@faraday said in Health and Wealth and GrownUp Stuff:
The inhaler delivers the dose in two puffs. The nebulizer takes several minutes of inhaling the medication through a mist from a nebulizer machine. The nebulizer tends to allow more of the medication to be absorbed, and also tends to increase the side effects (including the annoying fast heart rate). Various studies (source, source) have shown no clinical benefit to nebulizers over inhalers overall. But some individuals find that nebulizers work better for them, as @Ganymede did.
Because of the slower delivery, you also get better control of the side-effects. I generally take 1/3 of the dose once a day to keep my mucosal membranes in the respiratory system open. I also take another 1/3 before a workout.
My doctor suggested I take a nebulizer because my problem is that my membranes get swollen with allergies. When this happens, the inhaler isn't as effective in getting the medicine further down into the bronchial tubes or up into the sinuses; I can't breathe properly, so it is harder to get the medicine where it needs to go. Using a nebulizer allows for slower, more constant intake.