Nebuliser nightmare

Hi,

Hope this finds everyone well!

I'm on the scrounge for some advice. I'm under the North west lung centre for asthma & bronchiectasis and am on daily nebbed hypertonic saline.

I bought an Omron microair 3 months ago and have used it once a day since for the HS. It's been getting progressively slower over the last few weeks & tonight the poor wee filter has disintergrated.

I'm almost certainly about to start nebulised antibiotics in the next few weeks too. So can anyone recommend a neb that:

Is small enough to take backpacking/mountain walking

Can neb antibiotics & HS

Doesn't look medical!

Is fairly quick

Can run off batteries

I'd also love to hear from anyone else in a similar situation with bronchiectasis, it feels a bit lonely sometimes!

Ta,

Stxxx

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hi st

Sorry cant tell you which neb would be best for that as i have never nebbed antibiotics! My only advice is to phone a good supplier of nebs and ask their advice - i always buy my nebs from evergreen they are fantastic and can advice u best on which neb would suit your needs best. You can find them on google by tryping evergreen nebulisers into the search box! They are based in wigan and most nebs are distributed the next day or within 48hours for free and they are vat free too if you fill the form in and send it back. Hope this helps i use the actineb and the omron compair elite c30 at home and the omron microair when im out and about but as far as i am aware non of these are suitable for antibiotics as you need a vent stream one ?? I may be incorrect with that but you need one with a different mouth piece that only releases meds when you breath in its a different shaped mouthpiece-im sure someone more medically ept will come along shortly to help you further but if not give evergreens a call they are really good in my experience i have used them for years and wouldnt ever buy a neb from anywhere else now! Hope this helps take care lv kk Xx

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Im afraid you are unlikely to get a non medical looking neb to do antibs. You need a good solid neb as it has to work hard.I use a potaneb. You need the  ventstream pack for this neb you also need to ventilate it otherwise you risk infecting others. Not all clinics do it but mine were insistent especially on a ward and it does mean I get a bed near a window. There are a couple of nebs I think the econeb will do antibs and is a bit more powerful and does look very different. Have a look on a site called Evergreen Nebulisers Ltd there are really helpful and quick service and if you ring will help with advice.The ventstream is the key as its delivery method ensures maximun  delivery to the lungs. If you stop breathing in it stops so doesnt waste any.Nebbbing antibs is not a fast thing to do especially if you have to mix it with saline before using. In total it takes me about half hour dependant on dose. (that includes mixing) Your team should tell you all this and I would hope at least supply the venstream bit or equivalent.As  for support for bronchiectasis there isnt much. I use to be on a forum but it was a bit intense and most were abroad. There are a few here on AUK and more people are being diagnosed with it now.It is good and does not have the systemic effects like tablets and ivs have. ~It dug me out of a hole and Im trying to manage without at the moment having been on it over two years.If you do get put on it and want to ask any questions you can pm me but Im not always well enough to send a quick reply but will eventually.

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Hi ST,

There arent many nebulisers which are suitable for what you describe I don't think, the closest I can think of to match what you need is a Respironics Freeway Elite with Ventstream which can be charged and apparently allows 36 minutes of use can be charged from a car cigarette lighter, this nebuliser can be found on the Evergreen website where it retails at £165, Evergreen states the Freeway Elite which comes with Ventstream is suitable for use of Steroids and Antibiotics however the Sidestream is not but it really would be ideal to speak to Evergreen and confirm if this is the case before you consider ordering it or any other nebuliser to be honest.

Hope this helps somewhat.

Simi.

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Hi ST

Glad it wasn't just me that recommended the freeway elite with ventstream then! I really do like the freeway, but beware - it is a lot bigger than the omron microair and noisy too. If you want to see it, and have a play - could bring it with me if we did arrange to meet over Easter?

Sorry I couldn't continue the txt natter about nebs etc last night - my battery died!

Also echo everyones comments re Evergreen - they were fab. I originally ordered a respironics micro-elite, to replace my ancient baby omron.... but when it arrived it wasn't quite what i wanted... because its a compressor neb it was 'noisy' instead of the silence of the omron, and quite a bit bulkier too. I rang them, and they happily exchanged it for a new omron- i just had to pay for the postage back, and a neb pot for the respironics one.

Call me to discuss Easter??

KSD xx

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Thank you all for your advice.

Will give the freeway elite a look.I had a look at the hypertonic saline instructions they recommend PARI boy or eflow rapid. I've heard loads of positive things about Evergreen so will definately try them.

KSD: will ring you tomorrow hunny. Hope we can make Easter work.

Thanks to all again.

Stx

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maybe the ideal neb..... BUT.....

Hey ST,

Was lovely nattering tonight. Found the 'ideal' neb for you i think.... was the PARI e-flow neb that you mentioned you'd never heard of. However, whilst it looks amazing.... in that it's apparently omron type quiet, pretty small, AND nebulises everything going - HS, antibiotics (colistin, tobi) steroids ads well as bronchodilators.

pari.de/

then look for e-flow rapid

there's a big BUT....and a VERY BIG ONE! it appears to cost about £500!!!

Couldn't find anyone selling it online, but the RBH CF pages have quite a bit of info, and the PARI webpage lists the following as the contact for the UK if you want further info...

PARI Medical Ltd.

Ms. Jackie Harle

The Old Sorting Office

Rosemount Avenue

West Byfleet Surrey KT146LB

United Kingdom

Tel: [phone]

Fax: [phone]

E-Mail: [e-mail]

Suddenly this makes the freeway elite seem cheap!

Wondering if you should speak to omron and find out what they say about using HS in the microair.... as you should be ok with the antibiotics in it... it's certainly fine for steroids, and I was told that it was ok with colistin. Maybe you've just been unlucky with the mesh.

Given the cost of the e-flow....Perhaps you could do what I've done, and have the freeway for home use when size isn't an issue, and noise is less of a problem. [I've also chucked it into the car with it's cig lighter charger -though to be fair the battery lasts for ages].... and then replace the mesh on the omron for when you need silence and a teeny neb! I finally got myself the AC adapter too - so I've got ultimate flexibility, as can run that in my car if needed as I've got an invertor to enable me to charge my laptop etc whilst away in holidays.

Anyway - prob should try to get back to sleep, but your neb nightmare gave me something to do when I couldn't sleep! Hope you have a good day with the squirrels! Speak to you friday about the w/e.

KSD x