Gentamicin

[Channell]

Has any body had the neb called gentamicin which is an antibiotics which I'm about to be prescribed that goes in nebulizer

[WheezyAnne]

Just having mine now. Only been on it a couple of weeks. It has been a nightmare getting the prescription filled by the GP, as they are not familiar with the equipment required, and the blunt needles required as, are yet to be identified. The surgery is still confused, but I am getting there. I don't really know why we have to use 2 syringes and one needle every day as all we are doing is drawing up the 2 liquids to put in the Nebuliser chamber. A pipette would do it. I have a blunt needle I use for craft work which would be ideal, but I can't be doing with throwing that away every day. The glass nebule containing the Gentamicin is tricky to break open. My partner does it for me. First of all though, you need a Compressor driven Nebuliser machine, which I could buy from Addenbrookes for £65. Online it costs much more for the Phillips make the NHS use, though if that is an issue, there are other compressor driven machines which are a bit cheaper. Let me know how you get on. Hope I have not put you off it all. At the end of the day, it is not complicated, just time consuming. It is an experience.

[cofdrop-UK in reply to WheezyAnne]

Hi, I am surprised you get your needles from your GP. We would get our medication only on prescription and needles from the hospital. If you are drawing up from a glass vial you need a filtered needle, which will filter out any tiny glass chards and prevent them getting into your lungs.

Love cx

[WheezyAnne in reply to cofdrop-UK]

That explains it. Thanks for that. Gosh I am thick. The needles appear to currently be the issue because hospital has not provided any, and Surgery can't identify them. Specialist Respiratory Physiotherapist wrote to surgery to provide them. I am stuck in the middle., Going round in circles. surgery asks me instead of going back to the source. I must admit to getting stressed about it all now.

[Hidden in reply to WheezyAnne]

BTW I got so fed up of the difficulty getting needles and syringes that I buy mine from amazon. They cost less than pennies and are the same as those given by the hospital.

[WheezyAnne in reply to Hidden]

Yes, I was wondering about that.

[cofdrop-UK in reply to WheezyAnne]

You are not thick at all WheezyAnne, more badly advised by your providers. I am sure much of this is down to funding but the hospital should have provided you with the equipment to do the job. You could phone the people who did your assessment. It ticks me off so much that we are the ones who have to sort stuff out ourselves. Grrr.

cx

[Hidden in reply to WheezyAnne]

Hi wheezyanne, I am at a loss as to why they think you need blunt needles. Maybe it has something to do with health and safety and them not trusting you not to prick yourself. As you will have broken off the tops to the water and the ab vial you don't need a pointed needle but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't use one. Likewise, as the water and the ab are going to be mixed in the pot, it seems odd to insist on separate syringes. It just seems to be a routine that your hospital find easy to do. I would just sit with the pot attached to the tubing between my knees, draw up the water and put it in the pot, then break the ab vial and draw that up and into the pot. Using one syringe. You feel find out which method works best for you.

[WheezyAnne in reply to Hidden]

The instructions say mix together in the syringe, but as you suggest, I could draw up the 2 ml Sodium Chloride, put in neb chamber, then break vial and pour Gentamicin into neb chamber, and just swirl it around to mix. That way I don't need a needle at all. That would work. Gosh I am slow, and thick. I had a brain once..

Sorry, feeling a bit tearful now, after affects of Immunotherapy I think. Thanks for getting my brain working.

[Hidden in reply to WheezyAnne]

no you are definitely not slow! Just trying to make your way around all of these processes like the rest of us. If you like you could use a ten ml syringe, draw up the water, then draw up the drug into the same one and shake it about a bit then put the lot into the pot. As I said, you will find what suits you best.

[cofdrop-UK in reply to WheezyAnne]

It would concern me if you pour the contents of an ab from a glass vial aftet having broken the top of the glass vial. It doesn't always come off cleanly and I would defo use a filtered needle.

Good luck to both you and of course Channell.

cx

[WheezyAnne in reply to cofdrop-UK]

I spoke to the original assessor, who faxed some details over to the surgery, but the surgery still cannot identify the needles. The original assessor said I shouldn't be getting involved, but my GP asked me to find out more details, from the original assessor.

They have given me some sharp needles to use in the meantime. I hate feeling like this. I thought all this confusion would stop after I was medically retired, and more able to control my life. When at Immunotherapy on Wednesday I spoke there about issues around the funding, and they said it is not for me to worry about. It is for the Surgery and hospital to sort out. My partner went over to the surgery, and the Receptionist told him it was my job to get needles from the hospital, not theirs.

I think I should forget about it all now, use what I have, and talk to the Immunologist when I go back in 3 weeks. If necessary, I could see if I can buy filter needles myself, but money is another worry.

[cofdrop-UK in reply to WheezyAnne]

I don't get the hospital's problem at all. It is their job to give you the needles not the GP. and they shouldn't be risking you not having the correct filtered needles when using a glass vial. The needles are Medicina Blunt Fill Needle with Filter 1.2mm x 40mm, BN02 with a red cover. The same as you would be given if you would be using Heparin following IVs through a longline, as Heparin comes in glass vials only. They need to get their act together.

It is rediculous within a whole hospital or respiratory department they don't just give you a box - you really shouldn't be messing with glass vials without the proper equipment when it is going into your lungs.

Tey once gave me just blunt needles without filters and I just told them and they changed them. Not a great mistake to make.

cx

[Hidden]

I had nebulised gentamycin in 1998. Unfortunately I reacted badly to it after about a month. I had absolutely no sputum but my lungs felt as though they were glued together and I couldn't walk any distance or climb stairs. I just couldn't breathe. It took six months of nebulising 0.9% saline alone to get me back to normal. It is a very effective drug though and you will be aware if you begin to react badly to it. We are all different and most do very well on it.

[WheezyAnne in reply to Hidden]

Useful to know.

[MoJones62 in reply to Hidden]

I was like you littlepom they tried me on gentamicin but I reacted badly after about a week, I just couldn't get my breath at all. I've know of other people who have used it and it worked very well for them

[WheezyAnne]

I am sorry Channel, I seem to have hijacked your message. I will have to learn how not to do that.