15 replies to this topic

[iamtheastronaut]

I've had chronic asthma for basically my whole life. (started when I was around 4, now I'm 23)

I have asthma attacks a few times per week, some less than others, but what triggers it mainly is allergies and colds.
This led me to research all about the immune system, and I'm still doing so.
I have recently changed up my diet, TRYING to stay away from GMO foods & foods with preservatives (sulfites interact with my asthma).
What I learned is that since asthma is mainly an inflammatory disease and can occur at any given time, & It's best (for me) to take an anti-inflammatory (I use cannabis) on a daily basis to help the immune system (or w.e.) to fight off what ever makes my throat and lungs flare up. (since I don't know the exact cause, it's nearly impossible to avoid, so it's best to take precautionary measures)

The cannabis helps, as it trains me to take longer deeper breathes, almost like meditation... but the negative side effects that come with that (mind fog, forgetfulness, lack of physical motivation) are a little much sometimes.

The only thing the doctors can give me is an inhaler, but I would like to stop my asthma before it gets to the point of me not being able to breathe, then taking my inhaler as a life saver. I go through an inhaler every 3-4 months. (NOT GOOD!!)

Recently I've been using Cordyceps, Ashwagandha, and a Daily MultiVitamin from VitaminShoppe, on top of daily Cannabis use (medicinal). .25-1.5 G/per day.
I notice the positive benefits from Cordyceps immediately, but I feel the Ashwagandha is 50/50 (sometimes it gives me energy to lift myself up, sometimes it makes me lethargic)
I have taken Reishi Mushrooms too, which have helped tremendously, but I cannot afford to continue taking them at this time unfortunately. (I'm poor as fuck)

Idealistically I would like to take all of them together again (Cordyceps, Reishi, Ashwagandha, Multi Vitamin)

I workout daily and am very active, but I sometimes get depression due to me having a Chronic Debilitating Disease..


What I want to know is, what (if any) supplements, other herbs, diet, lifestyle, etc can help with my asthma?

Edited by iamtheastronaut, 08 July 2013 - 08:08 PM.

[niner]

It sounds like you are not getting proper medical care. If all you have is a "rescue inhaler", ie a beta adrenergic agonist like albuterol, then that's not adequate. Asthma is an inflammatory condition, and should be treated with an inhaled corticosteroid. You need to see an allergist, and get a skin test for common allergens. Then you should get immunotherapy, commonly known as "allergy shots". This will knock down your response to the allergens that you are sensitive to. Some common allergens, like dust mites, can be avoided pretty easily if you know what to do. All this assumes that 1) you aren't already doing this stuff, and 2) that you have health insurance.

The other thing you can do, whether you have health insurance or not, is C60-olive oil. I've seen some amazing results with this in inflammatory conditions, particularly asthma, as it also has an anti-allergy effect, so it will help on two fronts. If you do happen to have an attack while using c60, it also helps in hypoxic conditions, so it's kind of a win-win-win. It's pretty cheap, too. Order a small bottle from carbon60oliveoil.com or c60antiaging.com, and take one ml a day.

[nameless]

Agree with Niner, see a good allergist or pulminologist.

I have asthma, and found most supplements don't really do a whole lot. Pycnogenol may help a small amount, but it's expensive and I'm not sure it does much more than a very weak antihistamine.

If you need your rescue inhaler a lot, then it's worth trying an inhaled corticosteroid. Alvesco probably is one of the safest (although it didn't work the greatest for me). Singular is another option and works differently (leukotriene inhibitor). If you want to try cheap and simple, just take a non-drowsy antihistamine daily (claritin), which you can get a jug full at Costco really cheaply.

Allergy shots may help, although I just went through close to a year's worth of shots, and am finally out of the buildup phase and into maintenance, but can't say they have done a whole lot for me. Then again, I have tons of allergies, so they may work better for others. You sort of need health insurance for those, as getting shots weekly (or bi-weekly) tend to add up... even with copays it adds up.

Edited by nameless, 26 July 2013 - 03:55 AM.

[iamtheastronaut]

I've tried Claritin for about 4 years, it did nothing for my asthma, but helped with my allergies a little. Same thing with Singulair, I had it prescibed for me for 2 years, and it did absolutely nothing for asthma, as far as I could tell, considering I kept having attacks. I'm scheduling an appt to go se an Allergist within the next few weeks if I can get in, & see what's going on.

The C-60 Olive Oil sounds like a really good idea, I might pick some up soon. Thanks

[addx]

Try tianeptin (stablon/coaxil)

It is an SSRE antidepressant, the only one of its class (it's not an SSRI). It will work. It rapidly removes serotonin from blood stream disabling the asthma response, it should stop acute asthma within 5 minutes, it does not have the common SSRI sideeffects, there's no tapering, withdrawal, you can even take it on demand, it has a short half life of 2 hours only. It also fixes IBS in many accounts. Both are infact nervous system disorders and this makes an antidepressant is much more root to the cause than steriods and whatnot.

I think I remember a study confirming this because I noticed the effect on my asthma(I actually ran out to run in cold weather to confirm the effect, it was clear as day, no wheezing whatsoever). I think I remember 80% responders with robust immediate response immediately in children, no adverse effects.

Alas tianeptin is not available in the US.

Asthma would be off label use for now, it is mostly used as an AD for recovering alcoholics for some reason.

Toxicity is almost nonexistant, but some people seem to get a slight buzz or a high and these people tend to start trying to chase the high, so there's some abuse potential but I didn't feel it at all... Anyhow, there is a recorded case of a person taking 1700 pills in one day and survived and was tapered off in 3-4 days with no problems.

Edited by addx, 20 September 2013 - 03:22 PM.

[Sasha_]

other cheap and safe alternatives that work for me : Quercetin, forskolin, CBD (not so cheap that one).
Also you should try mixing Cordyceps with Reishi, its really great.
Haven't tried Boswellia, but I hear the stuff works as well.
My 2 cents.

EDIT: acupunctur does work a charm too, but in my experience mostly by reducing anxiety and eliminating the tensions in the body.

Edited by Sasha_, 20 September 2013 - 05:00 PM.

[rberezews]

I have a friend and a niece who have as asthma. The take vitamins c to avoid having colds or coughs, coz this triggers asthma attack. And they do exercise daily and eating the right/healthy food.

[CholinergiX]

Megadose iodine.

6.25mg daily or more. I gave iodine and magnesium to my friend a it helped A LOT

[rberezews]

Megadose iodine.

6.25mg daily or more. I gave iodine and magnesium to my friend a it helped A LOT

Is it the prescription of a doctor?

[czGLoRy]

good recommendations in this thread, i'd like to add pycnogenol has some great studies for treating asthma.

Stop eating wheat, also, inflammatory by nature.

[CholinergiX]

Megadose iodine.

6.25mg daily or more. I gave iodine and magnesium to my friend a it helped A LOT

Is it the prescription of a doctor?

No, I did lot of searching on the net.


Doctors used to prescribe it during World War, and it worked perfectly.

CAUTION, there is bromide in many asthma drugs, co it can actually worse the asthma over longterm, as it displace iodine from its receptors.

[rberezews]

Megadose iodine.

6.25mg daily or more. I gave iodine and magnesium to my friend a it helped A LOT

Is it the prescription of a doctor?

No, I did lot of searching on the net.


Doctors used to prescribe it during World War, and it worked perfectly.

CAUTION, there is bromide in many asthma drugs, co it can actually worse the asthma over longterm, as it displace iodine from its receptors.

ah ok, thanks for informing us here. My niece takes asmalin if she has a cough and plus nebulizing if it got worst.

[Darryl]

A lower animal-protein diet will reduce IGF-1 production, which is implicated in the airway remodelling of chronic asthma. Some Swedish doctors reported success with a whole-plant vegan diet here.

Inflammatory leukotriene D4 is implicated in this, boosting IGF-1 activity by causing bronchial smooth muscle cells release an IGF binding protein protease 1, 2. Omega-3 supplements (fish oil, flax, algal DHA) in the context of low omega-6 diet might help by competing with inflammatory leukotrienes production. Avoid high omega-6 vegetable oils (corn, peanut, safflower, soybean) and especially foods high in arachidonic acid (eggs, chicken, beef). The drugs montelukast (Singulair) and zafirlukast (Accolate) work more directly by just blocking leukotriene D4 binding.

Alternate day calorie restriction (which reduces IGF-1 activity) seems to help with asthma in this paper.

Dietary sodium reductions also seem helpful in this study and this one. High sodium may make the bronchioles more sensitive to bronchoconstrictors according to this review.

[kurdishfella]

Too little or too much of CRHR1 can cause asthma. 

[jroseland]

Hey iamtheastronaut, sorry to hear about your struggles with Asthma! As you probably know Asthma has everything to do with autoimmunity. There's an excellent book the demystifies autoimmunity, The Plant Paradox by Dr. Gundry - consider implementing the protocol in the book to assuage autimmunity; try to cut lectins from your diet.

[kurdishfella]

Water inhalation helps open the lungs (put nose near clean water and breath in). But PEA works too.

Edited by kurdishfella, 01 August 2021 - 02:53 PM.