I have been researching a lot about natural supplements. I am no longer willing to do only as my doctor prescribes (although I will always continue to do all that he prescribes). There are so many other options outside of the medical world and as I feel more and more desperate to be as healthy as possible for my daughter I am now delving into the natural side of treating CF.
Part of me wants to start all the supplements I have been researching right away and see how it improves my health. The problem is I am the daughter of a scientist and so for me, this just isn't possible. I want to make sure each supplement works for me and that I can feel the difference. I don't want to waste time and money on things that don't work for my body.
I started juicing in April and after deciding I felt a positive difference, I enjoyed the taste, and genuinely liked juicing so I decided I continue to juice.
In June I started L-Glutathione and noticed a HUGE difference and loved the change. I decided it was absolutely worth my time and the cost. The first night of using it my mucus was so thin I actually woke up gurgling. This was such a dramatic difference that I instantly wished that I had done L-Glut since my diagnosis. But then, something not so miraculous happened. I started to feel tight. It was subtle at first, but over the next few days I felt much more tight to the point that I became hard to breath let alone move mucus at all. The only change I had made was L-Glut (which is why I didn't start everything new at once) so I immediately stopped it. I felt some relief within a day or two. In order to be a good scientist I want to try L-Glut again and see if it was a fluke (something in the air that made me tight like an allergen) or if it really was the cause of my extreme tightness. Honestly, I have been a little nervous to try again.
In July I started Fizzy NAC for the second time in my life. I felt like I had positive results two years ago when I was using it, but stopped when I got pregnant with K. I am not as impressed with it this time around. I don't seem to feel a huge difference, but my health has been a little rocky since I got the flu last winter and so maybe it is just harder to tell the difference it is making. I am still using it, but have not decided if I am going to buy another shipment.
In late June I started Liposomal Vitamin C. Again, I am not 100% convinced it does much. I haven't noticed the difference that a lot of my CF friends have noticed. I wonder if I was getting enough Vit C through my diet so I didn't really see a difference. Again, I am not sure if I will be buying more when my bottle runs out.
I have heard of a few people getting tight on GSH, so it might not just be you. If you wanted you might try half the dose and see if that does it - maybe your body needs to get used to it? IF that was something you found beneficial, anyway. ;) I am the same when it comes to supplements. I have been trying new supplements since I was a kid, because my mom comes from a strong background of alternative healthcare, but as a teen and adult I sort of decided that I just can't take EVERYTHING out there. It is exhausting and expensive, and there has to be a balance between finding new things to help my health and living my life, you know? So now, I stick to the ones that help and ditch the ones that don't. I haven't tried lip C yet, but fizzy nac did nothing for me. I'm kind of the same way iwth meds prescribed by my doctor, though - I actually demanded to be taken off of azithromycin when YEARS of being on it had not improved a single symptom or clinical marker, and I was getting massive yeast infections constantly from it. ;)
ReplyDeleteAlso, I tried to leave a comment on your allergy post but I am not smart enough to figure out this dumb new comment form and keep clicking "sign out" instead of "publish" and thereby losing my comments. So, I hope that you were able to get some allergy answers! That is a brilliant idea - I've never thought of actually testing stuff when not accessed. I have always had major allergy problems too (I am literally even allergic to needles, which I have been told over and over is impossible, but whatever!) but nobody has ever really taken me seriously! I know it sounds crazy, but my allergy problems are actually a little milder with a chest port than an arm PICC. I thought it would be worse on the sensitive skin of my chest, but it's actually a little bit better for some reason I don't understand. My PICC arms used to look like yours, but my chest after my port is red and rashy and I usually have a few blisters, but nowhere near as bad as when I had a PICC. Not that I'm saying that's the answer for you, but it might be worth sticking a few adhesives to your chest to see if you react differently?