Excess mucous

[Roger]

Hi Joyce, sorry you are having mucus issues.
Yes, I have the same, a mucus coughing attack once
Or twice a day. Once I get it out I’m much better the rest of the day.
For me, I find that certain foods or drinks seem to help trigger the reaction or increases the mucus.
Try to control those foods and it improves some.

[joyce]

THANKS

[David Bennett]

Not scientific, it’s just an anecdotal report. I’m not big on supplents since most of them just take your money and give you a nice placebo effect, but a few have been studied and are of some benefit, and they don’t don’t usually hurt. With that aside, I have been using cimetadine, guanefidene and flownase for months. After a little research on systemic inflammation, I have started taking tumeric and none of the other meds with a marked reduction in mucous. I take 3 capsules of 450mg tumeric with 50mg of tumeric extract daily. It probably gives me about 220-250mg of the active anti-oxidant component. It does seem to work, but I’ll wait a few months before passing judgement.

[Steve Dragoo]

@lenoxx

Hi Joyce,

I have been taking serrapeptase for mucous and have very little even though my IPF is getting worse.  You might want to look at it but there are some high cautions I will mention.  Never – never take it with other pills and the same for food for about 3 hours on either side.  It dissolves protein and sees pills that way – not good, I know – the hard way. It is measured in SU and I take 720,000 SU’s daily at night.  I probably could cut that in half for the mucous but some notes ”suggest” it might help scar tissue.  Be cautious…

Stay well…
Steve

[Jan Cohen]

I have also been taking serrapeptase, along with Serracor-NK, 3 times a day which is hard to work into 3 meals a day, considering the restrictions. My bottles say “30 minutes before or 2 hours after a meal. I haven’t really noticed a difference, maybe a slight increase in my 02 levels. Have been taking them about 4 months. I take turmeric too, 2 capsules per day which contain 1200 mg (600 mg each) with black pepper extract. The pepper is supposed to increase absorption of the turmeric. It is not spicey. I also take a large amount of supplements which help keep my energy up.

Does anyone notice a change in their voice? Mine has gotten increasingly hoarse, especially in the morning, then clearing up some later in the day. At 90, I don’t know if this is due to a worsening of my IPF or just age.

[blucoyo]

Voice change? I have,,I sound hoarse all the time,not sure if its the IPF or my age,78 years.

[David Bennett]

Mucous isn’t exactly part of IPF. A lot of factors can influence its production. Deep breathing exercises like yoga can help clear it. Deep breathing will help keep the restricted areas of your lungs open so the mucous isn’t trapped there. I use an inspiratory spirometer like you get after surgery a couple of times a day in slow 10 breath sets. They are inexpensive and available on Amazon, pharmacies, etc.

Drink a lot of water and other clear fluids to keep the mucous thin so you can cough it out. If you can’t see through a fluid it doesn’t count. As I mentioned in a previous post, tumeric actually seems to help me.

[John K. Grubb]

I suffered from excess mucus and phlegm my entire like. Was taking Mucinex 1200 mg two times a day. Then I was diagnosed with IPF and put on OFEV. The OFEV has eliminated my mucus problem.

[Ellen]

Hi Joyce,

I too used to have a great deal of mucus and severe coughing. My pulmonologist has me use a compression vest twice a day ( as used for cystic fibrosis patients) and I’m also on Ofev. I used to cough all night off and on. The two treatments above have helped me immensely! I hope maybe this is something you can discuss with your doctor. God bless and keep up the fight.Sincerely,Ellen

[george-poulsen]

I have had mucus issues for a long time but IPF has increased volume and viscosity. During day if I get a coughing attack its usually from talking (and in my opinion likely vocal cords with phlegm) and first thing I do is stop talking. Next, if it continues, is I get a hot cup of tea. (Hot for my phlegm seems to cure all momentarily, whereas cold drinks/water really exacerbates for me). Finally there’s always an issue on going to bed or even when putting recliner back, even a bit because cough, really kicks it in (so I sit up straight if coughing). Going to bed…. the minute I lay down I start coughing. So our fix is to first take some Guafenesin, (thins out and breaks up phlegm for a really good hack maybe 10-15 minutes later, then, lately we’ve been using a VIcks patch on PJ shirt, (vapors seem to make breathing a bit easier), and then most important of all I have found that in my case turning on my right side will allow me to breathe easier and also stops the coughing after one really good hack from the Mucinex/Guafenesin. I heard somewhere that IPF seems to favor one lung or the other, so I have experimented until I agree. Seems too simple but gives maybe 70% relief in most cases. I also have tried to cut back on phlegm by using one Childs Claritin 5mg(at nite on going to bed) and it “seems” to cut back on some of the phlegm for the next 24 hrs. PS the foil packages are impossible to open so I also use the 10mg Claritin pill from bottle but cut in half. My feeling is “whats to lose” and it seems to work.[George]

[george-poulsen]

I might add that my Doctor just last week gave Rx for Azithromycin, every other day and it has had a positive effect on my phlegm and coughing. I also take note of those who suggest Cumadin which also appears to be one of the ingredients that Dr Nobels has mentioned in his Cedars Sinai and Yale research efforts along with Zinc and NDA+. I do one other thing that proves quite productive. I use the hand held breath flow meter obtained on last hospital visit but available on internet, and do so because it helps to take very deep breaths and expel with force. I always produces a good hack after using it about 6 times in morning. It helpd because it always gives me an idea if I am still holding my own as far as expulsion volume.

[Roger]

I was diagnosed with IPF 1 year ago. I also have a lot of mucus and recently have lost

Most of my voice. It’s now approaching 3 weeks. I also have a couple of coughing attacks per day then I feel fine. I wonder if the coughing has done some damage.

I have been on antibiotics for the past 12 days. Overall I feel pretty good except talking tires me out.

I’m not on oxygen and any lung drugs.

Has anyone experienced the voice problem?

[Denny Eliassen]

I have had coughing attacks and my voice gets hoarse but I have found that when the coughing starts I lay on my stomach or my side and the phlegm/mucos comes easily because your body doesn’t have to push it up. It works every time and takes about 10 to 15 minutes to expel it.

[Marilyn Cellucci]

Dear Jan,

I am hoarse most of the time now. Can’t talk too much, as it seems to exacerbate the hoarseness. I never knew hoarseness was a symptom until I read it somewhere else. I thought it was just weird me.

[Jim]

Hello everyone. I also had problems with mucus and issues with losing my voice. My voice issue was due to me using my nebulizer 2 times a day. I stopped using it and found my voice got stronger. For the mucus I now take one Sudafed + mucus in the evening and one Benadryl allergy plus congestion in the morning. I also spray my nasal passages with Simple Saline nasal mist when needed. My Dr also prescribed for me Ipratropium nasal solution .03%. For me this helped control the mucus from my nose into my throat and chest. Wish all of you the best. Jim

[Fran Kakabeeke]

I had hoarseness for 4 months this past spring so went to an Ear Nose and Throat physician. She did a laryngoscopy in the office and discovered my vocal cords did not come together completely. I was sent to speech therapy and was told that my continuous coughing and throat clearing was the cause. After two months of therapy and decreasing throat clearing my vocal cords healed and the hoarseness is gone. My pulmonologist wrote a prescription for Tessalon Pearles that has helped immensely. Not sure if it’s IPF or reflux is the cause so have also tried to watch my diet to avoid triggers.

[Kim Morrison]

You may have what’s called Bronchiectasis. It is non life threatening. Very annoying though. I was diagnosed with that during one of my CT scans for my PF. I take mucinex daily and it works for me.

[Grateful]

I have had excessive mucus in the past to the point of having to carry plenty of tissue and an actual cup to deposit the mucus. However, my pulmonologist suggested that I try 250 mg of azithromycin daily for 90 days to decrease the mucus production. It has been two months since I began using azithromycin and I am happy to report that I no longer have excessive mucus.

Hope this is helpful!

[george-poulsen]

Hey Grateful, I probably mentioned elsewhere before, but three weeks ago My new Pulmonologist also simply suggested I take Azythromycin too but every other day as a simple prophylaxis step and it reduced my phlegm and coughing as well, noticeably per my wife. I have also noticed that if my o2 drops off it starts me coughing. As an aside I have previously said that talking causes me to cough, however lately a few different people have noted to me that when we start conversing my coughing almost stops………. haven’t figure that one out yet.. I have also found that Guaffenesin thins out the mucus going to bed and on arising……..kind of kicks out any build up.

[Roger]

All, I finally found a solution to start clearing up my voice issues

Pretizone

I agree that my coughing attacks probably strained my vocal cords.

I also started taking zinc and turmeric.

I also use zertec and Pepcid

[David Bennett]

Well, it’s been a few months with tumeric and I’m impressed. The volume and viscosity of my mucous has improved dramatically. I’ve settled on 1 gram twice a day with an eighth teaspoon of black pepper mixed into what ever I’m eating. Curcumin is poorly absorbed in the gut and pepper enhances the uptake.

[IbizaDan]

As the disease progresses, your lungs cant move/pass fluids due to the tissue damage. So fluids can only be expelled thru and by coughing. Try mucinex to help loosen mucus and phlegm. Also i was told to use ,by my Doctor t Delsym cough relief to help with coughing. As always check with your pulmonary Dr if this course of treatment can work for you .

[bootgirl]

When this became such an issue to my husband, I mentioned it at his last appt. with pulmonologist. He prescribed a nebulizer w/ Levalbuterol and this has made it much easier for him to get rid of all the mucus.