Hi there Thumper. I am happy to see that you are nebbing 7% saline and I hope you won't keep cutting back because it is working for you. Some of us, unfortunately, cannot "tolerate" 7% or even 3%. Tolerate is the word doctors use when our bodies absolutely will not allow us to use a particular drug or treatment. In my case, after 10 years of using 7% and then 3%, my lungs decided that they will not tolerate either and instead, after only one inhalation, I go into what I call hiccup sob. It is horrible and goes on for long time before I can breathe again.

For a while I didn't neb any saline but about two years ago Dr McShane sent me an article comparing .9% saline to 6% which concluded that .9 is just as effective in saturating sputum and helping patients ckear it. Obviously .9% does nothing with respect to killing bacteria.

I wish I could link to the study but for some reason, probably my tech stupidity, I can't. The title of the article is " The long term effect of inhaled hypertonic saline 6% in non cystic bronchiectasis " and is available online at sciencedirect.com. It is a small study but interesting.

Perhaps someone with better tech skills will find it and post it.

The bottom line is that, for those of us who cannot tolerate 7% or 3%, .9% will do some good.

@dee65, I augmented the title of your discussion to distinguish it from the other discussions about saline solution. But I wonder if @thumperguy is correct and that you are referring to 0.9% rather than 9% saline solution.

Can you clarify or confirm?