Magnesium
★★★★★
I also started taking N-acetyl cysteine to help get rid of the wheezing. I took 1/2 a tablet (300 mgs) twice a day.
I think asthma could be helped by this method.
(Ny, Ny, Us)
03/10/2010
Update: It seems I had the flu. The 1st thing I did was to get intravenous vitamin C (35 grams in 1 liter of water). This cleared up the congestion immediately (1/2 way thru the drip) and made it possible to sleep without breathing thru my mouth. After that I cut down on sodium and switched to oral magnesium ascorbate plus n-acetyl cysteine. This cut down on the coughing. I eventually increased the NAC to 600 mgs 3 times a day. These things didn't completely get rid of the cough. I'm now trying cayenne gargle and taking cayenne capsules and it seems pretty effective although I haven't found the right level yet to completely eliminate the cough.
(Ny, Ny, Us)
03/20/2010
Conclusion:
The cough is almost completely gone now. I had a post-nasal drip for years. I also would have to start clearing my throat if I would talk alot. I now realize that the flu just increased a problem that I've had for a long time.
The n-acetyl cysteine seemed to be the main thing that got rid of the cough. The dosage would vary according to need. If I started coughing I would take it - between 300 and 600 mgs. - and would cut down when my stomach started to feel irritated.
Oral vitamin C and cayenne were also helpful. I would take about 150 mgs of sodium ascorbate along with the NAC. I was taking between an 1/8 and 1/4 tsp of the cayenne and also putting it on food.
Mama's Cough Remedies
★★★★★
If he didn't have a cold, what did he have? Mono? Strep? Whooping Cough? Bronchitis? Croup? The flu?
Well, whatever it was, it had to be viral or bacterial and I could fight either with garlic, vitamin C and elderberry, so I went full force on treatment.
- I started giving him a small clove of garlic, crushed, mixed with raw honey four times a day. (Antiviral, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory.)
- I gave him home made elderberry syrup 3 times a day. (for immune support)
- I gave him vitamin C every hour or two.
- I gave him warm baths with 1/2 cup baking soda and 1/4 cup citric acid. (I think this is alkalizing.)
- I made chicken soup.
The night time cough was the worst. But the mighty onion came to the rescue.
- I chop one small or 1/2 of a large onion and put it in a bowl near his head. Yes, the room smells strongly by morning but it is the very best for a nighttime cough.
Within 12 hours he was much, much better.
Then two of his brothers started to cough. Well, I figured I would nip that in the bud. I started to give them elderberry syrup. I gave them a couple of doses of garlic. But mostly, I gave them a lot of vitamin C. I can't quite believe how much that helped.
I have been reading a lot about vitamin C, including The Clinic Guide to the Use of Vitamin C. Truly fascinating. http://www.seanet.com/~alexs/ascorbate/198x/smith-lh-clinical_guide_1988.htm
I used Dr. Suzanne Humphries' calculations for how to give large doses of vitamin C (that she uses to neutralize the whooping cough toxin.)
- Between 200 - 375 mg of vitamin C per kg of child's body weight every 24 hours.
One of my children reached bowel tolerance quickly (diarrhea) so I cut him back.
But I didn't give large amounts at one time. I divided the total by 10 and gave it hourly or so during the day.
I don't know what they had (it wasn't whooping cough though because I was able to way cut back on the vitamin C and the cough didn't return. For whooping cough you have to continue the diligent C protocol for the duration of the illness - 100 days, but supposedly it really makes the illness quite tolerable.)
I used the sodium ascorbate form of vitamin C. 1 part Nutribiotic ascorbic acid powder plus 1/2 part of baking soda to make my own sodium ascorbate.
That's my story and I am sticking to it. :)
~Mama to Many~
Mullein
★★★★★
I first tried this a few years ago when I had the most dreadful chesty phlemy cough. After 1/2 hour of taking the ready made shopped bought tincture it all came up! Funnily not by coughing. I blew my nose and I am not joking when I say, for about 20 mins non stop! The relief of being able to breathe better and not having a chesty cough was incredible! I carried on having the chesty cough later that day but then just took more of the tincture.
Since discovering ACV on this site, I think that would be good to take as well and seems to speed up the healing process too!
Mullein
★★★★★
N-Acetycysteine
There is an amino supplement form hidden in your local drug store as a mucus clearing medicine to help clear breathing passages, which goes (at least in Thailand) under the label brand of Flumucil, Mysolven, NAC-Long etc. This is the only bioavailable form of the amino acid cysteine. (N-Acetyl amino acid holds great promise in alternative medicine, but I think many doctors don't know about this.) An example is N-Acetyl Carnitine for cataracts. If you know your biochemistry, N-Acetycysteine is an antioxidant and very helpful when used alongside with selenium. Holds promise for SARS, bird flu, AIDS and cancer due to its antioxidant properties. The amount is either 100 mg., 200 mg., 800 mg. My mom and my sister are o.k. with 100 mg, but I use up to 800 mg.
For emergencies in stopping coughs, I eat very small crystals of menthol. The cough medicine I mentioned here is better than any cough medicine in the market. No kidding. I used to have persistent coughs which lasted 6 months, and at that time I was only 22 years old and supposedly the prime of my life!
Vinegar and food grade hydrogen peroxide is another story which reduces sore throat in minutes, but seems to be helpful in coughs by reducing the irritation.
Natural Cough Syrup
★★★★★
1/2 cup lemon juice
12 garlic cloves
1/4 onion
1/2 cup of honey
teaspoon powder vitamin c
pinch of cayenne pepper
we don't always measure exactly just dump and make according to taste. it actually tastes really good.
(Louisville, Kentucky)
03/30/2008
★★★★★
Tried the remedy from Michelle from Lamora, Mexico. The NATURAL COUGH SYRUP Posted on 3/6/2008. I did just as she said except added a couple of tablets of turmeric also. My son coughed of few times and then finally slept thru the night, no coughing. My husband had the same cough. He took it and he stopped coughing. There must be something to it. Thanks so much Michelle for your post. Thanks to everyone who makes this site run.
Olive Oil, Apple Cider Vinegar and Lemon
★★★★★
Olive Oil, Apple Cider Vinegar and Lemon
★★★★★
Oregano
★★★★★
Back a few years ago, I was studying “Greek Folk Remedies for Excess Phlegm”. Oregano brewed into a tea was used to eliminate excess phlegm responsible for a congested respiratory tract. Thyme tea is always recommended by Hippocrates for coughing, but it always makes me feel wonky after I drink it. Oregano does not.
Yvette told me that when her kiddos get sick, she always makes them this oregano tea.
It's simple to make with 3 ingredients:
- 1 TBSP Oregano leaf – I buy mine at Dollartree in the spice aisle.
- Honey – It helps with the taste and has health benefits for cough.
- Water – 3 cups
In making a herbal tea used for medical purposes. You will need a pot with a lid. This will keep the steam in the pot so the medical properties won't wick out with the steam.
Also, don't boil the water on high heat. Make the tea on low simmer for about 10 minutes after the water starts simmering.
Allow the water in the pot to cool. Again, so the medical properties don't wick up in the steam once the lid is lifted.
If you don't believe this procedure makes a difference, try making your home tea using the above heating process and the taste of your tea will be like night and day. Learned this from the cook at Sonny Bar-B-Que. That's why their tea taste so good.
How does it taste? Like I put a handful of weeds from the field into a pot and made a tea out of it and added honey. The good part is you will get use to it.
Is Oregano tea safe for toddlers? I cannot get a clear answer from any of the website gurus. It really comes down to the child, possible allergies, current medications, etc… when in doubt, consult your pediatrician. However, Yvette growup on drinking oregano tea, her kids also drink it so it is really your choice.
Oregano
★★★★★
Oregano
★★★★★
Dosage: 3 drops in a 8 ounce glass of water or 1 capsule. I take it one a day during the inter months and I'm 63 and going strong. I take no rx meds at all.
Oregano
After continuing the previous protocol, I finally dug out the oil of oregano. I am substituting the that for the GSE. I am much better, much faster too! As an added bonus, I finally slept through the night.
Another huge hint on taking the oil of oregano. Here is what I have learned to do. Fix a glass of water with two teaspoons of apple cider vinegar, a teaspoon or so of honey, and probably a teaspoon or more of baking soda. Stir it up and put about 5 or six drops of the oil of oregano under your tongue. Then let it sit a minute or so and then drink the glass mixture. It will prevent the overwhelming icky taste from gagging you out and yet you will still get all the benefits! ( I believe the baking soda helps neutralize the acidity a bit.)
I hope this helps someone out there. This is working very well for me and has stopped my cough. It is breaking up and I feel sooo much better. What little cough there is, is finally productive and not that nagging dry stuff that rips you apart.
Oregano
★★★★★
Oregano
★★★★★
Over the Counter
★★★★★
That last time I had bronchitis, I coughed so hard that I lost my voice for over six weeks, and my doctor eventually diagnosed me with chronic laryngitis. (Fortunately, once I got rid of the cough, I did get my voice back, although it took some time.)
I stumbled on this cure by accident, because I coughed so hard when I was sleeping, not one time, but on two separate occasions, that I woke up with a pounding, nauseating headache!
I took the Walmart equivalant of a name brand pain reliever for migraines. (The name brand says migraine, not the Walmart brand). It contains 250 mg acetaminophen, 250 mg aspirin, and 65 mg caffeine. My cough got better for a day or so, (but I didn't realize it at the time) then worse again, and when it happened the second time (waking up coughing with that horrible headache), I took this pain reliever again.
That's when I realized that my cough was better. I have no idea why this worked for me, but this is what finally cured my cough/bronchitis, and it didn't take a long time. Just a couple of days afterward of taking the pain reliever according to directions, every 6 hours, or at least when I remembered. And I had a really terrible cough! Anyone that's had bronchitis knows how it's worse at night when you're trying to sleep, so I was exhausted...
Since then, I've wondered about Ted's swine flu cure, and if it's just the aspirin in the pain reliever that cured my cough, or if it's all the ingredients combined, but it works for me. I did get a bit of a cough sometime after that, but I took a couple of doses of the pain reliever, and it knocked it right out that time.
In the past, if I started getting a runny nose, sneezing, coughing, I'd feel like, "oh, no!" because it would progress to bronchitis, but I've finally found something that oddly enough, keeps me from getting to that point. Hope this helps someone else, because it's cheap, easy, and effective for me. (No more antibiotics! Yippee!)