Removing phlegm-mucus from throat

[Lorraine Larkin]

• Mucinex helps my husband, you can put it through feeding tube,  and cough assist.

Good luck!

[Mary Kate Smith]

I use a suction machine that works well. I am also on a feeding tube.  Contact Norco or whoever is on your area and they can get you set up.  Really works great. Am eating right now. Will get the the model latet today.

[Deborah Maria Woolston]

When my mom got to that stage, we used a portable electric suction machine to suck mucous out of her mouth & throat. Since she was also using the Trilogy non-invasive ventilator at that point, we strapped the suction machine to the rolling cart for the Trilogy. That way both could be with her at all times.

Is brother working with a medical supply company? They should be able to provide a suction machine & possible even on a rental basis. Alternately the ALS Association has loan lockers that may have one.

Here’s a link to a company that sells suction machines, so you can see what they look like: https://dmesupplyusa.com/respiratory/suction/suction-machines.html

Sending Love to  you, your brother & his wife. This is a humbling, heartbreaking, and, sometimes, strangely beautiful journey to be on.

 

[Maggie Broeren]

We use a Frieda, found at a common drugstore . We attach the Frieda to a suction machine.It may seem gross but the relief is super beneficial . You can put the Frieda up your nostril very gently and turn on the suction machine. We do both nostrils and it takes less than five minutes. Our hospice nurse and doctor are quite impressed with this method.

[Kim Russell]

What type of suction machine do you use?

[Amyk]

What is a Frieda ?

[boo]

This is what we’re looking for to help with throat mucous. It is otc at a drugstore? Thank you for this info

[Deb]

I’m not sure whether this is helpful at late stage ALS, but I smear Vicks above my top lip and down the front of my neck when going to bed and the vapours help in preventing/relieving the “clagging” of the phlegm and associated coughing.  Sometimes I use Vicks during the day too.  I also changed from a medium pillow to a firm pillow which gives a slightly elevated position rather than using an uncomfortable wedge pillow. Best wishes.

[Gail A]

My husband takes Glycopyrrolate prescribed by his neurologist at the clinic we attend. He also has taken Guiafenesin (plain Mucinex or Robitussin) for excess mucus as necessary. He uses a VOCSN machine which provides the following functions: ventilation(BiPap), oxygen. Cough assist, Suction, and Nebulizer. This is a great machine, invented by a guy whose father had ALS and needed multiple machines to do different functions. We were lucky to get this early in his disease when it became available I believe in 2019. We have used all of the functions except Oxygen which isn’t typically used for ALS patients. It’s nice having everything you need all in one box. Hope this might help someone.

Gail Albert

[Amyk]

My husband was just prescribed the Glycopyrrolate , we just picked up today! Does it help??

[Sherry Campbell]

I wish we could get a VOCSN to replace the individual machines we have. It would make it so much easier to take my husband out in the wheelchair!

[IBREM]

We are not at this stage yet but would like to know if any one uses a breast pump with different attachments…this what they sent us and not sure if this is correct or not…I have message into the doctors and nurses…just curious…

[Kanesius]

My wife’s phlegm was reduced when she started using a NIVV.

[Amyk]

What is a Nivv?

[ortiz]

Most likely means NIV. Non invasive ventilator.

[Kanesius]

As Ortiz mentioned it is a non invasive volumn ventilator

[Roman]

The doctor give me amitriptyline and atropine two drops a day. It reduces me a lot the phlegms and mucus. I also use cough machine

[Terry Smith]

As many others have mentioned. Find out about the cough assist machine. The settings came range from lower to high suction. This could be useful at this stage.

[Janet Neckyfarow]

I had a lot of saliva issues early on. I have bulbar onset ALS. I had radiation therapy which worked a little too well. After two of four sessions my mouth was extremely dry and all I had left was very thick mucus/saliva in the back of my throat. Before deciding to do that, I used glygopyrellate or scopalopine patches but neither worked very well for me. The spelling is wrong but your doctor will figure it out. The patches are officially for sea sickness and you need to change them every three days. Much more convenient.<div><div>

I have a cough machine and a suction machine and use them both. Frankly, what works best for me, especially if I’m unable to use the suction machine easily, is to manually wipe the roof and back of my mouth and throat with paper towel. I get all sorts of mucus out without having to wake my husband up in the middle of the night to get me up or use the machine. Then I just fold it over and throw it away in the morning.

I’m sure medical professionals would not recommend such a thing, but I have been doing it for a long time (even when I was still mobile) and it works well for me.

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[ortiz]

There are many things you can try to do help this situation get better. As many have already stated, medications, suction machine, cough assist, and NIV (non-invasive ventilator). Let’s talk about why this is happening. Most important thing to realize here is that ALS does not affect the lungs. The lungs are not a muscle. What is affected is a weakening diaphragm which is the muscle we use to breath. Weaking diaphragm and weaking intercoastal muscles cause a patient to breath shallow, Shallow breathing causes atelectasis in the lungs and the buildup of secretions, which could lead to pneumonia and respiratory failure.

Theoretically, if lungs aren’t truly affected, then if we keep the lungs clear, expanded and healthy then we should not have this buildup of mucus and secretions. This why some people have already stated that symptoms went away with the use of NIV. NIV pops the lungs open and keeps them free of atelectasis (small sacs in the airway that collapse). Good lung expansion is what’s needed to keep the lungs healthy and clear of mucus. This can be obtained via use of NIV and cough assist machine. All of us out there who DO NOT have ALS are not walking around full of mucus every day. Because we have good diaphragm strength, and we take good deep breaths. I currently have about 600 patients that I treat aggressively with these machines. I almost rarely run into any of these situations with mucus, pneumonia and respiratory failure.

Notice I said rarely. Some patients have this equipment and do not use it as recommended. Some wait until they have mucus to begin to use the equipment. If you use it daily, you will not have this issue to begin with. Now, there are situations where you can still catch flu, covid or other infections just like anyone else and this can cause buildup of mucus/secretions.

I hope this helps. I can talk all day long about these topics.

[Kanesius]

Thanks for the information Ortiz. very helpful.

[gigi44]

We can attest to what Ortiz has written as my husband was recently prescirbed the intermittant ventilator, cough assist & suction machines as he was developing quite a bit of mucus build up. We use the vent and cough assist regularly which elminates the need for the suction machine on most days. His resp. therapist has my husband working on 5 cough assist sessions per day 3 x’s a day.Very quick sessions done in a matter of minutes. He uses the ventilator during the day for 2-3 hrs. and is working up to 4 hrs. at nighttime. We see a marked reduction in the mucus build up when we maintain daily use of these devices We are so grateful these assistive devices are available to him to give his lungs and the surrounding muscles some support . We also use a product called Mucus Clear (oral drops), a Vicks Vaporizor and Vicks Vapo rub (on the outside of his throat) if mucus builds up suddenly. We also swab his mouth and back of his tongue with a toothette soaked in grape juice. His Dr. also prescribed atropene (sp?) eye drops to help with excess mucus, but we have yet to try them as we were told they can cause the opposite effect and he already has extreme dry mouth when he is laying down. For the dry mouth, I highly recommend the mouthguard that has been mentioned earlier which holds the tongue up toward the roof of the mouth and lifts it from the back of the throat while he sleeps.

[Lisa Whittaker]

There is a suction machine that I had for my husband, the wand was too stiff to remove from his throat and can actually damage the throat. I just watch a web last month from Neals. you can go to the website and check it out, but is shows the suction machine I used and a wand called a french suction that is better for the throat suctioning. Please go onto Neals.com and watch the video very informative on this.

[Chris King]

Well, looks like machines way to go! I’m have late onset bulbar PLS transitioning into ALS with copious amounts of saliva and phlegm not using the machines in any regular order. My nero;ogist and pulmonologist evidently assumed correctly that I’d come to my own conclusion that Mucinex, Botox and Nuedexta wouldn”t be enough. Thank you for sharing your experiences showing this stubborn 79 year old there’s much more learning and living left to do!

[Sherry Campbell]

My husband has a trach and is on a vent. We have 2 suction machines. One is set up for oral suctioning and the other for tracheal suctioning. He also takes guaifenesin to help expel the mucus.