Anti mucous diet

[flowerseverywhere]

So anyone have any suggestions or follow this?
story begins when I had a series of respiratory infections. Antibiotics prescribed. Never quite went away, so started myself on vit c which seems to help prevent problems. In the meantime, my blood pressure went up, maybe from the antihistamine. Bp med given. Then md gave me Prilosec for nighttime coughing thinking it was herd. Last visit they were talking about steroid inhalers and singulair.

So now, totally fed up with the pill pushing mentality I have been researching how to manage my mucous symptoms as naturally as possible, which started all of this. Call me a slow study, but I have seen MD's little in my life so it quickly spiraled to being prescribed a bunch of meds.

I didn't want to hijack the firman threads going on but I am guessing avoiding gluten, dairy, sugar etc is going to be my best bet

[danna]

flowerseverywhere.....a many years back my DH had a lot of these issues along with runny nose and watery red eyes.
We kept being told he should take allergy meds but when tested his allergies were not as bad as his symptoms.
I researched and he went on a very loose diet for anti yeast or sometimes called leaky gut........which not many doctors really seem to not believe in. (he found the actual diet too restrictive but did a lot of it.) The idea is that your body is making too much of this yeast because of anitbiotics and health issues, this causes you
to crave food that actually feed the yeast. e.g. sugar/carbs/and more yeast foods............
Our doctors point was if it helped and there was nothing about it that would hurt go for it. He got a lot of relieve from this.
My understanding is that it is the same yeast that causes women's infection problems but is in the whole body especially digestive.
Worth looking into.

[JaneV2.0]

You want to bolster your immune system by building up your gut biome. Antibiotics wipe out a lot of the bacteria that populate it, (and many think grains are counterproductive), so it may take time.

Yeah, I bowed out of the Fuhrman love fest.

[Miss Cellane]

I'm a little confused. Why were you on the antihistamine? Were they prescribed for the respiratory infection and you were told to continue taking them? Or were you on them before?

Any rate, sounds as if the doctors are pushing a huge number of pills on you, so I don't blame you for wanting to get off that particular merry-go-round.

First thing is to drink lots of water, to keep the mucus thin, so that it can drain and not stop up your sinuses.

Second is to determine if you are allergic to things in your environment. You can get the allergy tests, or try small elimination tests at home for some things. Dust mites seem to be a fairly common allergy, so creating as dust-mite-free a zone in your bedroom as possible could help.

Third, try eliminating one food at a time from your diet. Dairy is the usual culprit in creating mucus.

Fourth, I think Jane's right--your immune system has taken a beating with the serial bouts of infections. Do everything you can to boost your immune system in general--enough sleep, a healthy diet, as little stress as possible, etc.

[Rosemary]

GERD can indeed cause respiratory infections and night-time coughing, but meds like Prilosec don't stop GERD, they just reduce acid production in the stomach. So if this was causing your infections, it would make sense that the med didn't resolve it.

In my opinion, this is the best book on healing GERD:
The Acid Reflux Solution: A Cookbook and Lifestyle Guide for Healing Heartburn Naturally, by Jorge E. Rodriguez
Look for it at your library. He offers 10 basic and simple lifestyle steps that anyone should be able to follow.

For reducing mucus, I would try the following based on my experiences with diet, allergies, and GERD:
- eliminate gluten, sugar, and dairy. If you're really energetic, try a full allergy elimination diet.
- eat smaller meals. Drink minimal water with meals. In-between meals when your stomach is empty, drink most of your water.
- no carbonated or acidic beverages (this mostly limits beverages to water and herbal teas)
- finish dinner a minimum of 3 hours before bed and don't drink large amounts of water after dinner, so your stomach is completely empty at bedtime.
- observe how foods make you feel; for instance, foods that give a feeling of stomach bloat can cause reflux, as the gas in your stomach can push on the valve to the esophagus. Digestive enzymes or Beano might help with these foods. Certain foods are known to relax the same valve, another means of causing reflux (peppermint, chocolate, tomato). Some foods might be ok in small quantities but not in large quantities (for instance, I can eat a few cherry tomatoes on my salad, but cannot eat anything with a lot of tomato sauce).

[onlinemoniker]

nutritionfacts.org Please look at it. Dr. Gerger reads every issue of every English-language nutritional journal every year so you...don't have to. All 3-5 minute videos on nutrition and health. The results are PROFOUND. Just watch 2-3 videos and you'll be hooked!

[rodeosweetheart]

Flowers, I read your post as "anti-mollusc diet"
I think I have been online too long today

[flowerseverywhere]

Rodeo, how funny
miss Cellane, the antihistamine was one of the first things they tried with me. It seems to help. I also did the anti dust mite bed covers, eliminating as much dust ( DH dusts and vacuums) and we have no pets. I saw the allergist but he said no allergies but wanted to give me sprays, inhalers etc but no definite diagnosis.

thank you all for your suggestions. It seems like eating smaller meals, more fruits and vegetables and drinking lots of water can only be good.

Online moniker, very interesting site. Again, lots of natural food. The same advice is given over and over to be the healthiest you can be.

i am going to do a few of the obvious things. Like first eliminate gluten. It seems to bother so many people so that is what I plan to start with. I read the book wheat belly and it makes sense. Wheat is one thing I ate a lot of. I also am eating little dairy, just some non fat yogurt. But I never ate a lot of cheese or milk anyway. I am trying to eat everything as close to its natural state as possible. After a few days I already feel better and have way less congestion.

[oldhat]

Thanks for those pointers, Rosemary. I've been having increasing trouble with GERD over the past couple of years. I wasn't sure what the problem was for a while--I thought my chronic throat-clearing and coughing might be a sinus infection--but when I described my symptoms to my doc she diagnosed it almost before the words were out of my mouth. Avoiding certain foods and making sure to go to bed on an empty stomach have really helped, but I'll definitely check out that book.