Low Immune System During Pregnancy

What has always helped me, pregnant or not is Vitamin C, zinc and when I get sick acupuncture. My prenatals by Super Nutrition have 1000 mg of vitamin C and I take an extra 50 mg of zinc with copper by Solaray. Fruits and veggies will certainly help as well especially the ones high in vitamin C like grapefruit, oranges, lemon, limes, strawberries, tomatoes, green bell peppers, potatoes, etc...
Hope you feel better soon.

Do you have a neti pot?
If not, call your local drug store, Walmart, or healthfood store and see if they carry one...RUN purchase one right away. They work wonders on sinus infections.

Do your best to avoid dairy products and sugar during a sinus infection. They exacerbate the issue. Sugar lowers immunity.
Do your best to eat as meal whole raw fruits and veggies (organic), as possible.

Vitamin D3....excellent for keeping your immunity up.
Highly recommended during pregnancy and while nursing.
The sun is your best source of D3 but we never seem to get enough, eh?

Dr. Mercola has online articles (mercola.com) all about Vit D, how to take it, and all the benefits. He sells it, but I find it quite pricey.
I found a good liquid D3 online for an excellent price. I can't remember which company...may have been vitacost...you can google it to see for yourself.
If you have a local health food store, they will carry a good brand (just may cost more than from an online source). Do not purchase vitamins from Walmart, Target, or Drug Stores...the quality is the worst.

The Health Ranger's site Natural News is another excellent source for reading materials about Vit. D.

*disclaimer*
I have no financial affiliation with any of the above mentioned people or products.

Hope this helps.
If you have any questions let me know. I LOVE this subject.

Blessings on your pregnancy.

I'm sorry you're feeling so miserable. I do think that a diet rich in fresh, raw fruits and vegetables can do wonders to your health and immune system - the scientific evidence is there. However, does anyone really eat 7-13 servings a day? I know I don't and neither does my family, so we take Juice Plus. It's a whole food supplement - it contains nothing but high quality fresh raw fruits, vegetables and grains. It's the most scientifically studies nutraceutical and all the research proves that it works, that's why I chose this one. There are so many products on the market that claim to be similar, but none have the scientific research on the product to back it up.

Let me say this - I am a Juice Plus distributor but this really is not a sales pitch. I became a distributor to pay less for it for my family; I have like 3 customers because I don't actively pursue sales unless someone asks me about it. If someone asks me about it, though, I can talk your ear off about how much I believe in it. I was diagnosed with breast cancer almost 2 years ago and once I started going through treatment my immune system was extremely compromised. I continued taking my Juice Plus throughout and never got sick. Even now, having two daughters (3 and 4 years old) in preschool, they are around other kids at school who are sick and mine rarely get sick. If they or I start showing or feeling symptoms we take extra Juice Plus for a couple of days and whatever it is usually goes away after 3 days or so. I believe in it wholeheartedly, and I love knowing that if I'm not feeling like preparing fully balanced meals every day at least my whole family is getting the necessary fruits and veggies through their JP; it's a safety net of sorts.

Told you I could talk your ear off....if you're still reading at this point and want to know more feel free to contact me at ____@____.com, or you can check out my website, www.JPGotHealth.com

I hope you find relief one way or another soon!

Updated

I just read this in Parents magazine and thought it was worth mentioning because someone below mentioned getting a neti pot...

The article states that irrigating your nose too often may do harm. Long-term use of nasal wash rinses away the defensive properties of mucus, changing the chemistry of the nose so it can't protect itself from infection. If you have a cold, it's perfectly fine to use the rinse for up to two weeks, but avoid using it longer.

Best wishes!

For the sinus infection. Try using a Neti pot. You can find it at CVS or Walgreens or any health food store. Opra reccommended it for cleansing the sinues and i found that it helped me more than anything else. For fighting off infections naturally without drugs or anitbiotics try Soverign Silver. It's safe to take during pregnancy and while nursing. Silver is a natural antibiotic, anti fungal and antibacterial. Be sure to only use the brand "Soverign Silver" since the molecules are small enough to easily be eliminated from you body. Also, eliminate dairy to reduce inflammation and mucous and try drinking more fresh veggie juices and more water.

Prenatal vitamins have a lot of folic acid which is great for a growing baby but make it harder for mom to absorb zinc. Zinc helps your immune system fight infections. Ask your OB about zinc supplements.

My doctor allowed me to take Mucinex. I don't know if you have any special situation but it helped me. It seems like I always get a cold or something when I am pregnant and can't take much. I would just take my prenatal vitamins and yes, I am sure it will be good for you to eat more veggies and stuff. Congratulations on your baby. I am 7 months along with my third child and I have only been sick with a cold once thankfully. Hope you feel better.

I absolutely recommend a neti pot for prevention and acupuncture if you get a sinus infection!!!!! Neti pots are cheap and most come with little saline packets (use as little as you want--I like a third of a packet) to mix in the warm water. I have allergies, and use the neti pot once every day or two instead of medication and I'm doing so much better than I was on the medication.

Last time I had a sinus infection, I had acupuncture and I could not believe how well it worked. Amazing! I felt most of the pressure go away immediately, and it was all gone in a day or two. And my energy bounced right back.

The best part is that there are NO side effects to the neti pot or the acupuncture. All completely healthy for you and your baby.

Good luck and have a wonderful pregnancy!

Talk to your doctor. I got alot of headcolds in my second pregancy that lead to ear infections. I got antibotics for the ear infections and was told to take sudafed to help prevent infections when i got the colds. Make sure to ask which sudafed to take when prego, there is alot of choices. Also, ask about taking something like Zertec or claritine. Zertec helped me go from severing at a level 8 to 4. Claritine stuffed me up worse. This year the allergies are worse due to late spring and now everytghing is in bloom and leading to alot of problems like infections. Change your air conditioning filter too.

HI E.,

You've had a lot of good suggestions here, none of which I disagree with. The first thing I would do however would be look at your prenatal vitamin. If your immune system is this low then you are probably not absorbing anything of what you are taking. Ask the doctor how the nutrients are delivered to your system and if he doesn't know then it's probably just being ingested and voided. These types of vitamins usually give you 15% of what they say they have in them, at best.

I take an absorbable multivitamin/mineral complex that is guaranteed to absorb. They have a prenatal version as well. (Bobbie McCaughey used these vitamins during her pregnancy and delivered 7 healthy babys, full term and full body weight.) After you determine if your prenatal is sufficient or not, then start on these other suggestions. Let me know if you want more info on the vitamin I take. I can send you some documents on their absorbability.

Congratulations on your little one!

M.

Juice Plus and NAET treatment because you may be allergic to all those great things you are putting in your body! People can be very allergic to Vitamin C, A, calcium, grains, hormones, egg, and things you are constantly eating. Dr Fergang is the best and she is in Weston...worth the drive!

Dear E.,

Yes, there absolutely is a whole food supplement that has Evidence Based Research that PROVES it improves your immune system. It is called Juice Plus, have you heard of it? It is currently being tested on pregnant woman by the University of Mississppii with major benefits. If you are open to more information please contact me. In the interim, please check out an 11 minute video on my website www.vineripejuiceplus.com; a picture is worth a thousand words. You can also click on what experts have to say to hear from well known professionals.

Be well,
c.

Get a netty pot and clean out those sinuses- you can get them at Bed Bath&Beyond. Follow instructions-
Probiotics can boost your immune system, I like the one fr Simplexity because it also has blue green algae in it, which has studies proving it also boosts the immune system.
best, k

There's plenty of immune building nutrients you can supplement with... vitamin C, A, E, B-complex, Omega-3 essential fatty acids, grape seed extract, selenium, alpha lipoic acid, etc. You should use some of the green superfood drinks and avoid processed foods - fresh fruits and veggies are good, refined carbs and fried foods are immune suppressing.
When you do catch something, MMS (miracle mineral solution) and zeolites and certain herbs are good to help clear the condition. The pharmaceutical meds just hide symptoms, they are not the best things to use when you are sick and they leave you vulnerable to recurrent infections.