Pari eRapid/eFlow first impressions

@bronchiectasaurus Yes - Salty - Wow! And I just learned to slow the flow by placing my upper lip on the blue flap on the top of the mouthpiece, which keeps from wasting so much saline. And with theopening a little farther back in my mouth, I cough a little less. This is harder to describe, then to do). And I turn the compressor off if I start coughing a lot.

I too am a new user of the Pari eRapid, and I only boil after 2-3 uses. But, this is not my first mesh nebulizer, and trust me when I say the mesh screens are very delicate and can clog easily, so I don't skip the thorough prerinse, detergent soak, or post rinse because the screen (in the head) is pricy to replace.

My routine - use my Symbicort inhaler (used to use Levalbuterol) and wait 15 minutes, neb saline, dismantle nebulizer and rinse, soak (with kitchen timer running), rinse again in filtered water at my tap. On boiling days, I drop the pieces in pot to boil & set the timer for 10 minutes (how long it takes my pot to come to a boil), check the heat and reset timer. When the final timer rings, I turn off the burner and let the water cool.
While I have that going, I do some of my PT or house chores, then start airway clearance when I start the pot. I usually finish about the time the last timer rings. (I reuse my now sterile distilled water several times, leaving it in a covered pot on the stove.

Not nearly as onerous as it sounds, and since the mucus comes up quickly, the whole process is 35 minutes & I have managed some of my PT or tidying up in the meanwhile.

So far 2 weeks in, I am loving it. As it is both smoke and allergy season, it is getting a good workout. As a stable bronchie, with no infection, I usually use saline 2-3 times a week. At this time of year it is daily. I haven't needed to use any of my "other drugs" for an exacerbation yet, so can only say how fast and effective the saline is. But I may ask my pulmo if there is a nebulized version of the Symbicort that may be more effective than the inhaler for this tricky time of year.

Thank you so much for that thorough reply!
I've just used it a second time, and accidentally used the set of parts I only soaked in dish soap and rinsed, rather than the second set I prepared last night -- whoops. I also forgot to time myself.
This time I nebbed in the kitchen but got just as much cat interference. Tomorrow I will run it on batteries rather than plug-in power, which will at least eliminate one cord of fascination.
I love the intense bursts of salt. I really feel like it's doing something, like when I first started nebbing 7% saline. I expel more using this thing.
I also love the QUIET.
It did set off the air purifier, despite my turning off flow on exhales with the power button.
More tomorrow.

I just got my eRapid yesterday and haven’t set it up yet. Looking forward to using it and will let you know how it goes. Funny about the cat- mine loves when I’m nebbing, lies on my lap purring with the vibrations. I guess that will change with the eRapid but looking forward to less noise. I use noise canceling headphones with my Proneb - it’s 67dB!

DAY 2:
I used the following technique this morning:
deep INHALE with the eRapid fully on;
hit power button once to stop flow and HOLD the breath as long as I can;
remove the device from my mouth and EXHALE into the air.
Repeat until no more solution is aerosolized.
I took a few breaks for coughing, spitting, and drinking water; the whole session was just under 12 minutes.

I must have gotten almost all the 7% saline solution into my lungs, because my nearby air purifier was only activated twice.

I do not know if this technique is advisable, as I am on my own here. I haven't heard of any negative consequences of "too much" saline, other than it makes some people cough. It makes me cough on the first breath or two, but I get used to it very quickly. I figure I'm getting the saline all the way into my alveoli via the deep breaths and holds, but wouldn't mind an expert to weigh in. Maybe the next time there's an online seminar I will ask!

After this session I used the "Easycare" aerosol head cleaner with distilled water. I initially put too much water in, but was able to suck some out with a used saline vial I'd rinsed with distilled water so it wouldn't contaminate with salt. Once the water level was down below the mark, it worked just fine.

Because I no longer use my Aerobika whole nebbing, I keep it on my desk and exhale through it from time to time after nebbing with the eRapid.

All this feels pretty great. I just hope I'm not doing anything bad by inhaling so much saline this quickly.

Wow as I am awaiting for my just ordered eRapid to arrive all this info is so helpful! Thank you @bronchiectasaurus and @sueinmn! My grandkids are coming here (Detroit) from Seattle and I felt like this might help me save time in the morning. My plan is to get up super early and clear my lungs before they all get up. I have lots of activities planned so I am so hoping this helps. I am definitely going to move this operation away from my usual spot in front of the computer too! Thank you for all this sharing, it is of immense help.

Sue, I see you use Symbicort inhaler now instead of Levalbuterol. Can I ask why you changed? I started using Albuterol, which was good for a couple years, then switched to Levalbuterol, because albuterol was giving me the shakes. Now after 12-18 months after starting levalbuteral it seems like its effectiveness is decreasing, prior to me using my 7% saline. I to wait 15 mins. after bronchodilator then neb saline which works great. Did you switch because of effectiveness of Symbicort vs. Levalbuterol? Also you are now using the Pari erapid/e flow, I hear they are very expensive $1000 or more is this true? I use the Pari pro neb which works fine but still takes 45-50 mins to neb Levalbuterol then 7%. Please let me know about the Symbicort, my Mayo Pulmonologist once stated he may try a ICS. Thank you have a great weekend.

I have been using pari e-eflow for the last week
*quiet
*super fast
I check with a syringe and yes there is always 1 ml of medication left so practically if my vile is 3 ml I get two ml of the medication inhaled.

Negative- I cough really bad while nebulizing 7% sodium chloride. Probably my technique is wrong but I don’t know what could improve it. I Nebulize levalbuterol first, then sodium chloride and have the cough. I tried sue’s method and cover the mouthpiece partially with my tonque- even worse. So if you have a piece of advice please share.
I also tried it yesterday with cromolyn sodium which normally takes me 20 minutes. I will see how long the nebulizing part lasts. I called the manufacturer- they don’t have an answer because they tested it only for pulmozyme and they don’t have answers even for levalbuterol or NaCl. They did not test these either. Anyway it’s definitely time saver- with aerobika and huff coughs after, I am done within an hour or less.

I make ample use of then "pause" button, which is the power button hit once while the machine is on. On the display, there's a black "play" arrow while it's aerosolizing, and a "pause" symbol when you hit the power button once. Hit it again once and it will go back to "play".

You could try inhaling and "pause" the aerosolizing before you finish the breath, to get less of a salt mist blast. Then gradually increase the length of time it's on "play" during your inhalations. That way you can control how much saline you're inhaling, without any tongue technique.

If you try this, please let me know how it goes!

Out of curiosity: have you used the (optional) "EasyCare" device to clean the aerosol heads?

If the soap soak is to keep the aerosol heads clog-free, I might skip that and just rinse-boil/sterilize and use the EasyCare every couple days, or even every day. I add distilled water, turn it on, walk away for a few minutes and when I come back it's done. Then I put the cleaned head and the EasyCare in my bottle dryer and walk away again.