48 replies to this topic

[scottl]

so i got 10 days worth of levaquin from the doctor... after my ear feeling like it was gonna explode.

i also bought 'intestinal care DR' by ethical nutrients, which is a division of metagenics.... another extremely high quality, but very expensive probiotic...

I use metagenics diaryfree bifidus and dophilus...good stuff....

[ajnast4r]

I use metagenics diaryfree bifidus and dophilus...good stuff....

same exact stuff [lol] now that i actually did out the math, it was NOT that expensive... 30$ for 90 pills, 1 pill per day. considering the quality of metagenics stuff, i would say this stuff is defintly the best value for the money. metagenics tests their probiotics for cellwall adhesion & acid tolerance... the strains are pretty well documented, and the CFU quantities are guarenteed through expiration(which is rare).

+ you can keep it out of the fridge for 1 week with no adverse effects, which is nice cos then i can just throw a weeks worth in my pill box and not have to worry about forgetting a trip to the fridge every morning.

unfortionatly ethical only carries like 1/20 of the metagenics line, i wish i could get metagenics... some of their stuff is pretty awsome

[niner]

Wow, a blast from the past thread. Somebody must have just voted in the poll. Since it's here, and a lot of people will probably read it for the first time, let me add this: It's true that antibiotics will do nothing for a viral cold or flu, but viral upper respiratory illnesses quite often develop a bacterial secondary infection. The inflammation from the virus adversely affects the barrier function of the mucous membranes, making them more susceptible to bacterial infection. If you get a normal cold, then after a few days it suddenly gets a lot worse, this is probably what has happened. A bacterial URI is usually accompanied by coughing up greenish gunk. (lovely, no?) It takes 6-8 weeks for your mucous membranes to get completely healthy after an infection, so you will be more susceptible than normal for a while. I used to get a lot of this kind of thing until I started taking adequate vitamin D. Since then, I've only had minor illnesses, even when people around me were sick. Regarding the poll question, if not for antibiotics, I would have died around the fourth week of April, 2007. My death certificate would have read: Cause of death: Legionnaire's Disease.

[sentinel]

Yep, the "similar" threads aspect of the new forum does dig up some raves from the grave! That said it can provide some interesting perspectives/updates on prior discussions.

It's another thread (or 10) but what's adequate D for you, Niner - 2,000 iu? 4?

[niner]

It's another thread (or 10) but what's adequate D for you, Niner - 2,000 iu? 4?

My D consumption has crept up over the past couple years. I think that the apparent suppression of infections may have kicked in around 1500 IU or so; maybe more. At the time of my most recent 25-OH D test, I think I was taking closer to 2000, maybe more, and I had a pretty good level of 46 ng/ml. At the moment I'm taking 2500 IU from a gelcap formulation, and about 1200 IU on average in a dry formulation from a multi and Jarrow Bone Up. I tend to discount the effect of the dry formulation unless it's taken with a lot of fat, which I usually don't. I'll get another 25-OH D level in a couple months, and a bone scan in the spring. A while back I discovered I was osteopenic, so I'm particularly concerned about the D level now. I suspect that I had a multi-decade period of inadequate D.

[sentinel]

It's another thread (or 10) but what's adequate D for you, Niner - 2,000 iu? 4?

My D consumption has crept up over the past couple years. I think that the apparent suppression of infections may have kicked in around 1500 IU or so; maybe more. At the time of my most recent 25-OH D test, I think I was taking closer to 2000, maybe more, and I had a pretty good level of 46 ng/ml. At the moment I'm taking 2500 IU from a gelcap formulation, and about 1200 IU on average in a dry formulation from a multi and Jarrow Bone Up. I tend to discount the effect of the dry formulation unless it's taken with a lot of fat, which I usually don't. I'll get another 25-OH D level in a couple months, and a bone scan in the spring. A while back I discovered I was osteopenic, so I'm particularly concerned about the D level now. I suspect that I had a multi-decade period of inadequate D.

Yeah, I'm playing with 4k at the moment what with the british winter etc, You've reminded me to bump my wife up (so to speak) as she has some borderline osteo issues but she pretty much takes supplements to humour me so I have to get them out for her every morning!

[edward]

It's another thread (or 10) but what's adequate D for you, Niner - 2,000 iu? 4?

My D consumption has crept up over the past couple years. I think that the apparent suppression of infections may have kicked in around 1500 IU or so; maybe more. At the time of my most recent 25-OH D test, I think I was taking closer to 2000, maybe more, and I had a pretty good level of 46 ng/ml. At the moment I'm taking 2500 IU from a gelcap formulation, and about 1200 IU on average in a dry formulation from a multi and Jarrow Bone Up. I tend to discount the effect of the dry formulation unless it's taken with a lot of fat, which I usually don't. I'll get another 25-OH D level in a couple months, and a bone scan in the spring. A while back I discovered I was osteopenic, so I'm particularly concerned about the D level now. I suspect that I had a multi-decade period of inadequate D.

Yeah, I'm playing with 4k at the moment what with the british winter etc, You've reminded me to bump my wife up (so to speak) as she has some borderline osteo issues but she pretty much takes supplements to humour me so I have to get them out for her every morning!

Lol same here!

[FunkOdyssey]

If you are sick and the doctor tells you- you must take antibiotics- would you?

Many people visit their doctor with the sniffles / common cold, and demand antibiotics for what is likely a viral infection. They should not be taking antibiotics.

Excluding that, when you are a sick and a doctor tells you that you must take antibiotics, you take your antibiotics and smile for the privilege. I had a urinary tract infection and didn't want to take antibiotics, so I spent a week or two trying to get rid of it with cranberry extract. I bet there are alot of people on this forum that would have done the same thing. Bad idea, it got up into my right kidney and could have been fatal. I was in the hospital with a temperature of 103.5. A few hours after my first dose of antibiotic, temperature came right down as well as the pain in my kidney. That's the second time in my short 28 years where I would have been dead in past centuries and my life was saved by modern medicine.

[Matt]

I think your general message funk is right, you really should take antibiotics in a situation where you could be gambling a lot by not using the medicine you have access to. However, cranberry juice is FAR less effective than D mannose for treating E coli related UTI's (which is 90% of UTI's) D mannose is far superior and bladder infections can be cured within a day or two http://www.aor.ca/ht...ducts.php?id=81

I've read a lot of anecdotal reports, I know my sister was able to avoid antibiotics when I had some spare D mannose here in the house, so I asked her to try out before taking antibiotics and it worked very well. She didn't need any antibiotics. We always have some D mannose here now in case.

That's the second time in my short 28 years where I would have been dead in past centuries and my life was saved by modern medicine.

Yeah I think this is true for a lot of us here. I would have been long gone by now with a kidney infection sometime in late 2003 or 2004. Maybe I had earlier treatments that saved my life too!

Edited by Matt, 23 December 2008 - 11:35 PM.

[Dmitri]

same here... only if REALLY necessary... and never without huge doses of probiotics & some liver support.

u.s doctors prescribe antibiotics for a cold about 99% of the time... even though they have NO effect whatsoever... its disgusting

I have good luck with doctors then, none of my doctors have ever prescribed antibiotics for a flu/cold. Anyway, if I have a bacterial infection I do take the antibiotics, though I rarely get sick.

Edited by Dmitri, 26 December 2008 - 06:45 PM.

[jhowardall]

I think that generally speaking they are vastly overprescribed. I'd never go and ask the doctor for them if I just had something minor, I think we have immune systems for a reason, but I get sick so infrequently that I'd not be worried about some dangers that might be possible in the person who takes them 6 times a year, something like that. If I had strep throat or something pretty uncomfortable I'd rather just go get antibiotics than be out of commission for a week or two just so I can say I tackled it au natural.

It might be kind of pompous or stubborn of me, but in my personal experience, most of hte time the doctor either gets things wrong, can't give you any definitive answer, or just tells you what you already knew.

Edited by jhowardall, 17 June 2009 - 03:29 AM.

[hypnotoad]

For anyone who ever gets strep throat - take your anti-biotics and be glad as hell they exist. Not only have they saved my ass numerous times when I was kid with a wicked case of strep, but my mother has a damaged heart from rheumatic fever due to untreated strep throat (She grew up on a ranch in South Dakota in the late 50's and competent docs were few and far between)

Not sure why all the hate/fear of antio-botics here because my docs have never ever offered them unless I already have a serious baterial infection. What sorta docs you guys going to anyway??

[motif]

Antibiotics were one of the reasons of many problems I got later in life.
Now I know how to substitute them naturally using colloidal silver if needed,
I wish stupid doctors knew that as well.

[Destiny's Equation]

A resounding no.

I used to have an immune system abnormality, and was prone to infections. My doctors tried all kinds of antibiotics…didn’t do a thing. I would just get sicker and sicker. Finally I discovered IP-6. I take it at the onset of an illness, and it goes away in a hurry.

At one point a sinus infection got worse and worse until it spread to my brain, nearly killing me. Looking back, that sinus infection could have been EASILY nipped in the bud with some IP-6.

[niner]

A resounding no.

I used to have an immune system abnormality, and was prone to infections. My doctors tried all kinds of antibiotics…didn’t do a thing. I would just get sicker and sicker. Finally I discovered IP-6. I take it at the onset of an illness, and it goes away in a hurry.

At one point a sinus infection got worse and worse until it spread to my brain, nearly killing me. Looking back, that sinus infection could have been EASILY nipped in the bud with some IP-6.

I have to say that you are really lucky that IP6 has this effect. I've never heard it described as a generalized anti-infective. Does anyone else see this from ip6?

[rwac]

I have to say that you are really lucky that IP6 has this effect. I've never heard it described as a generalized anti-infective. Does anyone else see this from ip6?

I can't find a source for this, but I believe IP6 boosts NK cell activity.

[niner]

I have to say that you are really lucky that IP6 has this effect. I've never heard it described as a generalized anti-infective. Does anyone else see this from ip6?

I can't find a source for this, but I believe IP6 boosts NK cell activity.

I found a reference for that here. Googling phytic nk pulls up a few others. That doesn't seem like enough to eliminate all need for antibiotics for everyone, though. Remember that yeast metabolite immune booster that everyone was talking about a couple years ago? (What the hell was that called??) It was supposed to raise NK cell levels. I took it for a while, but didn't get the miraculous prevention of all illness. Maybe this sort of thing works for some people and not others.

[rwac]

I have to say that you are really lucky that IP6 has this effect. I've never heard it described as a generalized anti-infective. Does anyone else see this from ip6?

I can't find a source for this, but I believe IP6 boosts NK cell activity.

I found a reference for that here. Googling phytic nk pulls up a few others. That doesn't seem like enough to eliminate all need for antibiotics for everyone, though. Remember that yeast metabolite immune booster that everyone was talking about a couple years ago? (What the hell was that called??) It was supposed to raise NK cell levels. I took it for a while, but didn't get the miraculous prevention of all illness. Maybe this sort of thing works for some people and not others.

Yeah, It helped my dad a lot, he still takes it. I switched to epicor (because I don't eat wheat) and it's helped me a fair bit too.

[rwac]

I found a reference for that here. Googling phytic nk pulls up a few others. That doesn't seem like enough to eliminate all need for antibiotics for everyone, though. Remember that yeast metabolite immune booster that everyone was talking about a couple years ago? (What the hell was that called??) It was supposed to raise NK cell levels. I took it for a while, but didn't get the miraculous prevention of all illness. Maybe this sort of thing works for some people and not others.

It was called Diamond V XPC. I suspect that it helps people who have metabolic issues of some kind.