<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote><i>Originally posted by: <b>saveferris2009</b></i>
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<br />the plastic pieces of the eFlow are the exact same as those of traditional nebulizers, so yes they can be boiled or soaked in alcohol or dishwashed. simple. no different than traditional nebulizers.
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<br />the head is to be rinsed off after each use, and put in alochol (which we know destroys germs). simple.
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<br />rinsing the head takes about 3-5 seconds, which is nothign compared to the 10-15 minutes the eFLow saves me in treatment time.
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<br />the plastic parts for the eFlow have a cost based on your insurance. it really varies widely. i got my last 2 sets free because i ordered late last year when i had reached my out of pocket max for the year <img src="">
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<br />Amy, again, I point to the fact that the e-flow company I was dealing with (a pharmacy out of Texas referred by my accredited center) tells a different story than what you say here and this is EXACTLY why I sent it back. I also was on a panel/interview with e-flow describing my concerns and the woman did acknowledge they need a consistent cleaning/disinfecting schedule that ALL who Rx e-flow share with CF patients.
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<br />For MY case, personally, I feel it was a waste of time. It saved me about 5-10 minutes on my treatment, yes, BUT it also took 5-10 minutes to sterilize/boil the water to rinse my treatment parts as per the instructions. You must use sterile water to rinse. Not distilled or anything else but STERILE. I do not have easy access to enough sterile water to pour over my parts 2-3 times a day, so I boiled my own. This to me was a waste of time. I realize the act of rinsing takes only a few seconds, but when you need to prepare what you're rinsing with it does add time.
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<br />It literally takes me 5 minutes to wash my PARI Plus sets and 5 minutes to boil and they're done. No rinsing necessary as the boiling takes care of that. I throw all the parts in at the end of the night and boil them all after just one treatment cycle. Every night.
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<br />You say you can boil the e-flow plastic cause it is just like PARI plus nebs, but I specifically asked my e-flow pharmacy who said they will warp in dishwasher and/or boiling and they will not warranty this (yes, even the plastic parts!)
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<br />Again, I just point to the inconsitencies in your instructions and the instructions from my pharmacy. Perhaps you are right and they are wrong, but either way it is this inconsistency that worries me. I also received written instructions I'm happy to find and scan to your email that say not to boil or dishwasher ANY part of the e-flow. These instructions came with my e-flow.
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<br />As soon as CFF comes out with documentation that you can boil the plastic parts of the e-flow or dishwasher it, I will likely give it another try, but not until then.
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<br />And with regard to insurance covering extra nebs... I have two insurances and neither pay anything for my nebs. It is always out of pocket. I was told by e-flow company that the e-flow comes with ONE plastic neb and if I want extras I'd have to buy them and was also told they're "expensive" to stock up. I was told by the woman at the e-flow pharmacy I was working with to simply re-use the old plastic parts when I get a new set every 3 months or so and just stock up that way. Hmmm.... So, continue to rotate new parts with old ones? If I need to use it 2-3 times a day and the "new" ones aren't dry, I will be using old parts indeffinately, right? Just makes no sense to me. But I digress...
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<br />The point of this post wasn't to discuss the e-flow, but rather how people clean their nebs. I know there is a wealth of info on here about the e-flow and anyone can do a search and likely find many many people singing its praises. I however, am not one of them. And since it is specifically for the cleaning/disinfecting issues, I found it necessary to mention that on this thread.
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