Recommendation or a flowmeter

[ahfat41]

I have got a bulky one I bought years ago. Can anybody recommend a smaller one. pl? Where to buy is it possible to get on prescription or cheaper to buy yourself. , Thanks

[twinkly29]

Do you mean a peak flow meter?

These are the ones available on prescription but they seem to be a similar cost buying them from a pharmacy or online.

amazon.co.uk/Mini-Wright-Pe...

I haven't ever used a different type so don't even know what else is available!

[ahfat41 in reply to twinkly29]

Thanks yes I do mean peak flow meter but could not find the right word. Looking at mine I have got the mini right quite bulky at 21 cms long thought could get a smaller version.

[targ2002 in reply to ahfat41]

There are a few options for these.

I have tried several and I always end up back with the mini wright, it just seems the most reliable and repeatable measurement.

I also have amazon.co.uk/Vitalograph-as...

But I find that a lot of doctors start to mistrust your readings if you tell them the meter also does fev1 which this does.

It does read higher than the mini wright, so the results from the different meters are not comparable.

[Mezitonka]

There are various ones one ebay. The cheapest is £7.24. It looks like the same as mine. Mine is 19cm and only weighs about 50gms, which is pretty light. I don't see how they can be much shorter, because if significantly shorter it would mean the guage would be shorter thus that the propeller would have to be heavier or stiffer to be in sync with the shorter callibration. A problem with some of them is that the (detatchable) mouthpiece tends to deform in the case of cardboard ones. So, in this instance a little gaffer tape needs to be rapped round to strengthen it. That's what I've done with mine, it works fine. There are charts on the net for age/height/gender, giving relative values compared to healthy lungs without respiratory issues. The problem with peak flow is that there are big differences in attempts. In my case I can hit anything from 360 to 440. A huge amount hinges on technique. You need to practice. Even then it is still quite arbitrary. For me the best figures are about an hour and a half after inhalers (braltus/tiotropium and seretide) and some outside excercise, such as a brisk 20 min walk. If I'm going to try the peak flow, I take a couple puffs of ventilin about half an hour after the walk, then wait about 10 mins and have a go.