7% Saline in Nebulizer for Mac

National Jewish Health in Denver, CO. Care teams are experts in treating bronchiectasis, MAC among many other respiratory diseases. Several people in this forum travel to NJH for care and treatment because they do not have adequate care locally. Some go for a second opinion. After all, bronchiectasis is somewhat of a rare disease.
https://www.nationaljewish.org/conditions/bronchiectasis

So sorry. National Jewish Health in Denver, CO

@sueinmn Hi Sue, I have been nebulizing with 7% saline solution n it has helped enormously. I am so glad I refused that regime of three antibiotics 3 x a week for 18 months. The previous pulmonologist never even mentioned nebulizing, which speaks to your point. I have a new pulmonologist who recommended nebbing. I also begin with 2 pumps of Albuterol.

@scoop My new pulmonologist had mentioned that some of his patients are treated there; he speaks highly of NJH in Denver.

I have been using 7% saline daily for 5 years, and found it very helpful. I tried 3% saline, and it was less effective, but a little less harsh. I nebulize the saline while using the Vest, and occasionally add a pump of Albuterol.

@emilda Hello, and thank you for sharing your experience. Like you I have used 7% saline for years, and feel it has helped keep me free of reinfection with MAC and Pseudomonas.

Recently some members have talked about adverse side effects from using hypertonic saline including hoarseness, dry mouth and constipation. Have you had any side effects from the saline? How did you deal with them?

@sueinmn Hi, I have not had those side effects, but I have occasionally found that the 7% saline felt very harsh in my mouth and throat, was almost impossible to complete, and left me with a bad taste in my mouth which took hours to go away. This was aleviated by using 3% for a few days, and then returning to 7%. I thought the side effect might to be related to using 5 mg of Creatine daily in powder form for muscle and brain health, becasue it only began after I started using the Creatine, and I wonder if anyone else has experienced similar problems.