Smartvest...Is it helpful in eliminating sputum?

@davis5663 I am curious to find out if you have gotten rid of the Pseudomonas after doing the meds and also how long were you on the Tobi? I could only tolerate Tobi for 2 weeks and then had to quit. I retested about two months after I ended the therapy and they were not present....but I somehow think they are in hiding. I had a very heavy infection and the mucus and coughing was awful. Kate

Mine showed heavy growth in July and had lots of symptoms like you. I did one month on Toby, went off a month then another month on. I just recently retested and haven't got the results back yet. Will let you know

With all the mucous plugs I've had and had CT scans done, I've never read anything on the Radiologist written report that refers to mucous plugs. I'm not sure it shows on CT or maybe they just don't refer to them as part of their written report. I don't know?

I haven't had a radiologist refer to them either on a written report but my bronchiectasis specialist pointed a couple out to me. He showed me my scans a couple of weeks ago and pointed out 2 mucus plugs. They looked white, he said they may only be as much as a teaspoon each. So according to him they do show up but it may take a specialist to recognize them

I follow the National Jewish Health protocol of using an Aerobika with an Aeroeclipse nebilizing cup attached (Ombra system) while on my vest. When I got my vest, I didn’t notice a huge difference, but over time I was able to clear a MAC infection.
When I went to Italy for a month, I chose not to take my vest with me. However, this winter I’ll be going to California for two months and I will be taking it. I try not to think of it as another thing I have to do, but rather as a tool in my bronchiectasis tool kit!

Best,
Linda Esposito

@becleartoday Wow, Linda! That is great that you have cleared your MAC. Thanks for taking the time to write with this promising news. Have fun in California!!

@davis5663 Yes!! Please let me know. Thanks. Kate

Thank you! I think it is important to think of a vest as one of many airway clearance tools. We shouldn’t expect miracles just because it’s a big-ticket device. And for those of us who can’t get a vest, it is not essential to good clearance. While traveling I often substitute handheld massage gun for my vest. It works well especially for targeting areas where we know we have infection and/or bronchiectasis.

I started with an afflovest and didn't think it helped much. I switched to the monarch and it was too painful for me to use. I have a slight kyphosis and the spinal curve did not like the rigidity of the monarch vest. Also the pods hit me in all the wrong places and it was very painful. Interestingly, it seemed to shut down my sputum production completely. My doc thought I should try afflovest one more time and was able to switch me back to that one. I am glad I switched back. After a week or so, sputum production had increased again. Is it a miracle for me? No. But I do feel that it is helpful and I use it faithfully twice a day.

@drwholigan Thanks so much for weighing-in! Much appreciated.