This is the third cough/ virus/ infection since November and they have knocked me for 6. Any advice?

[Ivostas66]

Hi there. I am new to the site and consider myself to be healthy, but unlucky when it comes to illness. I was asthmatic as a child, spending time in hospital when I was very young, which was horrid. Anyway, over time asthma seemed to disappear and I went without use or need of an inhaler from my 20s to my early 40s. I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes a few years ago and have been suffering with other ailments since - being a teacher means I am surrounded by germs on a daily basis!

In November I was signed off from work for 3 weeks with an horrendous cough, that went straight to my chest causing shortness of breath. I was encouraged to take my Ventolin inhaler more frequently which helped. At the end of January I had an almost identical cough, which lasted for about 10 days and last week I developed the same cough. My blood glucose management is stable, but when ill it is extremely challenging to keep under control and I have noticed the cough is worse if I am high. My doctor has prescribed a peak flow metre and told me to keep check of my readings. I am also being sent for X-Rays to see if there is anything untoward. Final thing the doctor said was that lots of asthmatics and people who suffer with lung/ chest issues have been seeing a worse impact from virus and infection during the Covid pandemic. Apparently no-one knows why, but it seems to be very common.

Does anyone have any further advice? Is there anything else I should be doing?

[Martyob]

Hi Ivostas, do you take vitamin d. I take 2000 iu aday. Up to about 4 years ago I was constantly sick with colds and chest infections. Since then none. I haven't had a antibiotic since 2018 I started with 4000 vitD wit k3 in it. And 2 x 600 mg of multi magnesium. After a months reduced to 2000 Vit d and k3. Google VD Irish tilda study.

Also 2 years ago my lung consult has prescribed flumicil which is same as NAC, which can be got in health shop. This really helped Lungs. My friend has got her gp to prescribe her Flumicil and she said it made a great difference. Its natural but the prescribed one is effervescent which works better. It's used a lot in Europe.

Best of look.

I hope you feel better

[Ivostas66 in reply to Martyob]

Thanks for the reply. I have been taking Vitamin D, 2000 iu, supplements since I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes about 4 years ago. I am also on Statins (low dosage) as my cholesterol was high (around 5) but now down to 2ish.

[Gwalltarian in reply to Ivostas66]

Try increasing your vitamin D supplement to at least 4000 IU per day - I take 6000IU, you can’t overdose on vitamin D. You also need to take zinc to absorb the vitamin D. I also take an iron - Feroglobin plus. - the liquid has honey and malt in it which might not be good for your diabetes but they also do tablets or capsules. A virus caused me bronchial infection with non stop coughing which lasted for 9 weeks until I began the above supplements - it was gone in less than 2 days. Moreover a recent family get together resulted in all my family catching covid except me. There’s a u tube video about boosting your immune system with a discussion between an Israeli doctor and a British doctor.

[Naomi_ALUK Partner Asthma Nurse in reply to Gwalltarian]

Just a word of caution here! Taking too many vitamin D supplements over a long period of time can cause too much calcium to build up in the body (hypercalcaemia). This can weaken the bones and damage the kidneys and the heart.

If you choose to take vitamin D supplements, 10 micrograms a day will be enough for most people.

Do not take more than 100 micrograms (4,000 IU) of vitamin D a day as it could be harmful. This applies to adults, including pregnant and breastfeeding women and the elderly, and children aged 11 to 17 years

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