NAC

[bluegardenia]

FOR THOSE WHO HAVE THICK MUCOUS: do u take nac every day? or just for periods? thanks

[cccourt1942]

Hi Blue,
     I bet Northern Italy is beautiful this time of year. 
     I'm not sure what NAC is.  I take Mucinex for mine...and it is the "cough"  med for thick coughs.  It's been discussed here numerous times.  I believe your NAC and my med function the same.
     I ordinarily take 1/2 of one pill.  I have been told not to cut sustained release tablets in half...but I do anyway.  The consumption of water is the main reason.  Well..that and the additional dryness it causes.  When I do use Mucinex, my first dosage is almost always at night. Then followed by another half the next a.m.  Very seldom have I taken this product for over two days in a row.  It works effectively for me.
      I hope others answer to help you more.  (I mean about the "every day" etc.) 
      My g'daughter is spending her spring break in Italy.  Will private message you.  She's a fourth year Latin student...quite excited.
c3

[Carolina]

I take Mucinex (generic) twice day, morning and night.

And I rinse with saline nasal spray and then use Nasacort to keep the mucus away, as well.

I take a supplement called N-Acetyl Cystine which is often referred to as NAC.  That is for my ears, my Meniere's, recommended by an otolaryngologist years ago.

Hugs.  Elaine

[Joe S.]

I do not take N-Acetyl-Cysteine. Cysteine is bad for diabetics.

[irish]

The reason we are not to cut sustained release drugs in half is because it can be very dangerous. The regular pills dissolve slowly and release the med into the body over many minutes and even hour or two depending on how fast the coating on the pill dissolves. This causes the medication to be absorbed into the blood stream in the bottom of the stomach or the small intestine and keep a therapeutic blood level for a certain number of hours. Every medication is different.

The sustained release meds are made to dissolve over a period of 20 plus hours and keep the blood level at a more sustained therapeutic rate. This works really well for many meds but is not possible or even desired in other medications. When you cut one of these sustained meds in half you will have a pill that, when swallowed could irritate your esophagus because it is already dispersing some of the medication. By the time it gets to the stomach it could literally dump the dosage of medication in ones stomach and be destroyed by the acid in the stomach.

This is like dumping the medication down the drain as many times the medication is not absorbed at all. With some meds there is a little center area in the medication that opens up when the water and stomach acid washes over it. This causes the medication to be very slowly released over many hours.  There are some blood pressure medications like this where a very precise blood level is wanted to control the blood pressure around the clock. It would be possible to have a sudden blood pressure drop that would be dangerous when one of these pills is cut in half.

One isn't saving any money by cutting a pill in half because the absorption rate is usually compromised. It sounds really good to cut them in half but only the pills that have a line on them are usually meant to be split. Thanks. Irish

[bluegardenia]

i think that my mucous, kind of glue, (yes i know that we spoke many times about this..) comes from sinus but most of all from acid reflux. the nights are terrible

[Jasper]

I take N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine 600 mg daily. It has helped keep the sinus mucous thinner and therefore promotes drainage of the sinuses. My sinuses are noticeably improved since starting NAC in 2013.

In addition, I do nasal saline rinses, which also helps.

I get my N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine from Life Extensions.

[bluegardenia]

i take it... but i dont know if it works for mucous due to reflux

[Sharon]

I've tried taking NAC but it makes my acid reflux symptoms worse.
The only thing the seems to help me with the stuffy sinuses is AVAMYS nasal spray daily.
It's prescription only.

[Nymph]

I take 600 mg daily. In another post on NAC I linked to a study showing that NAC can help prevent damage. I've been taking it since 2010 and believe that is a major reason why my dryness has not progressed. If I run out of it for a week I start going dry. For me it as important as Plaquenil.

[bluegardenia]

nymph so you take it every day since 2010 or u give it a break once in a while?

[Nymph]

I've taken it every day. The only times I have not are if I ran out by mistake or gone on a trip and forgot it. I always get dry in those cases in about a week.