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Travel Nebulizers
Traveling with CF can be a pain, especially with all the equipment we have to lug around. To make our lives a bit easier there are several small compressors available on the market and I wanted to share them with you. I have tried several of these, and will note my personal experiences if applicable.
- The Pari E-Flow: This one I think was originally approved for the inhaled antibiotic Cayston, but has since expanded to various medications, including Pulmozyme and HyperSal. It’s a bit pricey, we’re looking at about $1000 and I believe you may need a prescription for it. In terms of effectiveness, it’s pretty dang quick (5-7 minute treatment times) and can be both battery operated or plug-in. But, the downfall I’ve found is that you need to immediately sterilize the handsets, or the medication residue will clog the handset and interfere with the speediness. Also, new handsets are pretty pricey as well. Insurance will cover in most cases.
- The Pari Trek: I’ve had this one for years and am on the fence about it. On one hand, it’s pretty small and can be taken anywhere. However, it takes a long time for a treatment to be done (about 20 minutes) and it’s not nearly as effective as other nebulizers. It feels as though medication delivery is dimmed down quite a bit. I will say, it did get me through backpacking through Costa Rica, though. Another downfall is that you do have to sterilize your neb kits as well or bring new ones. Not my favorite.
- Phillips Innospire Go: This one is PHENOMENAL. It recently just came out and it’s small, has only two connecting piece, it’s simple to clean, portable and treatments last about 6 minutes. I recently used it on my last two trips, and loved it. I’m not sure about it’s approval with medications, but I used it with HyperSal — and, man I was surprised at how well it delivered the medication. It’s a little pricey, about 200$. I found a site that had it at 180 with a prescription. Not sure if insurance would cover it, but worth a try.
- DevilBliss Traveler: This one was recommended by a friend, but I have no personal experience with it. If you do, let us know in the comments below 🙂 It’s a little bit more affordable, so perhaps worth a try.
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The Philips Innospire Go is my all time nebulizer at the moment, not only for travelling but I do all my treatment with it. It’s a great little thing and it delivers!
Only thing to be careful about it to never boil it in anything but demineralized water, because it can’t stand any deposits that are in normal tab water. (in the Netherlands, our tab water is so good that we can drink it and it’s in fact better than bottled water. But still there is some calcification going on if you boil it).
I have one Innospire from my insurance, but I have bought a second one myself for spare. The complete package is 185 euro at http://www.philips.nl, but the mouthpiece with the mesh can also be ordered separately for 78 euro. The mouthpiece will last about 1 year of use, the batterypack should last longer.
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