NAC & a near death adventure!

So here's my update. For those of you in warm parts of the world MI had been having a good ol' blizzard lately---on clinic day none the less. I was heading into a one hour trip that would surely be closer to two hours thanks to the roads. I knew it was probably a bad idea since I hate to drive anyway but I am having alot of pain in my right lung (left side body) in an area that typically causes me problems when I have inflammation going on.

I had every NAC and inflammatory study in hand and was ready for a 'fight' of scientific will LOL with my doctor. My plan being to ask for mucomyst instead of buying bioadvantix thereby saving myself $3+/day but making it clear that I WOULD be doing it either way he he he. Before I left I prayed to allow the Lord to lead my hands and sharpen my eyes because of the bad weather which I had no idea HOW bad it was when I left since right around work we hadnt been 'hit' too bad yet. Well, I almost slid off a ramp, fishtailing, on the junciton of two major HIGHWAYS thank the Lord noone else was coming which is a rarity and I had the time and skil to finally getting it back under control. This was only 15 minutes into my drive so I turned around feeling it a sign. When I got back to work I found out they had closed the road I would have been on within 5 minutes if I hadnt turned around due to multiple accidents including a semi, a bus full of kids and a bunch of cars. I was disapointed knowing I would only be able to get into clinic in February now but thankful that I decided to turn around.


I decided to leave a message saying why I wasnt coming and asking the doctor to please call me since I have a 'clinic gatekeeper' style of a nurse and I think we have a case of 'mutual dislike' ever since I told her thanks but I preffered a doctors opinion ha. Thankfully my doctor called me and I talked to him and he already has two patients taking mucomyst for YEARS orally that swear by it so my way was paved! He agreed to test my neutrophils, eosinophils, and c-reactive protein (which all play a role in measuring inflammation) before I get started and then I will test them after 3 weeks.

This was all spurred by pain in my lung that left while I was on the higher dose of steroids and has gradually come back and this week seems to be rearing its head with a vengence. We talked about the fact that I dont have a collapsed portion of lung thats already been checked, I dont have an infection, and how this pain is either my 'new normal' due to some scar tissue we know is at the periphery of that lung or there is something inflammatory going on. If its inflammatory it will either even out over time since my lungs have been through alot lately and it is my 'bad time' of year or it will get worse because it is some inflamatory process going on which usually for me means I will cough up blood.

I am also getting my magnesium level checked since I just got done with IV's and I think I have had ringing in my ears a couple times. I am interested to see if I should get a higher quality Mg supplement or if my levels are adequate on the plan I have been using post antibiotics. I am also going to an ENT with an audiologist because I need both a sinus check and hearing check so it should kill two birds with one stone.

One other thing we talked about is how zosyn works so well for me but the last time I had these crazy mad inflammatory issues was after taking zosyn. I am talking ZERO mucous for 3 weeks now and my lungs are super clear so I dont think its stuck this time like it was a couple years back. Last time this happened we did a ton of blood tests and then a bronch to make sure it wasnt a bacteria thing which it wasnt before starting steroids. Last time it worked miraculously. This time after the IV's we went to steroids based on the pain I was having and my history. One thing he metnioned was that last time I was on steroids for 3 weeks, this time for 10 days. Last time I was supposed to be on them for 2 weeks and called saying I had just finally started opening up after the 9th or so day so maybe I wasnt on them long enough. He said we could wait and see or try more steroids depending on how much pain I was in. That is when I brought up the NAC idea so we decided to wait and see with my NAC plan below in place.

NAC plan is to take 800mg mucomyst Lord help me because I only drink water and I hear the stuff is awful. Anyway. I will do this three times a day. In addition for the rest of the month I am giving up all rpocessed foods, chemicals of any kind, sugar, alcohol, caffeine, meat, and dairy. So yes I am limiting myself to vegetables/fruits/unrefined grains such as oatmeal, rice, barley/oils/spices including salt of course but nothing mixed with a chemical/nuts/seeds. Before you worry I am an overweight cf'er who has lost 10lbs the past couple months and is looking to loose 15more I have eased into this plan over the past week by giving up something each day and nursing headaches from withdrawl with tiny bits natural sugar here and there and onc excedrin this week. I will also keep working out. So between eliminating all inflammatory factors, taking the NAC, and working out I am STOKED to see what sort of results I can get. I am also adding some essential fatty acid supplements to my vitamin regimen and of course still taking all my medications and doing my therapies. The full blown 100% detox hard core starts tomorrow--pray for me or wish me luck!

One additional thing to note is that my good old 'aunt flow' is going ot be here tonight or tomorrow. In the past I have noted a worsening of lungs and higher chance of hemoptysis around this time of the month thus by exaserbathing anything pre-existing. Last night the pain in my side (after talking to the doctor OF COURSE) got much much worse. I didnt get home until 10pm because I had a ladies craft night. By the time I got home I couldnt take a deep breath and I was in ALOT of pain. Walking up the stairs to the house and then upstairs to get my husbands attention was very hard and caused alot of pain. I went straight to bed, doing breathing treatments were out of the question. When I get pain bad like this I feel it radiate down and up my entire right lung from teh central point where the pain is when it is more mild I also get this feeling like there is a string tied to the muscle that runs along top of your shoulder from your arm to your neck and whenever I breathe I feel the pain plus the 'pulling' sensation. This morning my voice is intermittent and I think I might have caught a small cold to boot which also always gives me inflammation issues even when I dont have something else going on.

So my hope is that once my aunt leaves town and this cold decides I'm not worth its time *knocks on wood* that those portions of inflammation will go down. Then hopefully by tuesday or wednesday I can get started on the NAC and I have already started the above mentioned dietary components. I am hoping and praying that will put me in a good spot a week from now!