this post was submitted on 06 Mar 2025
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The idea of being completely cleaned out of mucus like that sounds wonderful, i haven't felt like i could breath perfectly since i was like, a teenager
I would be seriously tempted to try this stuff as someone who doesn't suffer from CF just to see what it would be like.
That being said, I'm sure the side effects for people who do not have an illness are probably pretty horrific. I have not done any research, but usually very powerful drugs have very powerful side effects, especially for people who won't see any substantial benefit for the drug.
The answer is: Nothing. It would literally do nothing for you.
The underlying issue of Cystic Fibrosis is that (depending on the mutation) too few or non-working ion channels are produced within the cells, which means that the body cannot regulate salt concentrations and due to that water concentrations in different mucuses in the body.
CF modulators like Trikafta fix these issues by making sure that working ion channels are produced in sufficient amounts. If your body already produces enough ion channels in sufficient amounts, using CF modulators does nothing but waste an incredible amount of money (~€350k per year).
On the flip side, the side effects are also not very strong at all, neither for healthy people nor for CF patients. In fact, the initial trials for Trikafta said that the placebo control group had more side effects than the people who got the medication.
I'm told my family medical history is pretty unpleasant, to the degree i have been apologized to for genetics being passed down; unfortunately getting any specifics beyond "diabetes and misc. heart issues", and some vague symptoms, is like pulling teeth. Some of the symptoms of CF are.... alarmingly familiar. Mainly thick mucus, frequent sinus infections, inflamed nose, difficulty breathing, etc
Edit: oh, and most of my extended family is dead. I've got less than 10 living biological relatives that im aware of
The strongest symptom of untreated CF is that the pancreas isn't able to produce pancreatic enzymes, thus the body can't digest fat or sugar. Untreated CF patients are usually really malnourished, small and really thin. Looks like anorexia even though the patients eat normal or large amounts of food.
So if you have a normal or above average BMI, you most likely don't have CF.
The reason why this is usually not listed as THE main symptom is that it's rather easily treatable with Kreon or similar medication.
Untreated CF patients die of malnutrition on average at age 4.
If you had life-long issues with malnutrition even though you eat enough, visit the closest CF ambulance near your place and do a sweat test. They are pretty simple and usually don't cost much (or anything at all), so there's no risk in doing one.
Out of an abundance of curiosity, I looked it up and apparently a single 100 milligram pill costs about $300.
I can also get generic mucinex at the Dollar Tree for $1.25, so if it doesn't clear me out 300 times better than an entire bottle of mucinex at the same time, I don't think it's gonna be worth it for me.
It targets a very specific genetic mutation, so it does nothing for people who don't have that mutation (including other people with CF).
Beyond the pricing issue you already found, unless you have specific genetic mutations that cause CF like the F508del mutation, these drugs won’t really do anything for you.