Glutathione: What dosage do you use? Where do you get it?

@kathleenlp I nebulize with 7% saline and glutathione. If you don't do anything else I would wholeheartedly suggest the 7% saline solution. I swear I think it keeps the lungs clean, thins the mucus and holds back the mycobacterium. There are two types of glutathione you can use (to my knowledge). One is the more expensive that comes in a little vial that you take out with a needle and measure about 1 ml and I add it to my saline solution of 4ml. I get that from my functional medicine doctor. My pulmonologist kind of rolled his eyes at me when I asked him for it. The other less expensive method is to buy the bottle of capsules by Theranaturals, called L-Glutathione Plus. You take a capsule, open it with your hands (of course not touching the powder) and put it in the your cup of saline solution. It bubbles up a little and then stops. It's much less expensive for sure. So I alternate doing each one since the liquid one is more expensive. Daniel Pecaut in his book "Beating Bronchiectasis" (which is a small paperback book that you can buy on Amazon) was how I learned about the capsules. Does it all work? Who knows for sure. I will tell you, though, for four years now (knock on wood) with two CAT scans I have had no progression and no antibiotics. Not as lucky as Daniel Pecaut but I'll take it. I will also add that I exercise six days a week. (two or three days at the gym with aerobic classes and weights and the other days a 2 mile power walk outside)...all for the cardio to the keep the lungs working. Hope that helps. Nan

You nailed it Nanette! Don

Hi Nanette! This is so helpful!!! Yes, I read that book but I did not see the capsules....maybe in the back. I have 2 pulmonary docs, one near me and one in the big medical center in town and they both are resisting giving me a script for the glutathione. I have the sodium chloride ordered but they seem to be having trouble finding it. Please tell me how you chose your functional medicine doc and are there others on that team (like Daniel use...herbalist, naturopathic) I have been diagnosed since 2017 and have not progressed without any treatment of the MAC. Treated the Aspergillus(still showed on next bronch) and the bronchiectasis with Brovana(nebulizer) and Arnuity once a day(steroid) I was even improving until this last illness. Then my Ctscan looked a little worse but I was very sick. The MAC morphed into the abscessus, which is much worse and only treatment is daily hospital infusion and another nebulized medication....since I am asymptomatic they are not treating me....lots of Ctscans which I feel will kill me in the end! every 4-6 months. My lifestyle was very similar (my whole adult life) that Daniel recommended in regards to exercise (runner) and very healthy eating. Maybe that is why i have done well. My saturation is always 98-100, low BP, low pulse, good blood count numbers etc. Please let me know if you tried any of the other things Daniel suggested or if you have any suggestions. Thank you so much!!

@kathleenlp Hi Kathleen, In Daniel Pecaut's book he never stated the name of his glutathione because he said something about he had to get his in the mail and he never listed any name. I read the book three times but it was six years ago now so I don't remember. It might have been that he mentioned a compound pharmacy but I'm just not sure. And I don't know what year he wrote that book so there might not have even been a capsule like there is one now. I just don't know. And probably the reason pulmonologists don't know about it is maybe there's not enough scientific evidence yet on it. My first pulmonologist was willing to look for it and heard of it but his exact comment was "well, the patients that have tried it said it makes them cough". Well, duh. Oh course it does but you just keep going with it. Part of that is that it's mixed with saline so it's probably the saline anyway. And then when my second pulmonologist, who specializes in bronchiectasis rolled his eyes when I asked him it made me even more determined to find it. So I did and that was when I found out about functional medicine which I totally believe in now. You can go to the website ifm.org (which is The Institute for Functional Medicine) and find who's in your area. My suggestion is though look for one that is an MD also....because these guys have branched out because they KNOW that pharmaceuticals can be very toxic( even though they also know we need them in some instances) but they are willing to branch out and use alternative methods for healing. I also follow Dr. Mark Hyman...he's the head of functional medicine at the Cleveland Clinic. If you go back and listen to some of his podcasts you will learn more about healing yourself than any regular medical doctor. And all of his stuff is scientifically based. He's written a ton of New York Time bestsellers. I also follow Dr. Joel Fuhrman, who uses what's called a nutritarian diet (basically just nutrient dense food instead of bad food). He reverse diabetes and heart disease in his patients and has been for 30 years. But back to Daniel Pecaut, I tried all of his eight things, too. And who knows what triggered his to reverse but I'm sure it was the combination. And remember, he did NOT have MAC. He just had bronchiectasis so that could be part of the puzzle, too, in his reversal. I think a big part is the exercise myself. I don't run like he did but I do power walks and try to breathe through my nose like he did. My only issue is the low grade inflammation I have in my upper airways all the time but my function medicine doctor and I have been trying lots of different alternative things. No luck yet and maybe never but I'm hell bent on trying stuff. I don't want to take steroids. If I ever find something I'll let you know. And remember also every human being is SO different. So something that might work for one doesn't necessarily work for another. Hope this answers the rest of your questions. Nan

Hi Nanette, thank you! It's so great to connect with people in the same journey with a similar mindset!! I just checked The Institute for Functional Medicine website and there are tons of clinics in my area and many with MD's. Yay!
Last night in talking with our financial advisor I discovered she has been going to a homeopathic clinic 5 minutes from me with a MD and a PA! She has been taking glutathione for years (from them but pill form for overall health). So I also put in a call to them. I totally agree on the exercise part. Luckily that's been a part of my lifestyle my entire life. I follow Fuhrman but will look up Hyman. Good tip. May I ask about the Chinese herbs and medicine aspect...I see we have lots of that in Houston too....did your functional doc hook you up with that too? Thank you again!!

Anyone here with MAC and Brochiectacis do neb and cough? I do and sometimes I cough some dark stuff. I guess it’s coming out from my lungs. I hope that is good that can get it out. Thanks for some input

@kathleenlp and I also have been taking oral glutathione for a couple of years now that my functional medicine doctor gave me. He says it's the single most important antioxidant in the human body. And I'll never forget a comment made by Dr. Hyman once in a podcast that they did a study once between hospitalized patients and people not in the hospital and found that those in the hospital had very low levels or no glutathione in their bodies whereas healthy people had normal levels. So that was enough for me to hear about glutathione. The one I take is called ReadiSorb....it's a white plastic bottle with a green label. You can google it. I looked on Amazon but I don't see it there. There are other brands I'm sure. I take a teaspoon a day on an empty stomach and wait 20 minutes usually. Sometimes I skip a day here and there because it's not cheap. I also believe in Chinese herbs but I think you have to hook up with a Chinese practitioner to get those herbs. I did do acupuncture for a year like Pecaut did but maybe I should have done it for longer. I also have had a chronic cough for four years since I got the flu in 2018. I was diagnosed in 2016 with no symptoms but my lungs looked bad on the CT scan. And then boom, I get the flu in 2018 and it almost killed me and left me with a chronic cough that no one has figured out yet so I'm working on that, too. Right now to no avail but I'm not giving up. Good luck in your journey! Nan

Oh yes, Cila, coughing out the mucus from your lungs is a very good thing. The fact that it is dark indicates there is some infectious process (like MAC) going on. The mucus we all have in our lungs is a nice, warm, dark place for bacteria to grow. Getting rid of mucus takes away the comfy home. Bronchiectasis means our small airways are damaged and don't automatically do the job of moving mucus like a normal lung. So nebbing to thin the mucus and coughing to bring it up helps get rid of it.
What solution do you use in your nebulizer? Has anyone shown you how to cough out the gunk more efficiently, or do you use a device like Aerobika or Acapela to help you?
Sue

I used lebabutero and 7 percent saline then used Aerobika . Between the neb and Aerobika that’s when I cough dark stuff coming out. It bother me in the beginning but now I guess that is why I need you guys opinion. No I don’t know how to get all this junk out and no one show me how to do it. Thank you so much Sue.

Hi Nan! I will look for the glutathione pill form as well. Can you tell me your strength of the glutathione for the nebulizer? I saw you said amount, 1 mil....
I found a doctor(MD) who also does alternative medicine right by me but I can't get in for a couple weeks. I am just trying to get everything in place. So did you ever find a Chinese practitioner or try any of that Nan? When you say chronic cough, describe for me. I rarely cough except in the morning. It is a dry cough for 5 minutes or so. Sometimes drinking something cold sets me off. I had a productive cough in the morning for about an hour for 8-10 years but my Internist just kept saying oh it is allergies until I coughed up blood and then they found everything else which I imagine I had for many, many years. Frustrating. My first pulmonary put me on azithromycin low dose once a day for 6 months and my cough disappeared!
I am concerned about my longevity/health as my husband has early stage Alzheimer's and I want to be able to care for him...he is extremely healthy otherwise and could outlive me! It is my understanding an illness like your flu or my HMPV recently can be fatal. I don't want to live in a bubble either! Thanks for all your help.! Kathy