Hi, I have been asked to consider hypertonic saline in-between my twice daily salbutamol and gentamicin nebuliser.
I am sure it would help with thick sputum clearance but i have had swollen ankles for about 15 years for which i take bendroflumethiazide but this does not make the swelling disappear.
I therefore wonder if the extra salt will make this worse as it has to be absorbed and dealt with by the body.
Does anyone have experience of this with swollen ankles please?
Hi, in response to your question about saline; my daughter has asthma and we sometimes use saline in the nebulizer, I will try to help you. First of all, I find the saline helpful for a dry cough sometimes it works better than albuterol because it moistens the airway. Also, I think the amount of saline is minimal and you are not drinking it, and much of it gets aerosolized and not taken in as an food or electrolytes, I wouldn't think it make a difference. However, if you are still concerned ask your Dr or try to find a friendly Pharmacist that could also answer your question.
Hi, thanks for your advice which I will bear in mind.
I actually have bronchiectasis and colonised pseudomonas so the treatment on offer is hypertonic saline 7% which is a larger amount of salt than the usual 0.9% saline which is already mixed with the gentamicin anyway.
This means that the lungs absorb extra salt which will be eliminated by the body.
It is the swollen ankles that concern me most however.
I'm doing this as I reply. I use the ventilation inhaler to make
sure the airways are open and then I use the hypertonic saline stuff and then I use the peri o pep clearance thing and the use my purple circular inhaler... it has worked wonders on bronchiectasis!
I nebulise 7% for the same reason. It tastes quite salty & I do wonder whether it's good for me! But I haven't noticed any ankle-swelling. Anyway, without it I can't cough up anything & my lungs quickly fill up with thick, sticky, crap, so there's not much alternative.
It does taste salty but I'm sure the lungs deal with it and, like you, without it I don't cough and infections live in my lungs!
Thanks for your contribution Hanne. I would really benefit as you do in helping to clear my lungs. As it is I use the acapella, carbocystien and huffing and puffing which is not easy as it is so sticky.
However, my ankles have been swollen for years so kidney function is slightly impaired. It is the kidneys that do most work in eliminating salt and this is my dilemma.
I really was hoping that someone may have the same and could advise me on the affect they encountered.
Whilst on the constant nebs of anti bots and ventolin 2 x daily, together with the clearing meds and techniques I have not had an infection. It is therefore most important to clear the lungs in order to stay reasonably well. Saline would make it easier for me but will it cause me other concerns such as poorer kidney function?
When you do the lung clearing after the saline neb most of the salt will be eliminated with the mucus. If you absorbed the entire salt content from 10 ml of 7% you would get about 0.7g of salt (70g per litre) , in practice will be much less. I use 4ml ampoules so that would be less than 0.3g of salt if (big if) I absorbed it all. I don't think it's a problem.
I have had swollen ankles for about 2 years now sooz, and have been given Furosemide 40mg, which is quite strong, to move the fluid, and told to keep my feet up as much as I can.
They certainly make you pee a lot, and I have to have a urinal flask where I sit at home, as it comes on quick, and I cant rush to the bathroom, because of my COPD.
I have 3 cushions at the end of my bed, for my feet when I go to bed, and that helps.
Hope this helps a little.
Thank you for your info rtaxron.
I take bendroflumethiazide for same but it is not as effective as I would like in reducing ankle swelling. I was given furosemide to alternate with bendro.
However since being on gentamicin for the pseudomonas it is not compatible with furosemide so I cannot take it.
I hope it helps you though and I can sympathise with you over urgency and getting to the loo in time when you struggle to breath.
Take care.
Thanks very much for this Ipogle. It has been very helpful
looks like my reply went in the wrong place! It is below, many thanks.
Hi, My partner uses saline in his Nebuliser and has managed to cut down from 3 Nebulisers a day to one in the morning and saline mid afternoon. He was really bad and has had swollen ankles due to Raymaulds. I bought him a Revitive machine (advertised on TV) and using this once a day has really improved his circulation and with a little more walking or on the exercise bike has slowly reduced the swelling in his ankles. I measured his ankles before and after a few weeks on the Revitive and there was a reduction of just under one inch on both ankles. Going direct to the Revitive website will get you a deal of try before you buy so if you are not happy you can return it.
thanks for your kind reply Dusty. i will check it out x
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