Airway clearance advice?

[Mama-bear60]

Hi everyone,

I would like to ask everyone how long they dedicate to their airway clearance each day?

Do you always produce mucus and if so how much?

After spending time doing the exercises do you always have a clear chest without crackling or wheezing?

What to you define as a ‘flare up’ .

I ask all this because I feel very much like I have been on a constant cycle of chesty cough and breathlessness, treated with steroids and antibiotics, a period of feeling Ok for it to repeat after approximately four or five days since April this year!

[Xrossstich]

my husband spends ages trying to bring mucus up, not always successful, he’s sometimes up 4 times in the night, ages first thing in the morning then at times throughout the day, he’s really struggling. He has a dry cough with Pulmonary Fibrosis, he’s had it for about 3/4 years now. The surgery have loaned us a Nebuliser we know have the prescription to use but no idea what to do with it. I’m thinking of phoning the surgery to ask for assistance.

[Oshgosh in reply to Xrossstich]

I am prescribed Carbocysteine twice daily.it helps thin thr mucus,makes it easier to cough it up

[Patk1]

I always allow time to do lung clearance,for as long as necessary,leaving lungs dry for a while.x

[Rosa17]

I spend about 20 mins to half an hour 2 - 3 times a day on chest clearance. If I'm coughing more during the day or night i increase it. I take my sabutamol inhaler 20 mins beforehand. I also take acetylcysteine, which helps thin gunk a bit. Breathlessness and exhaustion does tend to fluctuate a bit for me, I've just had a chest infection, I was a lot more breathless, and exhausted than usual, coughing a lot more too, despite increasing chest clearance. I have antibiotics which seem to be helping. Take care xx

[B0xermad]

Hi mama bear I have a routine for clearance designed by my respiratory nurse. Ventolin inhaler through a spacer device, then use a mucolyte drink acetylcysteine effervescent tablet in water, drink that wait 5 minutes before using my acapella device, doing 6 x 6 sets of blowing through it clearing lungs, after each set clear the mucus then taking steroid inhaler. All this takes approximately half an hour . I do have copd asthma and bronchietasis though

[ratfin]

I'm not sure what condition(s) you suffer from so it's hard to give hard and fast guidance. For me (with bronchiectasis and NTM), I have a saline nebuliser which takes about 15 minutes (and has made the world of difference to my chest issues, I have to say). Then I do airway clearance/postural drainage for about 15 minutes, and then a few chest-opening pilates exercises and sit-ups which seem to help to clear the residue. There's usually about three quarters of an inch to an inch of sputum in the pot after all this. This regime has been perfected over about 30 years, so it seems to me that we're all different, and finding what works best for you involves a lot of trial and error! So experiment. Oh, the other thing that has worked well for me (but check with your doc - mine was really sceptical but didn't forbid it - is to take a daily antihistamine like cetirizine dihydrochloride. That's helped me with the coughing side of things (unless I'm in a room with a long-haired cat ... ). I wish you well, though, as it's hard navigating a way through all of this, and knowing what's right for you.

[Lutontown]

If I clog up with mucus I get my wife to play our vibrating gun on my back. That usually rattles the muck loose and easier to shift.

[Rainbow52 in reply to Lutontown]

Hi Lutontown what is a vibrating gun please?

[Mama-bear60 in reply to Rainbow52]

I didn’t like to ask but now you have? 🤣

[Rainbow52 in reply to Mama-bear60]

🤣

[Lutontown in reply to Rainbow52]

It is a machine which is rechargeable, shaped like a pistol, with usually 3 interchangeable heads. I use the softish ball head, and when you press the button, the head oscillates. You or a helper holds the the head on your body and it then gives a fast rate of little punches. I use on my knees and helps my arthritis, on the front my chest and my wife applies it on my back, to loosen up mucus. I think I got it through Groupon on-line and it was about £40. I'm sure I've seen them elsewhere, but can't remember where. I've just looked on Amazon, and there's loads on there. One's £19.99

[Rainbow52 in reply to Lutontown]

Thanks Lutontown. I will look into it.

[Xlizixx]

I have the same problem since Christmas, like you, courses and courses of antibiotics. When they work I’m brilliant but if I stop taking them, after a few days it’s back and I feel terrible again. Doc keeps telling me I’ve got to produce a specimen but can’t cough anything up. I’ve even tried standing on my head for gravity to take over ! I am going to keep trying but it takes time and effort and it’s exhausting. Constant muck in my throat that just won’t shift. Flare up for me is rapidly going downhill with breathlessness and fatigue and generally unwell with another chest infection.