Hyper-tonic Saline 7%

I have recently added a lot to my new regiment for health. I really wish I had done all of this years ago, but honestly I thought I was fine and healthy (I have always worked full time since college, IVs once a year, and I am able to do everything everyone else can do with the exception of maybe mountain climbing) so I never felt I needed to add more. It's 20/20 vision. Had I known then how much better I could feel I would absolutely have added a lot more to my regiment. Oh well.

I decided to review one new med per blog entry because I can be wordy and it will make it easier for people to find the meds that actually apply to them. So today I am reviewing Hyper-tonic Saline. Oh and I don't know if similar genomes react similar, but for the record I am double delta F508 which is the most common type of CF.


If I use a flutter I am good at getting a lot of mucus out of my lungs, but anyone that uses a flutter knows it is a lot of work. I usually cough very hard and am tired at the end of my treatment. All other CPT is almost useless in getting mucus out for me. Now with the addition of HTS I do not even need to try! I use HTS and within a minute I am coughing and coughing and best of all PRODUCING! The HTS causes the mucus to come up and out of the lungs much easier and I can say with 100% confidence that its an amazing addition to my CPT. I really don't have to work at all! I always follow HTS with my flutter just to really get everything out. When I use HTS which is only weekends and evenings I cough up TWICE as much and except for the time invested it is no more work. So I am a huge supported of HTS.

Now HTS is not perfect and so here I will mention the cons.It can be irritating. When I first started using it I found it very irritating and could only do it for a few minutes. I decided to start with a diluted version and gradually used it for longer at stronger concentrations. To this day I still get mild throat irritation, but it goes away soon after I stop the med. Also, if you get bleeds it can make you bleed more often, but I am not a bleeder so I have not had this problem.

I have actually been thinking about upping the saline ratio and trying HTS 9% to see if it is even better. I will update you if/when I try it.

For lazy readers I will compile and easy to read pro/con list to all my meds/treatment reviews

Pros:
1. Makes coughing mucus out of the lungs SO much easier. Almost effortless.
2. I produce twice as much mucus as compared to CPT without HTS.
3. It is easy and only takes between 10-15 minutes. Well worth it in my opinion.

Cons:
1. Can be irritating and you may have to work up to a full dose over time.
2. Can increase bleeds, but I am not a bleeder so no worries there for me.




**Disclaimer: This review is my personal experience with the medicine. We all know every CFer is different, even those with the same genome, so please talk to your Dr about your illness and any meds you are taking. Also, be your own advocate if one of the meds sounds like a medicine you would like to try bring it up at your appointment and see what they think**