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#1
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Safe Asthma Treatment
This is only sort of OT, since the reason I'm particularly excited about is
that we will ttc next spring... The past few weeks, I've been having a terrible time with my asthma. I'd gone from rarely needing a puff on a rescue inhaler to using it almost every day, sometimes twice a day, even though I was ALSO using Serevent and Flovent (which I didn't need before, either.) It was getting frustrating, because at least one of those was going to have to "go" during my pregnancy next year. Then, a couple days ago, I was getting my breakfast at work when I noticed my collection of supplement bottles on the counter. I'd not taken my supplements in *weeks*...funny, since a bit before I started having problems. So I took them. My supplements include: Magnesium (300 mg) a B50 complex with 400 mcg of Folate An extra 400 mg of Folate Vitamin E (400IU) [At home, at night, I take one prenatal vitamin (the recommended "dosage" of the prenate is 2 per day) and I also often do vitamin C (EmergenC packets). ] Within a few hours, my breathing was *normal*. About 12 hours later, it was starting to get flakey again. So I went out and got supplements for home, too... I took some more magnesium. Breathing better Next day, I forgot, but when my breathing started to get a little rough again, I took the magnesium. Was better within an hour. (I don't get "can't breathe" asthma attacks, I get, "feel like I'm breathing liquid and working at it" asthma attacks, so I can put up with a slower recovery rate.) So my planned regimine will be: Morning: 300 mg Magnesium 100 IU vitamin E (if I'm going to take things at multiple times per day, I want them lower potency) B-50 complex Folate Vitamin C After school Vitamin C or citrus fruit 200 or 300 mg magnesium 100 IU E Evening 200 to 300 mg magnesium B-complex or b-containing prenatal vitamin 500 mg Calcium I get a fair amount of calcium from food, and for me, with my clotting condition, I need to skew in favor of magnesium in general. If I can drop *all* of my inhalers except for occasional rescue use, I will be *very* happy! My normal mode is that asthma is only a problem for me when I'm otherwise sick or when I'm exercising in the cold. This "constant wheezy" was just exhausting! I don't mind doing the longer acting inhalers when I'm sick or a prophylactic puff on the rescue inhaler or a long-acting dilator before excercising, but I can't stand the idea of being on "three puffs, every 12 hours" for the rest of my life. It's bad enough being on Zyrtec and Singulair full time! At least those are pregnancy class B.... I was amazed at how radical a difference the magnesium made, and how quickly. I'm used to supplements having slow effects, but this was as fast as I expect a drug to take away pain! Jenrose |
#2
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Safe Asthma Treatment
Jen, you need to get back to your doctor and get your asthma properly
assessed and under control. Keep in mind the awful example of what happened to Circe - and yours sounds like it really isn't being properly managed. I am also an asthmatic, and I often need short courses of inhaled steroids after chest colds where an infection has set up some inflamation that is triggering attacks etc. Other than that, I almost never get asthma unless I'm exposed to something specific that I seem to be super allergic to like a poultry barn at a country fair (which I can usually avoid if I'm thinking). If you are getting asthma attacks and having to use a rescue puffer this often, you are treating symptoms and not the underlying cause and you need to attend to it, or you will end up in the ER or worse. Mary G. |
#3
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Safe Asthma Treatment
I can't imagine how vitamins help asthma.
-- Sue (mom to three girls) I'm Just a Raggedy Ann in a Barbie Doll World... Jenrose wrote in message s.com... This is only sort of OT, since the reason I'm particularly excited about is that we will ttc next spring... The past few weeks, I've been having a terrible time with my asthma. I'd gone from rarely needing a puff on a rescue inhaler to using it almost every day, sometimes twice a day, even though I was ALSO using Serevent and Flovent (which I didn't need before, either.) It was getting frustrating, because at least one of those was going to have to "go" during my pregnancy next year. Then, a couple days ago, I was getting my breakfast at work when I noticed my collection of supplement bottles on the counter. I'd not taken my supplements in *weeks*...funny, since a bit before I started having problems. So I took them. My supplements include: Magnesium (300 mg) a B50 complex with 400 mcg of Folate An extra 400 mg of Folate Vitamin E (400IU) [At home, at night, I take one prenatal vitamin (the recommended "dosage" of the prenate is 2 per day) and I also often do vitamin C (EmergenC packets). ] Within a few hours, my breathing was *normal*. About 12 hours later, it was starting to get flakey again. So I went out and got supplements for home, too... I took some more magnesium. Breathing better Next day, I forgot, but when my breathing started to get a little rough again, I took the magnesium. Was better within an hour. (I don't get "can't breathe" asthma attacks, I get, "feel like I'm breathing liquid and working at it" asthma attacks, so I can put up with a slower recovery rate.) So my planned regimine will be: Morning: 300 mg Magnesium 100 IU vitamin E (if I'm going to take things at multiple times per day, I want them lower potency) B-50 complex Folate Vitamin C After school Vitamin C or citrus fruit 200 or 300 mg magnesium 100 IU E Evening 200 to 300 mg magnesium B-complex or b-containing prenatal vitamin 500 mg Calcium I get a fair amount of calcium from food, and for me, with my clotting condition, I need to skew in favor of magnesium in general. If I can drop *all* of my inhalers except for occasional rescue use, I will be *very* happy! My normal mode is that asthma is only a problem for me when I'm otherwise sick or when I'm exercising in the cold. This "constant wheezy" was just exhausting! I don't mind doing the longer acting inhalers when I'm sick or a prophylactic puff on the rescue inhaler or a long-acting dilator before excercising, but I can't stand the idea of being on "three puffs, every 12 hours" for the rest of my life. It's bad enough being on Zyrtec and Singulair full time! At least those are pregnancy class B.... I was amazed at how radical a difference the magnesium made, and how quickly. I'm used to supplements having slow effects, but this was as fast as I expect a drug to take away pain! Jenrose |
#4
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Safe Asthma Treatment
Jenrose, Be aware that your current vitamin and mineral regimen may or can
be toxic or problematic for the baby or your pregnancy when you get pregnant. I recommend seeing a specialist about more effective and safer asthma management methods. There is no guarantee that your asthma will not get worse during pregnancy. Playing around with your vitamins and minerals can prove more harmful than helpful for both you and the baby. For example, there is a precaution that pregnant women should not take more than 350 mgs of magnesium a day unless your doctor approves it. For one thing, if you are not careful, the high dosage of magnesium can interfere with your iron absorption needed for a healthy pregnancy and birth. You should discuss your vitamin and mineral regimen with your doctor, since you will be TTC next Spring. Good luck. ---- EDD: 2/16/04 Baby girl Age 39 First baby "Jenrose" wrote in message s.com... This is only sort of OT, since the reason I'm particularly excited about is that we will ttc next spring... The past few weeks, I've been having a terrible time with my asthma. I'd gone from rarely needing a puff on a rescue inhaler to using it almost every day, sometimes twice a day, even though I was ALSO using Serevent and Flovent (which I didn't need before, either.) It was getting frustrating, because at least one of those was going to have to "go" during my pregnancy next year. Then, a couple days ago, I was getting my breakfast at work when I noticed my collection of supplement bottles on the counter. I'd not taken my supplements in *weeks*...funny, since a bit before I started having problems. So I took them. My supplements include: Magnesium (300 mg) a B50 complex with 400 mcg of Folate An extra 400 mg of Folate Vitamin E (400IU) [At home, at night, I take one prenatal vitamin (the recommended "dosage" of the prenate is 2 per day) and I also often do vitamin C (EmergenC packets). ] Within a few hours, my breathing was *normal*. About 12 hours later, it was starting to get flakey again. So I went out and got supplements for home, too... I took some more magnesium. Breathing better Next day, I forgot, but when my breathing started to get a little rough again, I took the magnesium. Was better within an hour. (I don't get "can't breathe" asthma attacks, I get, "feel like I'm breathing liquid and working at it" asthma attacks, so I can put up with a slower recovery rate.) So my planned regimine will be: Morning: 300 mg Magnesium 100 IU vitamin E (if I'm going to take things at multiple times per day, I want them lower potency) B-50 complex Folate Vitamin C After school Vitamin C or citrus fruit 200 or 300 mg magnesium 100 IU E Evening 200 to 300 mg magnesium B-complex or b-containing prenatal vitamin 500 mg Calcium I get a fair amount of calcium from food, and for me, with my clotting condition, I need to skew in favor of magnesium in general. If I can drop *all* of my inhalers except for occasional rescue use, I will be *very* happy! My normal mode is that asthma is only a problem for me when I'm otherwise sick or when I'm exercising in the cold. This "constant wheezy" was just exhausting! I don't mind doing the longer acting inhalers when I'm sick or a prophylactic puff on the rescue inhaler or a long-acting dilator before excercising, but I can't stand the idea of being on "three puffs, every 12 hours" for the rest of my life. It's bad enough being on Zyrtec and Singulair full time! At least those are pregnancy class B.... I was amazed at how radical a difference the magnesium made, and how quickly. I'm used to supplements having slow effects, but this was as fast as I expect a drug to take away pain! Jenrose |
#5
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Safe Asthma Treatment
"Mary Gordon" wrote in message om... Jen, you need to get back to your doctor and get your asthma properly assessed and under control. Keep in mind the awful example of what happened to Circe - and yours sounds like it really isn't being properly managed. I am also an asthmatic, and I often need short courses of inhaled steroids after chest colds where an infection has set up some inflamation that is triggering attacks etc. Other than that, I almost never get asthma unless I'm exposed to something specific that I seem to be super allergic to like a poultry barn at a country fair (which I can usually avoid if I'm thinking). If you are getting asthma attacks and having to use a rescue puffer this often, you are treating symptoms and not the underlying cause and you need to attend to it, or you will end up in the ER or worse. I was on the verge of making that appt. when I started taking magnesium again. Now, I'm not even having to do the steroids to be symptom free. So it is, now, well controlled. If I have symptoms, I do use meds. Carry them with me all the time. But I have never, once, had an asthma attack where I actually could not breathe. For me, a "bad attack" is where my lung capacity is about 70% of acceptable. Since I was able to oxygenate at 80%+ while having a pulmonary embolism where 3/4 of my lung capacity was non functional, 70% is merely annoying, not "scary". I take meds long before it gets "scary." Jenrose |
#6
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Safe Asthma Treatment
"Sue" wrote in message news:yZmCb.519524$Fm2.504525@attbi_s04... Jenrose, Be aware that your current vitamin and mineral regimen may or can be toxic or problematic for the baby or your pregnancy when you get pregnant. I recommend seeing a specialist about more effective and safer asthma management methods. There is no guarantee that your asthma will not get worse during pregnancy. Playing around with your vitamins and minerals can prove more harmful than helpful for both you and the baby. For example, there is a precaution that pregnant women should not take more than 350 mgs of magnesium a day unless your doctor approves it. For one thing, if you are not careful, the high dosage of magnesium can interfere with your iron absorption needed for a healthy pregnancy and birth. You should discuss your vitamin and mineral regimen with your doctor, since you will be TTC next Spring. I am not taking high doses--I am taking modest doses several times per day. And it was as effective if not moreso than most of the meds I've tried. Since most of the reading I've done of the research indicates that the majority of pregnant women get far too *little* magnesium, and because magnesium plays such an important role in blood clotting ( I have a clotting disorder), the risks are slight if any at the levels I'm talking about. As for iron absorbtion... I am not and have never been anemic. Also, there is significant research indicating that higher hemaglobin levels are associated with *more* pregnancy problems than low-normal/mildly anemic levels. As for the other vitamins--I am very careful about which vitamins I take and how much. I choose my prenatal vitamin based on ones that come in "multiple pills/capsules per recommended daily dose", to reduce my overall vitamin load on the things I do extra of. Also, most prenatals contain far too much vitamin A. I do pay attention to my total vitamin load from all sources, particularly the fat soluble vitamins. But I know that for me, with my various medical conditions, that the vitamins I take are far safe for me, and my future offspring, than the medications which would be prescribed. I have found very few doctors who have enough background in alternatives to "regular" treatment--my expertise in how nutrition, vitamins and herbs affect my conditions, as well as those alternative treatements safety in pregnancy tends to be much deeper than most of the doctors I've talked to. Their goal is to treat disease. My goal is to avoid needing treatment. I am not "playing around". But I am using my brain, my ability to read and research, my knowledge of my own body, and my experience to make decisions about my health care. My experience may be helpful to someone else-- certainly for someone with mild chronic asthma, seeing what a magnesium supplement can do is a relatively safe, non-toxic approach. I did not use the medicine "instead of" treatment--I was within an hour or so of taking another dose of my meds when I did the supplementation, and then discovered that I didn't need them. It was so dramatic, and so immediate, that I decided to continue the experiement. A few days later, I did need a puff on the rescue inhaler--and decided to break my dose down to more times per day, less per dose of the mag. One evening it wasn't quite enough, so I did my meds. Haven't needed them since, but I still have them and will use them if I need them. Is this conventional medical practice? NO. I'm not a doctor. But I'm also not willing to put a one-size-fits-all therapy on my body if I can find something that works very well for me. If I can reduce my dependance on medications significantly and safely, that can only be better for me and my baby. Getting 600-800 mg of magnesium per day is in no way going to be more toxic for me than inhaling corticosteroids and bronchodilators twice a day, every day. Particularly not if I am also attending to my other nutritional needs and getting sufficient of the other minerals in the magnesium/calcium chain. They give 4 *grams* of mag sulfate in 15 minutes for preeclampsia. Since I am technically at increased risk for both high blood pressure and preeclampsia (factor V, sleep apnea and asthma), increasing my magnesium level is just plain logical. I would prefer, above all else, to avoid needing that 4 g of Mag monster done through an IV... Jenrose |
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