Skip to main content

Vitamin D & Acid Reflux Redux

Long-time readers may recall my sinus infection that just wouldn't die. Over six months, I took antibiotics, long naps, a decongestant that gave me an allergic reaction so bad I stopped to wonder if I'd wake up the next morning. It finally ended when I came up with SWAMP and took megadoses of vitamin D, Mucinex and salt.

It's February and once again, I've been fighting off a cold for a few weeks. While SWAMP consists of taking 50,000 IU of vitamin D for two days, I've had to take 40,000 IU for the past several days to keep my cough from getting worse. I'm not the only one who's taken large doses like this long term. Jeff T. Bowles, a layman, wrote and self-published a book called THE MIRACULOUS RESULTS OF EXTREMELY HIGH DOSES OF THE SUNSHINE HORMONE VITAMIN D3 MY EXPERIMENT WITH HUGE DOSES OF D3 FROM 25,000 to 50,000 to 100,000 IU A Day OVER A 1 YEAR PERIOD (caps in original) about his research and experiences. Bowles is a little crazy, and his problems (mostly bone and joint pain) are much different from mine. The book badly needs an editor. But it has some of the freshest thinking I've seen in a long time and Bowles has clearly done a lot of reading on the subject. He suggests (based on reading Vitamin K2 and the Calcium Paradox and an article on vitamin D toxicity by Chris Masterjohn, he recommends taking vitamin K2 if you're going to take large doses of D3. With that in mind, I think that SWAMP can be done, if necessary, for longer than two days when necessary.

The other part of SWAMP is taking Mucinex and salt. Several days ago, the convenience store in my building was out of Mucinex, so I bought Su-Phedrine PE (phenylephrine HCl). I had to double the dose to get decongested (I used to take two regular Sudafeds, often, before going low-carb and wheat-free). I finally realized today that this was causing my acid reflux to return, since nothing I was eating or drinking should have caused it. The drug is a methylxanine, and according to drugs.com,

Methylxanthines increase gastric acidity and may also relax lower esophageal sphincter, which can lead to gastric reflux into the esophagus. Therapy with products containing methylxanthines should be administered cautiously in patients with significant gastroesophageal reflux.

Drugs.com also lists nervousness, bleeding, loss of appetite, headache and confusion as side effects (I've had them all), among others, including raised blood glucose concentrations. It would be nice if this were mentioned on the box. I've also noticed the side effects are worse when I'm under more stress.

I'm going back to Mucinex (guaifenesin), which doesn't cause any reactions in me.

Comments

tess said…
in anybody else, i'd be concerned about them balancing vitamin A with their Ds, but i'm confident you have it covered! :-)

i ended up conquering my frequent sinus infections with echinacea and goldenseal in combination. have you gone the herbal route?
Lori Miller said…
Good point about the vitamin A. I eat liver once a week and my daily vitamin pill has A in it, so I think I good.

I'd had sinus problems most of my life, and I've tried herbal remedies. Maybe I didn't take enough or didn't take the right thing, but they didn't have any effect on me.

SWAMP requires an antibiotic, antiinflammatory and mucus thinner to kill the bio, open (uninflame) the sinus passages and let them drain. (Imagine your sinuses as a stream that's been blocked and become a swamp.) It looks like echinacea and goldenseal have all that covered. Just add salt!

What doses do you take, and for how long?
tess said…
when it was bad, i'd take a whole dropper-full of the combined tincture in water three times a day. tastes NASTY, but using kahlua as a chaser gave me a reward for doing it. ;-) about a week of that, and then lay off a week -- repeat if needed. i did this even before the days i began using a neti-pot, and i have to get really run down to get another infection.

Popular posts from this blog

Dana Carpender's Podcast; Dr. Davis on YouTube; Labor Day Sales

Dana Carpender, who's written several recipe books and other works on low-carb, has a podcast and is still writing articles at carbsmart.com. She's a terrific writer and amateur researcher (otherwise known as reading , as Jimmy Dore jokes ). I use her book 500 Low-Carb Recipes all the time and I'm looking forward to hearing more from her. I've embedded her podcast on my blog (click on the three lines at the top right if you don't see it, or go to Spotify or other podcast source if you're getting this by email). Carbsmart.com doesn't seem to have a blog feed, so if you want to see the latest posts there, you can sign up for notifications at their site. Dr. Davis has been putting a lot more videos on YouTube, so I've added his channel to the lineup. Click on the three lines on my blog if you don't see it, or go to his channel here .  * * * * * Primal Kitchen is having a Labor Day sale-- 20% off everything. They sell high quality collagen powder, con...

Fermented bread and butter pickle recipe ft. L. Plantarum

After Dr. Davis said the other night that  L. plantarum  may reduce some of the effects of the herbicide glyphosate (which is everywhere), I'm re-running my recipe for fermented bread and butter pickles. Pickling cucumbers naturally have  L. plantarum  bacteria on them, and fermenting them with some brown sugar multiplies these bacteria. (Just don't use chlorinated water to wash them.) And if you're growing your own cucumbers, avoid spraying the fruits with  Bacillus thuringiensis , or Bt (leaves and vines are OK). It's unclear what effect a big dose of Bt would have on humans. Another benefit of DIY pickles: no emulsifiers like polysorbate 80, which is a common ingredient in pickles. If you have GI problems, it could be from emulsifiers. These sweet-and-sour pickles are the tastiest I've ever made. There's just a little added sugar (some of which the bacteria will consume) and turmeric that gives the pickles their bright color.  Special equipment Quar...

Collagen-filled Low Carb Burritos

Low-carb, grain-free Mexican food is hard to find, but it's easy to make your own at home. This recipe has an authentic ingredient: carne de lengua, or beef tongue. Don't be put off: beef tongue is tender, delicious, and full of collagen. Look for it directly from farmers in your area. To cook it, cut it in 1" to 1-1/2" slices and pressure cook for one hour. Enjoy the delicious broth as a bonus. Ingredients 1 slice cooked beef tongue, peeled and cut into small cubes 1 egg wrap (I use these  from Egglife) 1/4 cup cooked black or pinto beans Chili pepper Oregano Garlic (powdered or minced) Cumin Guacamole (with no emulsifiers) Salsa Shredded cheddar cheese Sour cream or homemade cream cheese  with no emulsifiers  Put the egg wrap on a plate and put the beef and beans down the middle of it. Sprinkle with the herbs and spices. Wrap, turn over and microwave for 1-2 minutes. Spoon salsa over the burrito and sprinkle with cheese. Add guacamole and sour cream or homemade crea...

15% Off Starter Culture

Starter culture for the wonderful cream cheese I made is 15% off for the next two weeks (through June 18, 2025). The shop (BacillusBulgaricus.com) also offers rennet and starter for other cheeses, yogurt, kefir, kombucha, sour cream, fermented vegetables, and more. They ship to 118 countries across six continents. The coupon code is LORI_sekd3tkb at bacillusbulgaricus.com .  Photo from Pexels .

Cardio: A Waste of Valuable Dance Time

"I'd rather hold a girl in my arms than a football." -Joe DeCicco, friend and dancing fanatic Have you heard that it takes a woman 77 hours of exercise to lose a kilogram of fat? (For us Americans, that's half a pound.) That's according to a study cited by Dr. John Briffa .(1) The women who huffed and puffed three hours a week for a year ended up 4.4 pounds lighter than the sedentary women. That doesn't surprise me: my own weight loss involved a lot less exercise than what I'd been doing. I did no cardio workouts, just strength training . I had more time and energy for dancing, which is a stress reliever, helps keep me in shape, and it's a ton of fun. It's not expensive to dance (as long as you stay away from the studios). I've found excellent lessons at clubs where the teachers really care about the students getting it. Here in Denver, there are dancing clubs that are run by nonprofit organizations, where the prices are reasonable and...