Hi all,
Just wondering if any one is taking vitamin supplements to help copd. I have bronch and have read vitamin d deficiency can occur with this condition. Just want to try and help myself improve if possible. Am trying the salt pipe at the moment, early days as only started using it yesterday. Your views would help me.
can someone explain a salt pipe to me please. personally, I take Vit C (1000mg per day) and I am going to check with my nurse to see if Echinacea would help also. I have to take calcium so that has Vit D included. I take Manuka honey also......anything worth a try...at least that's what I think, but I have emphysema and get infections constantly so I want to try and stop them being frequent. Good luck to you. 
Hi Louisiana, l know l dont have illnesses that your all dealing with but my G.p said take vit c but take it with lron (vit c helps absorb iron better), aids with energy and in my case the fact my hair falling out in clumps, Helps combact anemia and colds.
I'm taking vit D with calcium cos they compliment each other. We should get what we need in food but that isn't always possibly
Hi Louisiana, thank you for the reply. Just trying to feel better as on antibiotics all he time at the moment. A salt pipe is a hand held device that you put special salt crystals into, you then breathe in through the device and breathe out through your nose. It is supposed to help with cleaning out your airways and sinuses ect.
thanks!!
I would highly suggest juiceing and I mean buying a juicer and the freshest vegtables possible . It is the only way to absorb all vital minerals , vitamins and nutrients possible . You can google juiceing for copd , emphsemia ... It dies help tremendously with building your immune system and I belive with rebuilding lung tissue . Yes I have it all and after juiceing my life is so much better. It is time consuming , but so worth the benifits . When you juice your vitamins go directly to your bloodstream and go to work .... Hope this helps you and others who read !!
Hi Delane, that is interesting. Thank you.
im not sure if vitamins help , but if you think they help they will !!,
personally i take multi vits and manuka honey, but more importantly in the last year have improved my diet, eating more veg, fish, mainly a more varied diet, wheras living on my own, it was so easy just to have a mince pie or a sandwich,,,,, maybe even i mince pie ON sandwich 
lol
the salt pipe is explained, but i have saline [salt] nebulisers, this does help, bring up any phlegm
i was very interested in delanes post,
good luck with the salt pipe chrissy, and good luck with the vitamins
kindest regards,,,jimmy
Hi Jimmy, many thanks, will let you know how I get on.
Jimmy, You're right, a good diet is essential. No use gorging on vits inf you don't eat a balanced diet. Well done you!
i must say helingmic, in my view your bang on,, a well balanced diet before anything,,, i think we often boil the goodness away from many things especially , cabbage, brussels etc, i often pop a few bits of raw garlic [the size of a pea roughly] down my thrapple when using garlic,, i know that the "good" ingredient in garlic is the"alicen" and when boiled , destroys this.,,,im getting to be a wee expert now D: but seriously, i like a good varied diet. ,,,jimmy
p.s i remember i was asked about garlic, i said that it was one of the oldest remedies going, even the egyptians used garlic, i was then asked how i knew that,,, i said my "mummy" told me lol
im tired now helingmic,, think ill sign off for the night now,,,all the very best,,, jimmy
Hi Chrissy. I Firmly believe only people in good health and between ages 5 - 60 get all they need from a healthy, balanced diet.
Therefore I take supplemental Vits. I used to get constant, chronic, long lived infections but since on the following regime I've had only one and that was last spring!
Daily multi Vit & mineral, Vit B12, effervesent 1000mg Vit C & zinc, Vit D3. My respiratory nurse and my GP both said D3 is vital (it's also very cheap).
Aa
I get the doses and contraindications from a little book: pocket Guide to Vitamins by Angela Dowden.
Oh and it's very, very beneficial if you take acidophilus capsules to rebalance the gut flora during and after antibiotics.
I think you're supposed to see your GP 1st before you take anything though.
Good luck
peeg, I once asked my GP, she replied that there was no conclusive eveidence! she told me to take it if I felt it was doing me good!
Mind you, there are a lot of articles on this or that food, this or that vitamin, mineral, etc.
Just take what you see fit! I don't think it'll harm you unless you take things in excess. keep warm, keep well.
Exactly, I take what works for me as do most of us. I also take advice from medics & nutritionists.
As I've said before though, my regime has worked for me because I've not had a full blown exacerbation since the spring. . . . famous last words? I hope not.
I do recall when I found this site I was floundering in the dark. Without other people's ideas and advice I would still be floundering and/or deeply depressed. Always happy to share my experience if it helps others in the same position. P
Hi chrissie, I look after my husband who has severe Copd. I am always on the look out!!! I give my husband vitamin D because I realise he does not get out enough. Actually Derek Cummings writes a Copd blog I think it is something like blitz and bobs - he swears by. Vit d and for two years it seems to do the trick. I also give him 1000mg vit c a day (for me too in winter) and coq10 which is supposed to be very good for the heart. He was diagnosed with slightly raised blood pressure so added olive leaf extract which is supposed to lower bp but is fantastic for the immune system. He has also taken in the past turmeric but unfortunately that caused him problems with reflux and indigestion. Big believer of manuka honey and absolutely insist on him taking actimel each day especially important to replace good bacteria when using antibiotics! And one final thing Vicks first defence at the first sign of a cold seems to be helpful. All I can say (as I cross fingers and touch wood) seems to be ok! Of course the biggest problems we have is the cold weather - not a great day today as the weather changes. Lots of luck and love to you xxxx
Hi Tad, yes, I also use the Boots version of 1st Defence (anti-viral nasal spray). I swear by it now. I use it Immediately when I've been in contact with anyone with a cold - or worse, before entering The Tube or buses, meeting children etc.
I've just ordered my winter Manuka 15+.
Chrissy, most of us practice extreme hand hygiene with the gels and copious hand washing. We do not touch anything that others have if at all possible & if we do, don't touch our faces until hands are washed.
It is possible to develop these practices surreptitiously without appearing OTT or OCD. . . . I can open most doors with my elbows! I'll also use my skirt, shirt or a tissue.
I guess you can help train your pupils good practice in using tissues to cough n sneeze into then binning them (don't touch the bin)! And washing their hands too?
Good luck, the country needs dedicated teachers like you!
Hi Chrissie, mine are:
CoQ10 capsules - works on the mitochondria in the cells (kind of their engine)
Magnesium - this helps the soft muscle tissue throughout the body including the lungs (and recommended by Buteyko [asthma] practitioners).
Vit D3
Krill oil for good omegas.
Turmeric for inflammation
Vicks First Defence to guard against infection.
Probiotic capsules after taking antibiotics.
Cheers
Vit D3 - doc was adamant it needed to be with 3 not without ; zinc ; juicing when feeling 'dodgy' (or when I just feel like enjoying one!)
Thank you all for the replies. I think I will give it a go then. This is such a great place to get feed back from people who suffer with the same problems. I forgot to say that I have an ileostomy due to ulcerative colitis, had this for a lot of years. I am amazed that gps do not question if we are getting all the vitamins we should from our diets. Will let you know how I get on.
Indeed Chrissy. It's not to difficult ot eat good stuff, especially as we can have plenty of veg, which contain plenty of vitamins. Please tell us, that would be most interesting, especially as the weather is going to turn and lots of people are going to cough!
chrissy, I think I am like you! I don't know BUT, I have taken cod liver oil with vitamin D, since my doctor told me I lacked the vitamin sunshine. At the start of September, I decided to take Vit C and zinc. They say that zinc enhances your immune system. I don't know, but all I know is that summer has been beautiful. I had a start of an infection. I threw myself on to clarithromycin which I have as a reserve, and it went within a few days (while, usually, when I start this I have to go to hospital!).
I hear people buying Vicks first defence.
One think I read on the NHS site, while many cures are just myths or placebo, try not to cough in your bare hands. If you sneeze, do it in a paper hanky that you dispose immediatly and wash your hands straight away.
so I don't know, but I shall carry on with the vit C and D!
There are all sorts of veiw on diet. The BLF has a conservative veiw on a balanced diet:
blf.org.uk/Page/Eating-well...
This should procide all our needs vor vitamins etc.
But here is a woman who challenged this and fought vreast cancer through her speical type of diet (vegetarian) and lifting weight! She is 69. her name is Pat Reeves:
huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/0...
Be careful, though not to choose a diet that is unbalanced
It was good to read all your stories, thank you all for sharing your info, I think it will help me alot..roo-roo
COPD
Alternate treatments for COPD
vitamins 
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Help with vitamin supplements
