{"id":815,"date":"2025-10-28T17:14:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T17:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/bronchiectasis\/?page_id=815"},"modified":"2025-10-29T08:16:51","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T08:16:51","slug":"nebulised-antibiotics","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/bronchiectasis\/treatment\/nebulised-antibiotics\/","title":{"rendered":"Nebulised Antibiotics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Nebulised antibiotics may be prescribed for you  if you have frequent, recurrent chest infections due to bacterial colonisation in the lungs. This means that bacteria are always present in the lungs and you are more likely to get a chest infection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nebulised antibiotics allow a smaller dose of antibiotic to be delivered directly to the lungs which is generally better than multiple courses of oral or IV antibiotics. Long term it may also reduce the amount of bacteria present in the sputum, improve symptoms, reduce exacerbations and prevent further lung damage. Some people may only need nebulised antibiotics for a few months, others may require them long term.  The most common nebulised antibiotics are Colomycin and Gentamicin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How nebulised antibiotics are given:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The antibiotics generally come in glass vials or ampoules containing a solution that needs diluted or a powder that needs reconstituted<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The respiratory nurse specialist will explain how to do this and you will be able to practise with supervision<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You will be given a nebuliser machine and a nebuliser delivery mouthpiece<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Most nebulised antibiotics are given twice a day<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Before starting nebulised antibiotics:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Your lung function will be assessed before and after a one off test dose to check that you can tolerate it<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If required, a salbutamol inhaler or nebuliser can be used before the antibiotic to minimise any airway irritation<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>You should let the doctor and nurse know if you have issues with your hearing or balance or have tinnitus before starting nebulised antibiotics as hearing tests may be required<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Main side effects:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Chest tightness, <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Dry mouth<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Worsening shortness of breath or wheeze<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Hoarse voice<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Dizziness, balance issues<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Reduced hearing or tinnitus (buzzing in your ears)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Many people do not experience any side-effects with nebulised antibiotics but if you do it is important to let your respiratory nurses know.  Some side-effects improve with time or there may be a need to change the dose or, in rare instances the treatment may need to be stopped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Monitoring<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Your lung function will be checked regularly <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Your kidney function will be checked with a blood test and  you will be assessed for any side effects at clinic appointments<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Supply<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The nebuliser machine, antibiotic and all supplies and equipment required will be supplied from the hospital<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>When established on treatment the GP may take over the prescribing of the antibiotic and all supplies are provided by the hospital.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>TODO: UPLOAD VIDEOS TO VIMEO<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nebulised antibiotics may be prescribed for you if you have frequent, recurrent chest infections due to bacterial colonisation in the lungs. This means that bacteria are always present in the lungs and you are more likely to get a chest infection. Nebulised antibiotics allow a smaller dose of antibiotic to be delivered directly to the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":741,"menu_order":8,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"class_list":["post-815","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"NHS Lothian","author_link":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/bronchiectasis\/blog\/author\/nhs-lothian\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":false,"rttpg_excerpt":"Nebulised antibiotics may be prescribed for you if you have frequent, recurrent chest infections due to bacterial colonisation in the lungs. This means that bacteria are always present in the lungs and you are more likely to get a chest infection. Nebulised antibiotics allow a smaller dose of antibiotic to be delivered directly to the","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/bronchiectasis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/bronchiectasis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/bronchiectasis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/bronchiectasis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/bronchiectasis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=815"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/bronchiectasis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/815\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1305,"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/bronchiectasis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/815\/revisions\/1305"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/bronchiectasis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/bronchiectasis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/services.nhslothian.scot\/bronchiectasis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}