“I CAN’T BREATHE!”  has been a cry for help in a very serious situation for the past few weeks.   No doubt, a situation that turned out to be deadly. This is a tragedy and should not be diminished. “I CAN’T BREATHE” is also a comment made by many in other non-violent circumstances that can also become deadly.

When I was a youngster at a summer church camp I remember feeling I CAN’T BREATHE, when I had an asthma attack. Back then I did not know about inhalers and other drugs to reduce the symptoms of asthma. I also suffered from allergies and as I got older I started getting frequent episodes of bronchitis (inflammation of the bronchi).

Stupidly, at age 16, I started smoking a half-pack of cigarettes daily. When I was about 50 I woke up one night and told my wife, Barbara, that “I CAN’T BREATHE!” I thought I was going to die.  She rushed me to the hospital and they were able to give me an inhaler, oxygen and got my breathing under control.

As the years wore on I began to develop several episodes of bronchitis every year.  Seems like the docs were just prescribing more and more meds, inhalers and little else. I had to wear a mask, (OMG a mask) when I had to mow the lawn. My lung capacity started to diminish as measured by the docs when I went in for another episode of bronchitis.

Finally, I began to see the pattern here.  I finally chose to be a non-smoker.  I think I have a thick skull which my ENT confirmed (that’s another story). I used inhalers almost everyday, I was allergic to just about everything which was confirmed by the classic SKIN PRICK TEST, also called the puncture or scratch test, that checks for immediate allergic reactions to as many as 50 different substances at once. The test is usually done to identify allergies to pollen, mold, pet dander, dust mites and foods.

Oh, and did I mention, I had eczema all over my body as an 18 month old infant. As a teen-ager and young adult I could not be around cats since my inner arms at the elbow would break out in a rash which of course, I would scratch. I was basically allergic to a lot of things giving me all these symptoms.  Plus I was delivered via C-section which has proven to be a possible indicator of asthma and eczema and other reduced immunity to general allergies. And then there was all that air pollution.

I WANTED TO BREATHE! What is the connection between allergies, asthma and bronchitis I pondered?  Finally it hit me — INFLAMMATION! And then the question lingered, how do I mitigate the inflammation that’s happening as a result of an immune response?

Story to be continued …

A brief look at the science of breathing/asthma/allergies — without boring you silly.

Basically the body’s immune system’s job is to protect us from pathogens like pollen, smoke, allergens, and other foreign substances. The immune system reacts to these critters and causes the body to change viscosity of the mucus in our lungs, gut, and nose — making it thinner.  You will recognize this as a runny nose. When we get too much mucus in our lungs we have difficulty breathing. If we get an allergy on our skin it swells, gets red and itchy. The area also swells as a function of the immune system doing its job.

… And now the rest of the story. 

I started giving my body what it needed with better hydration, exercise, eating better, taking medical grade nutritional supplementation, and getting more rest. My bronchitis episodes dramatically reduced in frequency to less than one per year.  Yes, I still use my inhaler only during the peak pollen times in the spring and fall.  My doc reports that my lung capacity is now 100%. Of course, you do not want to change any medication or lifestyle protocol about your health before talking with your health care provider.

I use the following high quality products to help me breathe better consistently.

Folic acid, B6 and B12 can help reduce the negative effects of environmental stressors on DNA. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28289216/).

Vitamin D3 supports a healthy, balanced immune system. It works throughout your body to preserve healthy function, including some places you might not think about when you consider immunity, like your skin. The key role vitamin D3 plays in immune function is regulating and differentiating immune system cells. In other words, it helps to create specialized immune cells.*

I started using these vitamins along with a broad based anti-oxidant with minerals and other medical grade vitamins. On a broad basis it helps to reduce inflammation.

Click here to get the “4 Steps I’ve Used to Transform my Breathing …”.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.