1. < MAC & Bronchiectasis

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.

eileent | @eileent | May 9, 2021
In reply to @poodledoc "Hello @eileent , I found the NAC 600 you refer to, it is called NAC Sustain,..." + (show)
@poodledoc

Hello @eileent , I found the NAC 600 you refer to, it is called NAC Sustain, but Amazon has stopped carrying it for some reason? Just wondering if there was an issue with it.

Jump to this post

Hi, Thanks for letting me know. I had purchase a few bottles ahead, so I didn't notice it wasn't available. It is not on Jarrow's website either, so I've written them to find out what's happening with it. It could be that they're reformulating it somehow. I'll post what I learn.

REPLY
fdixon63 | @fdixon63 | May 10, 2021
In reply to @trixie1313 "@eileent I just saw your 2019 post. Have to tell you, I had started NAC after..." + (show)
@trixie1313

@eileent
I just saw your 2019 post. Have to tell you, I had started NAC after seeing an article by mercola.com (Dr. Mercola). Three years ago I was hospitalized with bronchiectasis with atelectasis and looked like a fish out of water as I could barerly get air in. I'm also a cancer patient and have 6-month PET scans. On several scans there were nodes in my lung and doctors were concerned about metastases to lungs. Well, I started the NAC inbetween PET scans and my miracle came when those nodes almost completely went away! I kept telling the oncologist that I felt the nodes were due to bronchiectas and more atelectasis after having the flu quite bad last March (which I believe was Covid as my lungs went downhill fast). I not only can get whole breaths of air now .... I have not even had to use my nebulizer treatments or The Vest lung machine thumper since last November. I'm sticking with my NAC supplements, but will look into the Jarrow time-release one.

Jump to this post

Wonderful outcome. How much NAC do you take? Do you ever change the dosage? I've taken NAC for a year and a half and truly believe it helps. Recent CT and PFT shows I'm a bit worse. I nab twice a day with 7%. Look forward to your response.

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1 reply
eileent | @eileent | May 10, 2021
In reply to @poodledoc "Hello @eileent , I found the NAC 600 you refer to, it is called NAC Sustain,..." + (show)
@poodledoc

Hello @eileent , I found the NAC 600 you refer to, it is called NAC Sustain, but Amazon has stopped carrying it for some reason? Just wondering if there was an issue with it.

Jump to this post

The FDA has reclassified it as a drug, maybe because of its success in some studies in helping the lungs of people with Covid. PUreformulas.com and Thorne still have some of their brands but otherwise check the shelves in stores. It works so well it'll soon it is now unavailable as a supplement!

REPLY
1 reply
eileent | @eileent | May 10, 2021
In reply to @trixie1313 "@eileent I just saw your 2019 post. Have to tell you, I had started NAC after..." + (show)
@trixie1313

@eileent
I just saw your 2019 post. Have to tell you, I had started NAC after seeing an article by mercola.com (Dr. Mercola). Three years ago I was hospitalized with bronchiectasis with atelectasis and looked like a fish out of water as I could barerly get air in. I'm also a cancer patient and have 6-month PET scans. On several scans there were nodes in my lung and doctors were concerned about metastases to lungs. Well, I started the NAC inbetween PET scans and my miracle came when those nodes almost completely went away! I kept telling the oncologist that I felt the nodes were due to bronchiectas and more atelectasis after having the flu quite bad last March (which I believe was Covid as my lungs went downhill fast). I not only can get whole breaths of air now .... I have not even had to use my nebulizer treatments or The Vest lung machine thumper since last November. I'm sticking with my NAC supplements, but will look into the Jarrow time-release one.

Jump to this post

The FDA has reclassified it as a drug, maybe because of its success in some studies in helping the lungs of people with Covid. It is now Pureformulas.com and Thorne still have some of their brands but otherwise check the shelves in stores. It works so well it is now unavailable as a supplement!

REPLY
1 reply
poodledoc | @poodledoc | May 11, 2021
In reply to @eileent "The FDA has reclassified it as a drug, maybe because of its success in some studies..." + (show)
@eileent

The FDA has reclassified it as a drug, maybe because of its success in some studies in helping the lungs of people with Covid. PUreformulas.com and Thorne still have some of their brands but otherwise check the shelves in stores. It works so well it'll soon it is now unavailable as a supplement!

Jump to this post

@eileent Thanks for the info. I just ordered some 900 mg NAC from pureformulas

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trixie1313 | @trixie1313 | May 11, 2021
In reply to @fdixon63 "Wonderful outcome. How much NAC do you take? Do you ever change the dosage? I've taken..." + (show)
@fdixon63

Wonderful outcome. How much NAC do you take? Do you ever change the dosage? I've taken NAC for a year and a half and truly believe it helps. Recent CT and PFT shows I'm a bit worse. I nab twice a day with 7%. Look forward to your response.

Jump to this post

@fdixon63 i take 600 mg twice daily by Nutricology. I read reviews of some other manufacturers who stated there was a taste or smell people could perceive and as i have a keen sense of taste and smell. I went with this brand.

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1 reply
trixie1313 | @trixie1313 | May 11, 2021

@eileent i get NAC by Nutricology through vitacost.

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Mentor
Sue, Volunteer Mentor | @sueinmn | May 11, 2021
In reply to @eileent "The FDA has reclassified it as a drug, maybe because of its success in some studies..." + (show)
@eileent

The FDA has reclassified it as a drug, maybe because of its success in some studies in helping the lungs of people with Covid. It is now Pureformulas.com and Thorne still have some of their brands but otherwise check the shelves in stores. It works so well it is now unavailable as a supplement!

Jump to this post

Actually, it was originally classified as a drug. Periodically FAD goes through the lists of (unregulated) substitutes to see if they are properly classified. In high doses, NAC is used as a liver detoxifier and has significant side effects. In low doses, as used for supplements, it seems quite safe.
Now the discussion has arisen about potentially reclassifying and regulating.

As we like to say here, stayed tuned for further developments. As of yesterday, it was still available in a number of places.

Sue

REPLY
2 replies
eileent | @eileent | May 11, 2021
In reply to @sueinmn "Actually, it was originally classified as a drug. Periodically FAD goes through the lists of (unregulated)..." + (show)
@sueinmn

Actually, it was originally classified as a drug. Periodically FAD goes through the lists of (unregulated) substitutes to see if they are properly classified. In high doses, NAC is used as a liver detoxifier and has significant side effects. In low doses, as used for supplements, it seems quite safe.
Now the discussion has arisen about potentially reclassifying and regulating.

As we like to say here, stayed tuned for further developments. As of yesterday, it was still available in a number of places.

Sue

Jump to this post

Thanks Sue. I know Jarrow won't make it anymore because of its reclassification. I'm glad to hear other sources will continue making it.

REPLY
kathyhg | @kathyhg | May 12, 2021
In reply to @sueinmn "Actually, it was originally classified as a drug. Periodically FAD goes through the lists of (unregulated)..." + (show)
@sueinmn

Actually, it was originally classified as a drug. Periodically FAD goes through the lists of (unregulated) substitutes to see if they are properly classified. In high doses, NAC is used as a liver detoxifier and has significant side effects. In low doses, as used for supplements, it seems quite safe.
Now the discussion has arisen about potentially reclassifying and regulating.

As we like to say here, stayed tuned for further developments. As of yesterday, it was still available in a number of places.

Sue

Jump to this post

Interesting. Do you know what constitutes a high dose and what is a low dose?

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