A double lung transplant patient thanks a $10 cold medicine for saving him from Covid.
Amanda Jean, 27, said in a video that over-the-counter Cold-Eeze lozenges “saved my life not only when I had Covid,” but also when she was struck by a cold this winter.
Ms. Jean, who is awaiting her second lung transplant, is at high risk of normally infections turning into fatal pneumonia because of her immune-suppressing medications and damage to her lungs.
But she said that after experiencing symptoms such as shortness of breath, congestion and chest pain, she took a Cold-Eeze tablet – which cleared her illness within minutes.
The small business owner from upstate New York called the remedy “magic cough drops” and said she has used it regularly to relieve multiple illnesses.
Amanda Jean, 27, from upstate New York, says she relies on Cold-Eeze lozenges to get through the winter season. These help cure colds and Covid, she says, even claiming they saved her life
Ms Jean told DailyMail.com: 'When I had Covid (in October 2023), I had significant shortness of breath, congestion and chest pain.
'Any illness I get because of my lung condition is always worse than a normal person.
'But I took the lozenges every three hours because that's what it says, and they would really help me with my illness; many symptoms would disappear or (become less severe).”
Ms Jean, who had a lung transplant when she was one and a half after being diagnosed with a form of lung disease that prevents her body from producing enough fluid to keep the lungs from sticking together.
Doctors said when she got the transplant there was only a 50 percent chance she would live to six years – but she has now more than quadrupled that estimated lifespan.
However, now she needs a second transplant because her immune system is rejecting her current organs.
This leaves her requiring oxygen and unable to perform many daily tasks, including walking for long periods of time.
Speaking about the lozenges, Ms Jean said: 'I don't know what's in this f****** but… these saved my life, not just when I had Covid, but now.
“I don't know what they do, but I can take one, and twenty minutes later I feel like a brand new person.”
'Am I bothered by something? Away. Chestpain? Away. Stuffy nose? Away. A sore throat? Away.'
She added: 'They're like cough drops, but they're magical cough drops.
'If you currently have a respiratory condition and just feel like it, I recommend this to everyone. Take them, I swear they saved my life.”
Mrs. Jean is at high risk of mild infections such as coughs and colds progressing to life-threatening pneumonia because the immune system suppresses the medications she needs to take
The above shows normal lungs (left) and those of Mrs. Jean (right). It reveals more scarring on the lungs, which is a hallmark of her condition interstitial lung disease
Ms Jean (pictured above as a baby) was diagnosed with a genetic lung problem when she was just six months old. She has a mutation in a gene that prevents her body from producing the fluid that keeps the lungs from sticking together
She said her video, which has almost 700,000 views, was not sponsored by Cold-Eeze – although “I wish I was.”
Cold-Eeze lozenges, which claim to shorten the duration of colds by 42 percent, use the active ingredient zinc gluconate glycine to suppress viruses.
They claim this prevents the virus from replicating in the body, delaying infection.
Doctors recommend taking the lozenges as soon as warning signs of a cold appear so that they can completely dissolve in the mouth.
Adults should take no more than six tablets per day and children no more than four tablets per day.
Ms Jean was diagnosed with the genetic condition interstitial lung disease after doctors discovered she had a mutation in her ABCA3 gene, which is responsible for producing a fluid that keeps the lungs from sticking together.
An estimated 700,000 Americans have interstitial lung disease. Some are born with it, while for others it develops later in life.
Patients live on average two years and six months after their diagnosis.
Those who were male, older, and had more comorbidities were unlikely to live as long.
Her parents noticed she had a breathing problem when she was six months old, which led to a double lung transplant at age one and a half in St. Louis, Missouri.
She spent almost a year in the hospital waiting for donor lungs and then recovered from the procedure before being discharged home.
Initially, the lungs worked well and Mrs. Jean could do everything other children could do – from drama to dance and gymnastics.
At one point she went to the gym five days a week.
But shortly after Covid struck in March 2020, her body began rejecting organs – which has led to breathing problems and a struggle with her daily life.
A lung transplant is considered failed when the immune system recognizes the organ as foreign and begins to attack it.
About 30 percent of lung transplant patients experience organ rejection in the first year, but the risk decreases the longer a person has the new organ.
Mrs. Jean told me earlier RochesterFirst: 'Over the past three years I have gone from being able to keep up with and do almost everything, to a point where I can no longer keep up with anyone.
'I will use oxygen (from the beginning of 2023).'
Ms. Jean is now raising money for her second double lung transplant through a GoFundMe. It has so far raised $15,703 out of a $20,000 goal to cover costs associated with the procedure.