Asthma can suck it!

[zoom-zoom]

Miranda, I hope you feel better. Qvar has been a dream for me. I had EVERY negative side effect from Advair. Even relatively rare ones. Constant thrush and a crap immune system were the worst.

My understanding is that Qvar has very fine particles that reach further into the lungs. I think Advair mainly ended up on the back of my throat.

[angelaslc]

I have asthma - mostly exercise induced asthma. I use to get bronchitis about 6 times a year. They would put me on antibiotics and prednisone. Then my doctor told me I needed to take Advair. I still had to use Albuterol before exercise. I still caught several colds a year but I never bronchitis.

About 2 years ago I stopped taking Advair due to no insurance. I still had Albuterol and took it before exercise. 1 year ago I complained to my new doctor about the frequency of colds and she suggested taking 5,000 IU of vitamin D. I was already taking 2,000 IU but she suggest changing it to a liquid gel cap form and uping the dosage.

9 months later, I didn't catch any colds or any illness. However, my asthma was really bad. Even with Albuterol I had trouble exercising. All I could do was walk at slow pace on the treadmill.

In February, I read some books about vitamin C and detoxification – they all recommend powdered buffered vitamin C. I was currently taking 2,000 mg of my Mega C at the time and switched to 4,000 mg of buffered vitamin C. That week I noticed a hug improvement in my asthma. I did a little research and found that other people who have exercised induced asthma noticed huge improvements in their asthma when they used buffered C.

I now take two doses of buffered C each day. I just ran my first 5K – I’ve NEVER been able to do that and I have not used any Albuterol and do not plan to get on Advair or any other daily medication.

I believe that I’ve been able to control my asthma better than medication with good vitamins - but with much higher doses than the recommend amount. I have not gotten sick in the last year. I completed a specific detoxification program and I also have a really good diet: lots of veggies, fruit, nuts and salmon/cod – some brown rice and quinoa. I eat mostly organic and very little processed foods, dairy, soy or gluten.

At age 35 I am feel better than I have in my entire life. I’m looking forward to getting in the best shape of my life and being an athletic person for the 1st time in my life. I feel like I’ve wasted my young years all because I was vitamin deficient and ate a horrible diet. I hated exercise and never considered myself athletic.

We are all different but I believe most of the health problems people face can be fixed by a good diet, proper detoxification and good vitamins. I say good vitamins because most vitamins are a waste of money. I only buy my vitamins from companies who research and test for absorbency. If you’re taking vitamins and don’t feel a difference then you are probably wasting your money.

I am currently studying each vitamin and mineral and how a deficiency affects the body. I’m shocked that doctors are quick to write prescriptions without first addressing diet and vitamins.

[nscrbug]

angelaslc -

I'm glad you've found a natural way to resolve your asthma, but I am curious about something. With taking such a high dosage of Vit. C every day, do you ever get the common side-effects of diarrhea and/or gas? I know in my experience, if I take more than 1,000 mg per day I'll be living in my bathroom.

[angelaslc]

Hello nscrbug,

The buffering minerals in Buffered Vitamin C is easier on the stomach than other vitamins Cs. However, individual bowel tolerance will vary. The first full dose should be taken right before breakfast – or on an empty stomach just before eating.

You have to find your bowel tolerance by performing a Vitamin C flush with buffered C.

Caution: Performing a vitamin c flush will cause diarrhea

1. Take your first dose: 1 tsp in 8 ounces of water.
2. Every 30-60 minutes take ½ tsp in 8 ounces of water.
3. Keep track of how many doses you take during the day.
4. Stop taking once you experience diarrhea.
5. Subtract the last dose - that’s what you should take each day in divided doses.

For example, if you took 1 tsp (4,000mg) the first hour and then took three ½ tsp doses (2,000mg x 3 = 6,000mg) over the next few of hours, then you should take a total of 2 tsp each day in divided doses (4,000mg x 2= 8,000mg).

If the first dose gives you diarrhea, wait a day then try a ½ dose and then a ½ dose every hour. You can even sip on a glass and see how that works for you. If that’s too much, try a ¼ dose.

The first time I took it, just the one dose gave me diarreha.

Most full doses of Buffered Vitamin C are usually 4,000-5,000 mg. Thomas Levy MD, author of: Vitamin C Infectious Diseases and Toxins: Curing the Incurable (2002); suggests taking 6,000-12,000mg each day of buffered vitamin C in divided doses. Some people have a lower bowel tolerance and may need to work up to that amount.

Emotional stress or physical stresses on the body such as ingestion of heavy metals, cigarette smoking, immune impairment, extreme temperatures, and chronic use of certain medications such as aspirin also signal the need for increased intake of vitamin C.

Humans and primates are the only animals that do not make their own vitamin C. When animals are under stress – some animals make 100,000mg of vitamin C when stressed.
If you perform a flush when you feel a cold coming on you can actually flush the cold and not get sick. It’s worked for everyone I know. You can’t OD on vitamin C because your body only takes what it needs and it’s water soluble. Dr. Levy uses high doses of intravenous vitamin C to cure infectious diseases. Google: 60 minutes new Zealand swine flu to see a video about a guy in New Zealand who was dead (but on life support) from swine flu and miraculously recovered after he was given intravenous vitamin C.

So to sum it up:
-Use buffered vitamin C
-Figure out your tolerance with a flush (make sure it’s a day when you are home)
-If your tolerance is low, slowly work up to higher doses.
-When under stress, your body can tolerate more.

[wyld thang]

Hi! K, I know how this might sound, but...I've always had allergies and asthma, as a kid it was in reaction to hay(though I'd ride horses every chance I got! I didn't care), but it was kept in check pretty much as I played a wind instrument all through school(someone mentioned playing a french horn). WHen I quit and was less active being a new mom, as well as adding in new triggers of living next to a busy road and a house that used a gas furnace it got really bad, I was using an inhaler all day and on pills too. And now besides the allergy induced I got exercise induced too. I did get back into cycling, but was still huffin the inhaler. I HATE being dependent on drugs!!!

About ten years ago though we moved way out into the country, and the clean air really cut down the ongoing hazy feeling. I happened to pick up Dr Andrew Weil's book on asthma which goes into the mechanical angle of it--that we are very sedentary and dont' really BREATHE. I started doing his breathing exercises and got so I could stop an attack by using his technique(basically very similar to playing a wind instrument)--at this point I was down to using an inhaler pre-exercise, no pills. I also learned about HIIT and lactic threshhold heart rate training. I used this with walking, later running.

I learned how much to push--which means work up there near the LTHR, which is HARD, and that pushing really made me breathe deep and open up. No more asthma, I dont' even have an inhaler anymore, and haven't used one in 5 years now. With the asthma I was sick a lot with respitory stuff(including pneumonia) a lot as well, and I haven't been sick, with anything, for 5-6 years.

The HIIT I do about twice a month, HARD, as in I wring myself out COMPLETELY, by sprinting inclines on the treadmill. I did have a chance to test this whole thing since I had a crash last summer busting my tailbone and couldn't put out an effort much above recovery. The exercise asthma did return, nothing I needed an inhaler for tho--just did Weil's breathing techniques. But it wasn't long to get rid of it as I healed and could crank out more effort.

I know this probably sounds like no way, but I've described this to a trainer(mx, and who has used this technique to fix his asthma himself)) and a doc(who is an cycling athlete herself), and they say it's right on. The tricky part is getting a feel for how far to push and when to back off. You do have to work within the wheeze because you're working on the mechanical function, ie you can't use drugs to chemically open airways, but force them to relax and open mechanically by big gobs of pressurized air, and mental relaxing(not letting the anxiety of not breathing take over)--however... disclaimer caveat n all that. I did do this at home on the treadmill so if I needed help it was there(but I never did).

I hope this helps someone! I can't believe the difference, and the freedom from drugs really makes me happy.

PS, back when I was cycling I didn't know about HIIT, LTHR etc, and was probably working at about 80% VO2max, or 90% LTHR. That was not enough to affect the asthma for me. I got results at 85%+ VO2max, 95%+ LTHR.

PPS< good posture and a strong core also really helps breathing too, so focus extra on that too