Hi all,

I'm looking for some advice.

I started trying to zone several days ago. I eat six meals a day, every 2.5 hours. I am on three blocks of protein and two blocks of carb. For various reasons, I am now eating half of a full meal every 2.5 hours.

I have allergies and asthma. Most of the time they don't give me much trouble. I went off my puffers for asthma a long time ago for example, so I was doing well.

But I moved into an apartment with carpet, developed "post nasal drip" which blocks my ability to breath at nighttime, so I had a terrible time with that. So we moved to another apartment, BUT, the people right beneath us smoke very heavily, and I am sure they smoke pot as well, so I started having asthma attacks so bad that I abandoned my apartment to live in the country in a house that has no carpet, no smoke, etc. It took me weeks to start to recover and to start to breath again.

I am trying to treat this problem with diet, zone diet. I take 20 grams of fish oil via Anne Marie's fish oil, so that's 24 capsules if you know her fish oil. I started doing so several days ago. I was taking 6 grams a day prior to that for a bit, but I couldn't afford the fish oil for months, so I went months without it. I also went off the zone diet. I found it overwhelming. Now I'm trying to master it again.

Now, because I can't breath at nighttime because of a stuffy nose--I went three nights with only one hour of sleep per night for example very recently, and this happens a lot--I got a prescription from a doctor.

it is "montellukast sodium tablets" (pms-Montelukast FC).

I read the side effects and I am not wanting to take the pill unless I absolutely have to. But I need to sleep too, that is absolutely crucial. I have been panicing a lot the past while becuase of my inability to breath and therefore to sleep.

What happens is, I can breath ok the first 15 minutes I lie down (or sit upright actually in a sofa to be honest), but then my nose start to get more and more narrow, it gets harder and harder to breath.

I am wondering if anyone can help out here in how I can avoid taking the pill? I am trying the very best I know how to zone, but I find it very challenging. I started breathing in hot steam from hot boiling water, and it seems to help open up my nasal passages for a little while. Any other ideas that might work to help me breath at nighttime? I am taking, now, two tablespoons of Bragg's apple cider vinegar twice a day to help with this, and two capsules of oil of oregano, and of course Vit B3 and Vit E etc. I am thinking to get Vit C today too.

See below info on the medicine I'm taking very soon:

Sarah

"Montelukast belongs to a group of medications known as leukotriene receptor antagonists. It is used to prevent and manage asthma and to relieve the symptoms of seasonal allergies, also known as seasonal allergic rhinitis or hay fever. It works by blocking the effects of leukotrienes, a substance produced by the body in response to certain "triggers" that cause narrowing and swelling of airways in the lungs. Montelukast usually starts to work within one day."

Sarah

Hi Sarah,

Barry Sears has said that fish oil and insulin control (like you get with the Zone diet) reduce the formation of leukotrienes. Re questions about your medication and supplements, you should check with you doctor about that. Always tell you doctor about dietary and supplement changes when you are on a madication, to make sure the changes don't interfere with the way the drug is metabolized.

Sarah,

As Sue said, we can't really help you out with the medicine part of your question. And, truly, I am not very familiar with that particular medicine, myself. Having said that, hopefully we can come up with some alternative ideas to help you sleep.

You will want to assure that you have done everything to keep your bedroom clean and clear. No carpeting, clean floor (no dust bunnies), freshly cleaned bedding (n hot water), and perhaps brand new pillows (old pillows harbor lots of problems for allergy sufferers). Declutter the room. Perhaps a HEPA filter may be in order. No down comforters or pillows, as these may trigger asthma problems.

Find a comfortable position. You may need to sleep upwards, so that your head isn't too far down. If you recline too far, the swelling increases.

Play around with the room temperature, as your nasal passages may react differently to changes in temperature, as well as the moisture in the room.

GERD, or heartburn, can trigger asthma, Since heartburn is also affected by positioning at night, the positioning in bed is again an important factor.

Then, not to overlook diet, eating in the Zone is an excellent way for controlling asthma. The Zone Diet eating plan is considered an "anti-inflammatory" diet, and can be very helpful with regard to decreasing the amount of inflammation. I think you are on the right track as far as taking your fish oil, and you can also read more about it in THE OMEGA RX ZONE, if you can find a copy at the library.

Hope this helps!

Hi Sue,

My doctor doesn't know much about supplements, so she's an amazing doctor but it's not her area of expertise.

Thanks for letting me know re: the zone diet and leukotrienes. That IS helpful actually.

cranberrycat: I appreciate your taking the effort to list all of them. The general attitude around here is that pillows can't harm you, so this is validating my own pesonal experience, my own personal reaction to pillows (I avoid them as much as possible).

I do have a couple of big clothes drawers that are probably 40 or 50 years old, and dusty on the inside by this time, so it's not used to store clothes anymore. Should I get rid of them ... ? But it's a small house, so not realistic--no room for them. I could wrap them up in big sheets of plastic to trap all the allergens?

I had another bad night--only two hours of sleep. The 20 grams of fish oil is to try to, in part, reduce the excessive cortisol caused by a chronic lack of sleep.

Can the clothes drawers be cleaned up? (NOT BY YOU) just saying, you could still use them if they are dusty, just get someone to help you clean them. I do not do well with dust, I would not consider myself having an allergy, but I just don't do well with dust, so I can imagine that cleaning is probably not what you need to be doing right now!

I hope that was all helpful for you, I wasn't sure where to start and what kind of help you are looking for.

Basically, do your best with the Zone, and the combination of all of your efforts will make a difference. Maybe not overnight success, but should be helpful.

I don't know if this will help, but a friend of mine swears by concentrated cherry juice to help her sleep. She takes just a tsp or tbsp (not sure how much) before bed, and she sleeps like a baby.

Hi cranberrycat,

I will keep your suggestion in mind. At this point in time, I don't want to impose on other family members to clean up those clothes drawers.

I do see where you're coming from and thanks re: reassuring me re: what I'm doing making a difference. Right now it doesn't feel that way ... but in a few days and it'll be a bad memory hopefully.

I am taking 4 tablespoons altogether of Bragg's apple cider vinegar. Has anyone tried this approach for allergies etc?

Concentrated cherry juice? Never heard of it. But I can try that ... :-)

Sarah

I am not sure if it is concentrated or not, now that I think about it. I have never bought it either, so not familiar with it. Perhaps one might find it in the same place as pomegranete juice?

Ok ... sounds good! Thx.



Sarah

hi all,

I'm noticing that how relaxed and calm and not-panicking I am, the easier it is to breath.

LITERALLY, and this leaves me in disbelief. My nose becomes less stuffy when I deliberately relax various large groups of muscles, including face, stomach, neck, etc.

It is an important component although I need all the other components to fight this.

I am dumbfounded by this new discovery though.

Anyone has any thoughts on this?

Sarah

I grew up mostly not affected by my allergies.

I have no real exposure to allergies here in the house I'm now living in. It's clean, no smoking, no carpeting, etc.

Why am I still on 4 prescription meds to try to fight this, as well as 20 grams of FO, which I can't afford, 40 days after I left my apartment which had a lot of second-hand smoke as well as a lot of other things I suspect?

In theory. My problems should have gone away within a few days after the exposure stopped.

Sarah

Relaxation is a good thing! Definitely will help, because when you are nervous, everything tightens up.

Are you sure you have allergies? Just asking. I know a few people who have had ongoing cold and upper resp symptoms, much longer than anticipated. One finally got rid of hers when the Christmas tree exited the house, but her symptoms had started long before the tree went up.

Another one has history of allergies, and her respiratory illness just lingers and lingers. No explanation for her, either.

I know of a few people who never had allergies, but developed them later in life, so this is not unheard of.

Are you seeing an allergist? Do you think he might want you to see a regular doctor or even a pulmonologist?

Hi cranberrycat,

So everything tightens up? What exactly causes a stuffy nose in the first place anyway?

I have asthmatic reactions, I have the post nasal drip for four months on and off, mostly on, and the latest symptom is a stuffy nose which is probably a month or so.

Am I 100% sure I have allergies? Well, I've always had allergies, I've always had asthma, etc. But usually I had no trouble with my asthma.

I am not seeing an allergist. I have an appointment with an ear, throat and eye doctor this upcoming November (I know, a long away from now).

What did you have in mind in terms of seeing an allergist? I'm willing to try anything.

I never ever heard of a "pulmonologist." What is that?

Sarah.

To answer your question, I'm 95% sure it's allergies, but, I didn't get a test or whatever it is to confirm that it's definitely allergies.

Sarah

OK, so if you have had allergies all of your life and you are not getting over this very quickly, I would recommend seeing an allergist. Your PCP can probably recommend someone for you in your area (you may need a referral, and your PCP should know that you are struggling with this, anyway).

If it is your asthma, a pulmonologist (lung doctor) might be able to help you out with controlling it. Again, talk to your PCP and get a referral, if needed.

If you have allergies and asthma, the 2 can be playing a role here, even if you aren't suspecting that this is asthma.

Hi Cranberrycat,

Thanks for this.

I have both allergies and asthma.

I'm using a puffer that's normally for smokers with COPD etc.

It's the strongest puffer I've been on.

My asthma is well-controlled right now.

I'm waiting one more week, two more weeks, then I'll try to get referred to an allergist.

Pulmonologists are lung doctors, oh ok. Thanks.

So you think the asthma and the two other symptoms (post nasal drip and stuffy nose) are tied together into a system?

Sarah

Well, just keep in mind that I don't know you and we are discussing this without my ever seeing you or really knowing your history (and, of course, I am not a doctor). But, that being said, I do think that it is a good possibility that these issues are all tied together.

Hi Cranberrycat,

Thanks for this, it does make sense though.

Sarah

Hi Cranberrycat,

I just want to get back to you ... things have improved quite a fair amount. I was able to sleep 6-7 hours last night. That is huge! And the two nights before, something like 5 and 6 hours. Huge, too!

I used EFT (emotional freedom technique) to calm me down, and it helped. I found that relaxing my stomach made my nose clear up. I learnt that breathing too much reduces the CO2, and that CO2 diliates the nose. So spending some time learning to breath to re-introduce CO2 into my nose to diliate the blood vessels there seem to help although i find it very challenging.

So after months of struggling, having terrible times because I was so severely sleep deprived--imagine only one hour per night of sleep for three nights or more running! Finally I'm breathing pretty well, and the post nasal drip is no longer blocking my ability to breath (I can't mouth-breath), and my panics have gone away thanks to EFT.

I AM on four medications--two puffers, one steriod spray, and the new medicine I mentioned in my first post above.

I expect to be on them for another month but I hope to taper off after that.

I am on 20 grams of fish oil still, but I can't afford it ... but I'm afraid to cut down.

I do not eat perfectly, e.g., I ate a bag of nuts yesterday, which throws me off the zone if I was in the zone, and it's hard to eat every 2.5 hours I find, but I think it's helping a lot anyway even if I don't have perfect insulin control.

Sarah

Glad you are doing better!!!

Are you taking Zone Labs fish oil from this site?

I had a bout of bronchitis quite a few years back, which zapped my energy and made it difficult for me to adhere to the Zone. I just did the best I could, tried to eat foods that were easier to prepare, nothing fancy. I NEVER eat perfectly, so don't worry about trying to be the best Zone Angel!

Sarah

Some individuals will look at the "FISH OIL CONCENTRATION" and that is a BIG Mistake... Better to look at the amount of EPA/DHA in each serving size or capsule and the purity of the product.


Maybe go to http://www.zonediet.com/omega-3-fish-oil and read the reviews of our fish oil.

Best suggestion that tech_supprt can offer. Try our fish oil. We're so confident in the purity of OmegaRx that, if you are unsatisfied for any reason, you can return it within 30 days for a full refund. With OmegaRx, you can be confident you are taking only the best fish oil.

Here is more information that you may find helpful.

More than 2400mg of EPA & DHA per serving
No detectable levels of lead or mercury when tested down to 10ppb
Independent 3rd party testing on every lot - view our most recent report
Proprietary validation and testing processes to achieve pharmaceutical-grade quality
Contains only wild fish from pristine waters and never farmed fish
Delivers 8 times more omega-3s per serving than typical retail fish oil supplements
Developed by Dr. Barry Sears, an internationally-recognized expert in fish oil research

Cranberry, good thing you chose to put quotations around the word safe. With a quick look at that list I see there's at least one molecular distilled fish oil there. Molecular distilled fish oil is merely the raw material used to make the ultra-refined fish oil concentrates. I also see many brands on that list that are not ultra-refined concentrates. Then I looked further into it by reading the criteria used for compiling the list and it includes this statement: "In short, most fish oil supplements appear to be adequately purified and safe." "Appear"? No thanks, I'd rather know for sure exactly what is (and is not) in the fish oil I eat. After all, I only have one body adn I want ti to last. :) I'll stick with the IFOS 5 star report info for determining whether my fish oil is safe.

I sent a couple of message but they didn't show up.

I will try again tmw.

Sarah

Hi.

I am getting used to this forum. Sorry I didn't realize I had to go to the next page to see my newest posts.

I'm confused. ZonePerfect is "Molecular distilled" which is bad I think Sue said? But that's Zone diet FO.

I'm confused. Does that mean that Zone's FO is bad?

Natty

Hi Natty,

Barry Sears is not affiliated with Zone Perfect and he does not endorse their products. Zone Labs, Inc. is the name of Barry Sears' company. This website we are posting on now, zonediet.com, is the official website of Zone Labs, Inc. Barry Sears' ultra-refined concentrated fish oils are the ones you see on the "Omega-3 Fish Oil" page of this website, Omega Rx and Eico Rx. http://www.zonediet.com/omega-3-fish-oil