I am new to this forum and recently diagnosed with Bronchiectasis with associated Lung Scarring.So trying to educate myself in order to deal with this killing disease Soi I do apologise, for writing so many new threads in short time
I have lots of coughing including secretion in my lungs white to light green even after taking two courses of antibiotics.
I am presently nebulising daily on the routine basis in morning with Nebusal 7 % saline water. This helps me to clear my lungs with mucus and secretion to some extent
So I am worried as I am nebulising on the daily basis what will be the long-term side effect of nebulising with hypertonic saline. As saline will start deposited in lungs in long-term or I do not know myself what will be it side effect in future
I try to ask GP but I think they do not have any clue either
So friends please advise long-term pro and cons of nebulising with Hypertonic Saline.
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enm1sg
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I'm sure someone with more knowledge of Bronchiectasis will reply soon but do you have a specialist you see? If not as know you should do, they'll be able to advise you as GPs generally have little knowledge of lung issues I think.
Also a I assume you do breathing exercises i.e. The active cycle of breathing to help bring your mucus up.
Whether hypertonic saline is better depends very much on the condition you have and the severity. It would be up to your consultant to decide if hypertonic would be beneficial for you, especially as you need to have this medication assessed at the hospital when you have your first dose, as you could experience bronchospasm.
If you are in the UK it is not a good idea to buy on the internet, although it is your choise of course. If the consultant decides it is beneficial for you then you can then be prescribed it by your GP.
Your GP will only usually prescribe hypertonic following hospital directive.
Mucus is part and parcel of bronchiectasis enm. As to the colour it depends on what is your norm. My norm eg would be yellow green - I have never produced white in the whole of my life and for me it doesn't always mean I have an infection.
The hypertonic alone will not clear your lungss and you need to be referred to a respiratory physiotherapist to learn how to to perform lung clearance daily for yourself.
With regard to the 7% hypertonic saline - I nebulise this twice a day following nebulising a bronchodilator and then perfome lung clearance. Isotonic 0.9% saline has the same saline content as is in all body fluids. Hypertonic comes in three strengths 3%, 6% and 7%. It works by osmosis - so it will draw water into the lungs, which helps to dislodge the mucus. It should after a short period of time then be reabsorbed by the body. It has long been a concern of mine not that it is deposited in the lung but just how systemic the saline content is when it is removed from the body.
cx
I'm on 7% too and I do have concerns about it, for the reasons cofdrop-UK mentions. But when your lungs are clogged with extremely thick, sticky mucus, which is hard enough to cough up even WITH that strength of saline, we don't at present have any alternative. We have to shift it as much as possible, or we'd hardly be able to breathe because of the congestion, plus we'd have one infection after another. We're between a rock and a hard place!
It's so tough for you. The only person who will know the answer to your question is your physiotherapist or the consultant. Not easy to get through to either. Try and contact their secretaries. Ask if you can have a telephone conversation with one of them?
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