NAC (N-Acetyl Cisteine) and Zinc Gluconate Inflammation relief ? Me +!

[Rick Sanchez]

Is anyone else taking, (or taken), NAC? If yes what are your feelings and results?

Mine have been great, I have gotten better, but now after over six years, consider myself feeling well for the first time.  Could it be working on a correlating illness? Absolutely.  Work great for everyone?  I have no clue.  As with anything, do your research and ask. Below is a disorganized, probably too detailed, winding account.  Maybe someone can glean something worthwhile from it.  The virtual elimination of brain fog, and sinking feeling when stressed is a big benefit for myself.   

 

     I began taking both back in June (ish) of 2021, NAC - one 600mg daily, and Zinc Gluconate - one 50mg daily.  Something wonderful happened.  I was already taking Vitamin D, daily, and a trace mineral, that would get this flagged, probably , and have continued with them.  I did not begin taking them for Celiac related issues, rather for a certain "other reason of the times", let's not go there.  It was not immediate, I'd say over a week, maybe two.  General inflammation, real physical depression, and certain ideations disappeared.  I had two courses of Iver.... concurrent with beginning the NAC and Zinc, so I was unsure of what the for lack of a better word, "the miracle" was.   I got "glutened" twice in the months between, both times, feeling it come on I was not even sure gluten was the culprit, as it did not feel as bad in ANY aspect as on ALL previous "glutenings" in the 6+ years since going gluten-free.  Nor did the lingering inflammation, brain fog, and general week-long crappy feeling persist.  I am very late diagnosed, at 35, I was not just at the edge of the cliff, but grasping a thin root a couple feet from the top.  It's been a slow, but very positive outcome build back, I have gotten better this whole time, even through the two-month-gluten-free-stage and my joints not being so inflamed every single one of them popping, I got better.  Until a few months ago, at no point would I have considered myself well, just better. 

     Fast forward to about two weeks ago, through some type of foolish complacency, I am only human, I stopped taking them religiously.  Three days ago, I got "glutened", the sinking unwell feeling slipped in, progressed right into someone taking a hot crowbar and trying to remove my over-pressured noggin from my spine, the balled up knot somewhere in my bowels, joints aching, and old injuries reminding right where they were.  Went straight to the Ibuprofen, Tylenol, and a Benadryl, (my personal go-to cocktail, I am not advocating it), blanket over the head hoping to fart, poop, or at least pass out.  Between that night and the following A.M. the pipes began to clear, but the "Brain Fog" started creeping in, and the joints were aching.  I get extremely hungry after a "glutening", I mean "mass quantities" needed.  Whether it is my body craving something it needs, or just needing something to push through, or stressed and wanting comfort calories? 

      Bringing us to my second genius move as of late, blaming it on some corn chips, I jump right into a pan of my homemade meat balls from the day before.  I use generic gluten-free Rice "Crispies" and gluten-free Corn Chex to make a simulation of bread crumbs, and some meat balls that would make my Italian ancestors proud.  Within the next hour, right back to miserable, I get the go-to combo, and the Tylenol is empty, I go to the "Dr. drawer" and see the NAC and Zync while looking for a backstocked tylenol, took them along with the go-to.  Within two hours, the tension eased up, both joints and bowels, not gone, but not getting worse.  Sometime that evening the pipes began to clear on their own.  Now this is the "miracle", please forgive the graphic details, but the background and stage is necessary.  Through my early twenties, undiagnosed, my body was still evidently well enough to try to expel gluten?  After a night of Budweiser, projectile diarrhea would probably be accurate.  Somewhere around thirty, things seemed to go opposite, constant constipation with, diarrhea flowing around "marbles" and the marbles staying.  Even after going gluten-free, pretty regular normally but things wouldn't expel when "glutened",  I have a previous times, in bad cases, flushed with Epsom salt, orally, and a lot of water. Not pleasant, but better than a prolonged reaction.  Sometime during the night after the second "glutening" things flushed.  Now there are a whole lot of conditions that i would love to make me feel young again.  This was not on the list, but I'll take it.  I doubled down on the NAC, still well within recommended dosages.  On day one after, and I feel like maybe day four without it.

 

**The cause of this "glutening", I think:  The same brand as always generic rice "crispies", noticed after the fact, no longer say gluten-free.   They do not say they contain barley syrup, they do not have processed on wheat equipment, but I will not be eating anymore of that brand.  Perhaps it was "supply chain shortages", or a fluke?  Either way, I should have looked better.

[Scott Adams]

Thanks for sharing, as I've not heard of this amino acid before. It looks like some people with dry eye or lung issues take it:

https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-1018/n-acetyl-cysteine-nac

It's interesting that it's helped your symptoms, and hopefully others will chime in here about their experiences with it.

[Rick Sanchez]

Thanks, and your welcome, I hope this helps someone, or many if it works widely.   I went on a whole ramble, but the point I should have emphasized strongly was that I had no idea of it's use for Celiac's or other accompanying illnesses.  I was talking with a buddy on the phone that also has an autoimmune disease, early MS, and it came up.  A quick DuckDuckGo search brought up several people saying the exact same thing as what I was telling him earlier. 

[Kimkat11230]

I used to take NAC very often for my lungs since I had my first covid. I did aware that NAC reduce my brain fog symptoms after my accidental gluten attack and also help me to regain my normal brain function few days after attack. I love it as it helped me a lot.

[Celiacmanbill]

NAC is great but I have a problem smoking more when I use it since my lungs feel better than I make them feel worse but it does help my stomach and everything else helps me feel homeostasis