What are you doing for your immune system?
Posted , 11 users are following.
I was wondering if y'all are doing something special for your immune system, to give it more support, boost, ...???
Like foods, supplements, essential oils?
I think I need to take Vit C, but I'm not sure what brand to trust. I can't do the ones you can taste, the sweetner or maybe it's naturally sweet, but it messes with my reactive hypoglycemic tendancies. Any suggestions? I generally can't stand taking supplements, but now with PMR, I manage to take my Calcuim 1200 and Vit D3 5000 (now 2000).
Ha, but now that I can't taste... maybe it's not big deal... ;>)
2 likes, 23 replies
MrsO-UK_Surrey LayneTX
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tina-uk_cwall LayneTX
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gillian_25383 LayneTX
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LayneTX gillian_25383
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I do have a red wrist band with my info on it that I used to wear when I used to run and taped a message on it about being on Pred.
Yes, I'm avoiding people when I can. I haven't had a cold in years (knock on wood).
If I feel a bit down I'll use essential oil called Thieves (YL).
Oregonjohn-UK LayneTX
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faye______00403 LayneTX
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calcium with vita D. Calcium can do some ugly things to you.
Ask your doc how much you should be taking. If anyone is
interested in the plant based I got it on Amazon, it's a little
pricey but feel it's worth it. I also haven't had a cold in years.
I think most of it has to do that since I'm no longer working I"m
not out in the general public much.
ladyofharley LayneTX
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I was recommended it by my pilates instructor who has fibromyalgia as it works on pressure points all my pain goes after a session and I sleep well. It doesn't work for everyone but I love it. I am down to 5mg pred and have had PMR since feb 2014.
Susanne_M_UK LayneTX
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And I try to stay clear of people with colds and other infections.
I'm vegetarian and generally eat a healthy diet with lots of fruit and veg.
margaret22251 LayneTX
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Just been tested again for my Vits and the doctor said alls good, But carry on with them, 1200 Vit C 400 Vit D the recommended dose.
Also the Manuka honey and lemon.
Oregonjohn-UK LayneTX
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EileenH LayneTX
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If you are eating a good diet with plenty of brightly coloured vegetables and fruit (in that order) then you will get enough vit C without taking supplements. Additional vit c will just be excreted in your urine as it is water soluble - so you do need some every day but the natural form of any vitamin is better for you than artificial versions.
LayneTX EileenH
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I can't eat much fruit, I get hypoglycemic reaction and can't function too well, I'm now adding Parsley thanks to lady here advice. Love bell peppers high Vit C, but some question them as night shades to avoid for inflammation???
i just found out about a food sensitivity test called LEAP. Might ask doctos for that. Do you know anything about that?
I fear Vit C supplements because I have reacted to them, perhaps they has sugars or even fake sugars cause issue.
I had very odd response lately with my now dry mouth no taste symptom (read Pred can cause, out of 146,000 people on Pred 600 lost taste), but I was able to eat fruit for a few days without affect! But yesterday it about knocked me out. Bummer.
EileenH LayneTX
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The dry mouth could be part of the autoimmune problem, some people develop Sjogren's syndrome or something similar. Speak to your dentist about the dry mouth - it doesn't do your teeth any good at all!
tina-uk_cwall EileenH
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i still haven't grasped our condition yet. I know that PMR is the name given to the pain etc that is a result of the inflamation caused by our auto immune condition, but what is our auto immune condition called then?! Regards, tina
EileenH tina-uk_cwall
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In autoimmune disease for some reason the immune system gets onto the wrong tracks and is unable to recognise your body as "self" - no-one knows why or how - but the result is that the white blood cells that normally attack foreign invaders such as viruses and bacteria start to attack the body's own structure. It may be muscle cells or nerve cells or joint linings - which it is depends on the illness you are said to have. The names of most of these autoimune disorders are more directed at covering the signs or symptoms and some are named after the doctor who first recognised a set of symptoms as being a disease.
I think of autoimmune disease as a long shelf with a whole range of signs and symptoms - and an assortment of them are handed out to the patient. Which disease they are then said to have is related to the picture created by the symptoms - because as yet they haven't identified any diagnostic things other than those symptoms.That's why they are difficult to diagnose and even more difficult to treat - you have to know the mechanism to develop treatments.
Many of them burn out in time and go into remission - but can flare up again at any time if you are unlucky. if you have to have an autoimmune disorder PMR and even GCA are not bad ones to have - they can be managed much better than many of the others even if pred isn't a Smartie! There are far worse drugs. PMR, in particular, doesn't kill and is very likely to go into remission on its own although it may take several years.
So in some ways you can say it isn't that our immune systems aren't working well - but that it is working far too well but not doing the job it is meant to but being a vandal. I wouldn't bother with the vit C - if you are eating a good diet with lots of rainbow colour veggies and a bit of fruit you'll be fine. Did you know that potatoes are the traditional best source of vit C in the UK? And that they often provide more vit C than that kiwi you fetched from the fruit counter?
gillian_25383 tina-uk_cwall
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tina-uk_cwall EileenH
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thanks for the advisor vit c, but I will still take my vit d and magnesium. Regards, tina
EileenH tina-uk_cwall
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There are some things where you are on pred for life - with little chance of being able to stop it. Hence my scepticism about "taking pred for more than a couple of years will be far too dangerous"...
And yes - you need the vit D and magnesium - and calcium too.
tina-uk_cwall EileenH
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thanks, tina
EileenH tina-uk_cwall
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Any idea what she is under the cardio for? I have atrial fibrillation - almost certainly due to the autoimmune part of PMR. I suspect my cardiologist would have a fit if anyone suggested no pred...
tina-uk_cwall EileenH
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faye______00403 EileenH
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calcium.....pred leaches calcium out of your bones and if you
are on HTCZ (a water pill) that washes the calcium away
the body only takes the calcium it needs and the rest stays
in your body in sometimes bad places.....kidneys, heart etc.
So really iimportant to ask doc hoe much calcium to take.
I take a plant based calcium and hopefully avoiding
some of the issues with too much calcium.
I also thought that PMR caused the body to stop making
cortisol and the idea was to get the adrenals working and
making cortisol again....
EileenH faye______00403
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PMR in itself doesn't affect the adrenals at all as far as it is known. There are some experts who have suspected that poor adrenal function is what CAUSES the PMR (exactly the opposite) but there is no real evidence of that either - it has been looked for.
What happens is that when there is enough artificial corticosteroid present in the body then the adrenal glands no longer produce cortisol - not a direct effect on the adrenals themselves but a suppression of the hormones that switch the production on and off - something called the HPA axis (hypothalamus, pituitary, adrenal axis). It is a bit like your central heating boiler - as long as the room is warm enough the thermostat tells the boiler that there is no need for any more heat to be produced. In the body this happens when more than about 8mg of daily pred is being taken. The more above this level you are taking the more likely it is you will suffer side effects - the side effects of pred are due to the excess pred present in the body.
Pred is excreted from the body quite quickly but the antiinflammatory effect remains for 12-36 hours. Once the body is pretty much clear of pred the side effects are less - and that is part of the reason for being told to take your pred in a single dose early in the morning. In some illnesses it is possible to take the pred dose as a double dose on every second day - which leaves long periods when the body has no pred present and reduces the side effects. However it isn't thought to work well in PMR and GCA.