Friday, February 22, 2013

Asthma and Vinegar

This post is kind of long. If you aren't interested in the prose version, I'll give you the bottom-line right now:
I believe that Apple Cider Vinegar (in pill form) cured a sinus infection and eliminated my need for asthma medicine in two days.

Now the extended version.

I had a rough bout with my lungs this winter. If I had to guess, I'd say I had something like walking pneumonia.

Onset of asthma symptoms was pretty sudden and intense. I managed it with Albuterol sulfate, but only just. Normally I can go an entire year using little or no albuterol. This year was different, I went through one canister in a couple weeks. At times the 4-hour wait between doses was almost too much.
When I made it to the doctor's office, he prescribed azithromycin, QVar, Prednisone and more albuterol (my lungs sounded like a symphony of broken harmonicas).

The azithromycin helped noticeably, the QVar....hard to say, Predinsone helped I think.
After the antibiotics, I was able to cut back on the albuterol substantially, to the point where if I had to, I could go most of the day without it. Things were delicate though and any minor trigger (exercise or dust) could have me quickly in need of a puff.

Another step I took after the antibiotic treatment was a thorough top-to-bottom cleaning of my bedroom. I learned that dust-mites are my number 1 allergy. I also bought an encasement for my mattress and a new pillow to protect me from the dust of mites of Christmas-past, so to speak. This may also have contributed to a reduction in asthma symptoms, but it didn't eliminate my need for albuterol.

My need for albuterol had tapered off significantly but it never quite disappeared. This surprised me because asthma for me has always come and gone in episodes lasting no more than one to three weeks.
This episode was solidly in three-month territory with no end in sight.

That's when my body gave me yet one more blow: a sinus-infection (presumed). Only on the right side of my face, my cheek below the eye, next to the nose and the area above my teeth ached fairly intensely.

At this point, I thought I was destined to go back to the doctor for more antibiotics. But it had only been a month or less since my previous course. It didn't seem right that I should need another dose so quickly.

So, on a Friday afternoon I decided to see if the internet had any wisdom to share with me on the topic.
Searching for "Sinus Infection Home Remedies" revealed a page that claimed to have some. At the top of their list was Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV).

We happened to have some pills in the pantry (my wife has apparently been clued-in to some other benefits of ACV for years).

Within 2 days of taking the pills (2 a day, 1 morning, 1 night) my sinus infection symptoms were 90% abated. This surprised me, since I've never had experience beating a sinus infection without antibiotics.
Miraculous as the turnaround was to me, I was yet more astonished when I noticed that simultaneously my asthma symptoms had lessened to about 5% of what they were.

After 4 days on the ACV pills, both sinus and lungs were almost completely healthy! I am now almost completely unable to generate wheezing sounds, no matter how hard I try.

This turn of events has taken me so much by surprise, the results so dramatic and quick, I felt the need to share.

I want to be scientific and not read too much into this. After all, it is possibly a coincidence that I got better just as I began to take the ACV pills. However, as I said, the dramatic speed and quality of my recovery makes me feel strongly that I've discovered a powerful medicine. And the best thing is, you can take it with your salad, if you like.