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tripete

Very helpful member
Joined
Dec 5, 2014
Messages
1,002
Reason
PALS
Diagnosis
12/2014
Country
US
State
PA
City
Lancaster
I wanted to share some "sort of" good news with everyone. As with many of you mucus has been a real problem for me. I had a mucus induced coughing fit that was so bad Wednesday that it was evoking my gag reflex and made all the muscles under my ribs ache like a son of a b1tch. Unfortunately it was not the first time. To date when it starts I had found that hot lemon water and a natural decongestant from a health store would help.

But Wednesday night my wife had me take Alka Seltzer. This did nothing for the immediate coughing fit, but in the morning I did not have any mucus to speak of (I have had it every morning with coughing fits for over a year). Since then I have been taking it every night for about an hour before going to bed and it has almost removed all mucus production. It has really removed the every morning coughing fits from being an issue. 2 tablets 4 oz of water and it is gone.

The book she got it from recommended taking it twice a day, but I have not needed that so once has been fine. The book is from a quack that was debunked on this site named Hannah Yoseph, MD and the book title is "Conquering Lou Gehrig's Disease The ALS Diet". It was found by one of you (I think Nikki) that he is not really an MD.

My wife has falling into a false hope from this book and I am now eating 6 eggs a day and as many apple as she can force down me. The book as a whole is pretty spot on with its analysis of nutrition and the medical system. From a nutrition stand poit I think it is good and worth it, but not as a cure. Where it fails is that by the title as it claims a cure and misrepresents the authors qualifications (as near as we can tell).

The good news about the eggs and apples is that my ability to chew has greatly diminished in the last month as fatigue sets in to my jaw in moments and it is always week. So I throw the eggs in a blender with some peanut butter, coconut milk, cinnamon and nutmeg, and make myself a drink a kin to eggnog. The apples I usually drink in the form of Cider (natural cider is pressed apples) or as homemade applesauce with no sugar. So it is not a problem, but neither is it a cure. If it helps my wife to see I am trying something - then I will do it.
 
I am glad the mucus issue is better. Whatever works for you is great. I hope though that people think very hard about buying this book. This person has written several books (5?) claiming cure for 5 different conditions. Yet apparently whole sections are the same. Their whole premise is unsupported by any science yet they claim to know causes of ALS. And it was Elaine who did the research on the claim to be an MD. And the very first review of the book on ama zon is clearly written by the author ( reading all the posts he made I found matches with his posts here). I don't want anyone to waste money but even more I don't want someone to take advantage of PALS
 
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Bugger the book...
I reckon if we are happy, our carers are happy, which makes us happy...and so it goes.
Wayne is always trying to get veggies (icky) into me...I do it to make him happy, then I'm happy...and so it goes.
Well done Pete! Even knowing it's not going to change things, you are a champ.
God bless, Janelle x
 
Pete I know what you are going through with your wife trying desperately to find something. My son lives in Denver, Colorado and he is adamant about diet and it's affect on our bodies. He has been hammering me with info from a doctor Robert Morse who claims to be able to heal anyone, including ALS patients, through diet and specifically an "alkaline" diet and fasting. I can't get him to understand that I can't afford to drop 20 pounds by fasting and limiting my diet to mangos and other alkaline fruits. He tells me, "if the doctors are offering you nothing dad, what have you got to lose by doing this?". Well I have to tell him that I may die much sooner than I would have if I had maintained my weight. He is so angry at me and thinks I'm just giving up. I just wish I could get my family to a point where they could accept this.

Vince
 
Vince, at the risk of sounding like I know what I'm talking about (I'm no expert that's for sure), I reckon your son is not angry at you, but the disease. It's like he wants to do everything in his power to save you, and angry because deep down, he knows he can't. Having loved ones accept the inevitable is probably the hardest part. I am not terminal, but getting the extended family to realise physio won't fix me is very difficult.
Since you aren't in the same town, are you able to humour (lie to) your son a little? Not too much...but if it would help your relationship...
God bless, Janelle x

PS sorry Pete...is this a hijack?
 
I am glad the mucus issue is better. Whatever works for you is great. I hope though that people think very hard about buying this book. This person has written several books (5?) claiming cure for 5 different conditions. Yet apparently whole sections are the same. Their whole premise is unsupported by any science yet they claim to know causes of ALS. And it was Elaine who did the research on the claim to be an MD. And the very first review of the book on ama zon is clearly written by the author ( reading all the posts he made I found matches with his posts here). I don't want anyone to waste money but even more I don't want someone to take advantage of PALS

Nikkie, I had read the post on here after she bought the book and was getting so excited by it. It hurts when people pray on the vulnerable.

I do think the nutrition premiss is generally sound no matter the condition you have but it is not a cure. I wish more studies on nutrition and diet would be done. It can not help that our food contains as much crap as it does good stuff.

Bottom line for me, the alka seltzer was huge help. I am having trouble chewing and my psuedo egg nogg and apple cider has lots of nutrition and vitamins. I have no plans on doing a peg or vent so maybe this will keep me going a little longer.

ALS SUCKS
 
Pete, thank you for sharing what's working for you. My husband has a terrible time with mucous--especially at dinner time. It starts in every time he eats and is really scary because I'm afraid he'll choke on the food in his mouth. We've tried avoiding dairy, but that didn't help. I'll give him the dose in the morning--maybe it'll help for evening. You are a champ for honoring your wife's efforts as you are!

Janelle, you are spot on: "I reckon your son is not angry at you, but the disease. It's like he wants to do everything in his power to save you, and angry because deep down, he knows he can't." That is the hardest part--the sense of impotence to help.

Vince, we have a son much like yours. It's hard to see him suffer as well. Like Janelle said...

Nikki, thank you for watching out for us--this forum is the greatest info resource we have!
 
Pineapple and orange juice have really helped steve with dry mouth from the bipap and mucus during the day. I give him smoothies but if I am not here I just leave a tervis cup with some juice in it. I think laurie suggested pineapple juice....it really works!
 
Pineapple and lemon also help me when the mucus is happening. The alka sltzer is the first thing I have found the prevents it. I take it before bed. I can get bloated from it but no to bad.

We have to share our ideas with each other as there does not seem to be any other reliable sources.
 
We have to share our ideas with each other as there does not seem to be any other reliable sources.

Agreed!

Jeff has tried the various juices but they haven't been much help to him. And his blood sugars had been so volatile that he didn't think they were worth the spike. We may try them again now that the sugars aren't such an issue. Thanks for the reminder about them, Gooseberry!
 
>The alka sltzer is the first thing I have found the prevents it. I take it before bed. I can get bloated from it but no to bad.

will try
 
> will try

and report back, plz.
 
I give my husband weak chamomile tea with lots of honey and lemon and that helps somewhat with the mucus.

Pete, my husband loves eggs as they are easy to eat and don't require much chewing. poach them for him and mix
 
Does the pineapple juice work if it goes through a tube?
 
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