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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.