was at a different spot in my yard. I’ve known for a long time that when one begins to rearrange the surface of the planet it almost immediately becomes very labor intensive. That in turn leads to my body feeling like Beef Jerky looks, all wizened and gnarly.

My question: how often, if ever, do you skip a treatment session?

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the MAC & Bronchiectasis Support Group.

@egayle187

Psychotherapist. CBT with children mostly, but any adult who lived in our rural area would seek me out.

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Nice to be “sought out.” Where did you train?

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@thumperguy

Nice to be “sought out.” Where did you train?

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Marywood University in Scranton, PA. They were known for "cutting edge" social work. Since my BS'70 was in Environmental Science, they accepted me based on my volunteer work, organizing and facilitating "Parents Anonymous" for my county. I earned an MSW, LSW and ACSW.

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@egayle187

@rits....I agree with you. My neb and postural draining take 3 hours a day and I try never to miss them. I work on puzzles during nebulizing and listen to books on tape during draining. These activities make coughing tolerable.
I have been free of MAC for 6 years now and had only one or two bronciectasis exacerbations. Prior to treatment I had exacerbations every 6 weeks at least. The neb treatments keep my asthma under control unless I experience extraordinary triggers. I am content with the treatments, since I remember how horrible it was to cough 24 hours a day.

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I have reduced my time to 4 hours a day not counting the time 2 clean and sterilize equipment. Question: How do you do postural drainage. I have GERD and osteoarthritis. After neb I gargle with warm salt water and do the active breathing routine and get and in the evenings I get a lot more mucus out than in the morning. Bending over the sink does bother my back and causes more back pain but I don't know any other way. Would appreciate knowing what others are doing.

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@raney

I have reduced my time to 4 hours a day not counting the time 2 clean and sterilize equipment. Question: How do you do postural drainage. I have GERD and osteoarthritis. After neb I gargle with warm salt water and do the active breathing routine and get and in the evenings I get a lot more mucus out than in the morning. Bending over the sink does bother my back and causes more back pain but I don't know any other way. Would appreciate knowing what others are doing.

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@araney... Postural drainage can best be explained on you tube, but I'll give a short explanation. My mucous is produced in my left lobes, so I lie down on my right side to help it drain out. This makes coughing much more comfortable and I listen to books on tape.
If you try both sides you can find out where mucous comes out most easily. Give it 20 minutes or so. When I had frequent CT scans and bronchoscopies, my doctor told me which lobes were active or infected. I was able to clear out my MAC infection , then a candida infection. Right now it is every day maintenance to prevent infection and works very well. I've never had to use any of the contortion type postures. Plain old lying down works fine. Best of luck with it and your back pain should improve.

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@thumperguy

ljfoo, How about trusting what feels intuitively “right “ to you. I’d avoid huffing so energetically that your eyes are bulging like an old-time cartoon character. Don

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Hi Don, Well, nebs... the first time I had MAC I wasn't told about nebs and never did it. The second time (now, 2 years) I was doing 7% twice a day and then found out I have a cavitary lesion. I continued until my last CT which shows it is bigger (the lesion) and the MAC is still there. Now I use a dry salt inhaler and stopped do the saline nebs. My dilemma is - when I use the nebs, I can never cough up anything - ever. Is it still helping or is it just making it worse? If I have a cavity that lets the infection hide away from any medications, including nebs, what is the point? Maybe I am looking at this all wrong but after so MANY years of this I begin to lose sight of some goal. Thanks for reading my rant.

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@egayle187

@araney... Postural drainage can best be explained on you tube, but I'll give a short explanation. My mucous is produced in my left lobes, so I lie down on my right side to help it drain out. This makes coughing much more comfortable and I listen to books on tape.
If you try both sides you can find out where mucous comes out most easily. Give it 20 minutes or so. When I had frequent CT scans and bronchoscopies, my doctor told me which lobes were active or infected. I was able to clear out my MAC infection , then a candida infection. Right now it is every day maintenance to prevent infection and works very well. I've never had to use any of the contortion type postures. Plain old lying down works fine. Best of luck with it and your back pain should improve.

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Thank you. I will try that this evening.

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