N-A-C and apo-Lactoferrin helping MAC and Bronchiectasis

Posted by eileent @eileent, Aug 18, 2019

I've been having great success with taking a couple of supplements for the last 7 months. I wonder if anyone else has tried these particular two supplements regularly over a number of months and found success in that. I have been taking the Apo-Lactoferrin bought through Life Extension once a day and the N-A-C 600mg Sustain by Jarrow for about 7 months now.
I keep getting better and better. My lungs seem stronger though I haven't had them tested and my heavy almost constant chronic cough that I had for a couple of years is pretty much gone. I have a brief few coughs right after extensive exercise that brings up and clears a bit of thick mucus most days that I exercise but it's only for a moment about 10 minutes after an hours worth of exercise. My pulmonary doc appt isn't till October, so I don't have any diagnostic proof without tests to see if I'm rid of the heavy concentration of MAC and Aspergillus that I was diagnosed with after a Bronchcospy in January.
I have not yet taken any antibiotics or medicine for treating the MAC as I wanted to see what I could do on my own. I also use some light saline nasal spray in the mornings. I could be just lucky, but it seems those supplements are doing what some research said they might do and are helping break up the biofilms of the mycobacteria and helping my immune system keep them at bay (or maybe even rid me of them!).
I also take Jarrow Curcumin once a day for good measure to help prevent any possible inflammation for the last 4 months and have been taking 500mg of D3 sublingually but I've taken the D3 for a couple of years, so I think it's been the N-A-C and the app-lactoferrin that's working for me!
Anyone else tried N-A-C in a consistent dosing over a number of months? I think the long-term consistent dosing with the N-A-C supplement is important not just to get at and break up the hard to reach MAC that hides in its biofilms, but to prevent any new NTM from getting a deep hold in the lungs. Again, I don't know whether it's the N-A-C alone or with apo-lactoferrin, there's just much more research on N-A-C since it's been used for other useful things in medicine, like preventing liver toxicity.
Here's an initial study on it from last April in relation to lowering problems with bronchiectasis: https://respiratory-research.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12931-019-1042-x.
Here's another research paper on N-A-C and it's effects on breaking up resistant bacterial biofilms: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=N-acetylcysteine+as+powerful+molecule+to+destroy+bacterial+biofilms.+A+systematic+review

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the MAC & Bronchiectasis Support Group.

@totty

Thank you. We are learning so much from this new exchange and quite appreciative.

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Both NAC and hypertonic saline (3% & above) will help thin the mucus and get it moving so coughing is more effective. People with bronchiectasis produce a more "sticky" mucus so it is important to loosen the bond with lung tissue so it will move.
Here is just one scientific paper on the topic: https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/51/5/1702652
This was a hard read for me, but the takeaway I got was hypertonic saline thins the mucus, and the effect continues for several hours after its use.
Sue

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eileent @eileent Hello, are you still taking NAC and Apolactoferrin? Has MAC gone? What light saline nasal spray do you use? Thank you.

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Thank you for referring me to the article portions of which were a struggle but the overall conclusion of the study convincing. We are certainly benefiting from these exchanges. Hopefully someday we can help others as we are being helped.

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Has anyone else gotten mouth sores from taking NAC?
I’ve tried three different brands over the years, and they all give me sores in my mouth.
I’ve tried taking only half and quarter doses too.

I can nebulize with glutathione just fine, so it’s the NAC and not the conversion to glutathione I guess.

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I’ve been taking NAC daily or every other day since 10/2020 & no mouth sores for me.

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Any updates on this? My father has been diagnosed with NTM and has been losing weight since last year October. Doctors won't do antibiotic therapy because of his low BMI and age. We are desperate for alternative treatment.

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@slakhani

Any updates on this? My father has been diagnosed with NTM and has been losing weight since last year October. Doctors won't do antibiotic therapy because of his low BMI and age. We are desperate for alternative treatment.

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How low is his BMI?

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@cate123456

Has anyone else gotten mouth sores from taking NAC?
I’ve tried three different brands over the years, and they all give me sores in my mouth.
I’ve tried taking only half and quarter doses too.

I can nebulize with glutathione just fine, so it’s the NAC and not the conversion to glutathione I guess.

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Or could it be the fillers in the NAC capsule or tablet?

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I've heard that opening up the NAC capsule and mixing it into some water will help. I haven't tried it yet. I didn't get mouth sores from taking NAC, but it burned my esophagus if I took it before eating so I stopped. I've read that it has to be taken on an empty stomach to be effective.

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