The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Turmeric
Posted by Susan (Yuma, AZ) on 11/15/2007
★★★★★
I started taking turmeric, 1/4 teaspoon once a day in about 1/4 cup of water after my mother told me it quited her cough. I have a cronic cougn especially when my body temperature changes. It is amazing my cough has stopped. However, I have terrible knee pain and sciatic pain but am not sure if I am feeling much relief. I will continue and see what happens.
Oregano
Posted by Tasha (Seattle, Washington) on 05/14/2007
★★★★★
My cough went on for more than a month, often keeping me up at night. I tried chewing on the clove of garlic each day but it didn't lessen the symptoms. Finally fearing a more serious medical situation, I consulted this website. I drank the apple cider vinegar and water in the morning followed by 4 oil of oregano capsules throughout the day. I made sure to expectorate the phlegm that I could and by the next day, my lungs were clear. THANK YOU!
Olive Oil, Apple Cider Vinegar and Lemon
Posted by Tash (London, UK) on 03/20/2007
★★★★★
I had a very bad and nagging cough since i had a flu. Everything like millions of cough syrups and ginger and lemon and honey and all other things and cures were suggested me but nothing worked. I thought I would choke and die with the enormity of the cough; then I read this on google and after reading all the confident e-mails, I decided to try apple Cider Vinegar with Olive Oil. Initially it did not work but I think that was because mine was really bad cough, but then slowly and steadily it brought me back to normality and now I am good as new. Thanks to the person who put it here first. This works, maybe not instantly but it does with regular morning and evening doses. It is better than any cough syrup, I promise you that. THANKS!!!:
Oregano
Posted by Jennifer (Albuquerque, NM) on 12/03/2006
★★★★★
I tried ACV, the spicy tomato tea, the onion halves with brown sugar, and the garlic soup. Especially the tomato tea and ACV brought some temporary relief from a month-long cough and sinus congestion that I'd had almost as long. As far as I'm concerned, though, the #1 choice and remedy should be Oil of Oregano. I bought a jar last Tues. and began taking three per day with meals. I am so encouraged and feel at least 95% well again. After doing some research on it I now know that this is an amazing product! Perhaps it doesn't work the same for everyone but it has done so much for me in six days. I've also been using a good quality colloidal silver in a nasal spray bottle. This has probably worked alongside the Oil of Oregano for the sinus congestion. It cured a month-long cough/bronchitis and sinus congestion. I'm wondering now if I could have increased the dosage of Oil of Oregano to say four a day. I've stayed at 3/day since I couldn't find any info. to let me know if more would be too much of a good thing. Any thoughts on that?
Pickle Juice
Posted by Shirley (VA) on 11/07/2006
★★★★★
I tried Claussen Kosher Dill Pickle Juice. After reading your other post .. I tried to find something with vinegar.. I could not stop coughing badly..found pickle juice, the kind that is found in chiller section at the store.. this also has garlic in it..Work within seconds have been taking little sips. That is all as it is high in salt.. but that seems to be clearing congestion as well.
N-Acetycysteine
Posted by Ted (Bangkok, Thailand) 392 posts
The most effective cough medicine I have tried is N-Acetycysteine (a natural amino acid and modified to aid absorption). Vinegar and oregano or vinegar and garlic seems to solve sore throat the best and reduced the coughing faster. The key is to avoid sugar and cough drops as sugar accelerates viral growth causing a quick return to coughing.
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.
Warm Milk
Posted by P B (Cape Breton) on 02/20/2016
★★★★★
My coughs normally respond to cures noted on this site. Currently I'm sick with a chest cold that has come with a terrible unproductive cough - was keeping me up and none of my usual tricks worked - nor did cough syrup. I thought of how drinking milk kind of coats your throat and I thought maybe it would help get rid of that urge to cough. I warmed up a cup of 3% milk with about 1 tbsp of honey (had previously tried tea & honey with no effect) and it worked fine. I drank half the cup and was able to sleep, woke up coughing later and drank the rest, then slept the rest of the night.
Oregano
Posted by Olddude (Tn) on 12/12/2015 21 posts
★★★★★
Oil of Oregano : I mix 6 drops to 1/4cup of olive oil and apply like lotion to the soles of my feet, and legs and lower back. It is the best pain killer I have found. It works almost instantly and for hours also. We take it internally, one drop under the tongue and yes it will burn somewhat, but I chase it with water, , , get over it, it works.
Magnesium
Posted by Lisa M. (Long Island, Us) on 10/24/2014
★★★★★
I have had a cough for the past few weeks. Magnesium has really helped my lungs. I take it at night before going to sleep and haven't been waking up with coughing fits all night. Cough is slowly getting better.
Ginger
Posted by Tina (Princeton, N J) on 01/06/2017
Dear Kathi, Our daughter came home from college with a nagging cough that she had been battling for a few weeks including an ER visit when her temp spiked to 102. The docs said everything checked out ok and it was a viral infection. It was keeping her up at nights and she would wake up in the mornings unable to talk. I did all my usual remedies. Peppery hot tomato drink, apple cider vinegar with raw honey that she sipped throughout the day, and lots of Vitamin C. All these remedies helped but did not get rid of the cough. Until I started her on Umcka cough syrup and Vitamin D, 5,000 IU. She slept through the night and within 2 days the cough's gone. Hope this helps. All the best with getting rid of your cough.
Turmeric
Posted by Joan (Mi) on 04/03/2014
★★★★★
Great Home Remedy for Chest Congestion
A sure cure is 1.5 cups of milk, 1 tspn or 1/2 tspn of organic turmeric powder, 1/4 tspn black pepper powder. 5 peeled cloves of garlic.Boiled until milk is 1 cup or so. Drink as hot as you can(honey is optional).
Once just before bedtime or if possible twice (once morn n once evening) if your tummy can tolerate it. this helps to remove phelgm in the body through the stools.
Have this for 5 days only or more if your body can handle the turmeric. 5 days should be more than enough.
- 3 -4 cups of water.
- 1 tbspn whole flax seeds
- 4 pepper corns or more
- 1 large onion sliced
- 2" pc of fresh ginger smashed
- 2" cinnamon stick
Boil it all until the mix is thick and slightly slimy (with cinnamon). Drink this twice a day. It helps loosen up phelgm in the chest.
Elderberry
Posted by Ed2010 (Canada) on 11/10/2013
Change the milk brand or percentage. Try skim milk. Preservatives in milk and milk products like butter, cheese can trigger cough.
To re emphasize, it is not the milk per se. It is the preservative that is causing the reaction.
In India, for mucus or chest congestion. We will boil glass of milk with quarter teaspoon black pepper and quarter teaspoon of Turmeric powder. Add Palm Sugar and drink it for couple of days. All the sore throat, congestion, mucis, cough are gone.
Good Health
Elderberry
Posted by Mama To Many (Tennessee, Usa) on 11/11/2013
Dear Aurora,
Thanks for sharing what Elderberry and Phytocillin have done for you!
Your allergy cough sounds miserable!
I noticed Ed shared some sound wisdom. One of my sons had a cough/throat clearing thing going a few years ago that turned out to be cause by dairy. (I agree with Ed, it wasn't necessarily milk, but the processing or additives that were a problem. This son does fine on raw goat's milk, by the way.)
Another of my sons gets a cough now and again that seems to be allergy related. There are two different things he tried and both seem to help his symptoms. One is vinegar tea. 1-2 Tablespoons of Raw Unpateurized Apple Cider Vinegar and 1-2 Tablespons honey in a mug. Add hot water. Sometimes he just takes 3 or 4 nettles capsules and that works too. Nettles are great for allergies.
However, if the cough comes upon you very quickly, these things might not be very helpful as they could take a little time to take effect. You could try a spoonful of the apple cider vinegar (not delicious, at least to me! ) ACV can stop many issues very quickly!
Nettles and vinegar tea can be taken daily to prevent allergy symptoms.
I hope you find relief soon. Do let us know what you try and what helps!
~Mama to Many~
Looking Up Technique
Posted by Maggie (Overland Park, Kansas) on 03/23/2013 5 posts
Whether you're coughing from allergies, flu, a cold, or horrible reflux, it gets old. Your stomach muscles ache and you're so tired! The technique is to look up while coughing. The stomach muscles don't get engaged, so you don't use them. There's no jerking backwards motion anymore, keeping your back or sciatica from hurting during the cough. Try it! Cover your mouth though. Lol!
Oregano
Posted by Jholl (Louisville, Kentucky) on 03/11/2013 27 posts
I have been battling a bad cough/cold for about two weeks. I have taken grapefruit seed extract (in pill form) for it and slippery elm to relieve the throat irritation, and apple cider vinegar to help stop the cough. Also, I have taken lysine to help clear it. I did that faithfully for several days and thought I'd kicked it. So, I slacked off for most of a day. Big mistake. It came back.
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.
Vicks on Feet
Posted by Emilyr (Portland, Or, United States) on 03/30/2011
★★★★★
I was really hoping ACV could be a simple cure for the horrible cough I've had for over 2 weeks following a sinus infection, but it has not helped. I am 36 and pregnant, saw my doctor last week, he thinks it is a random virus and not a flu, cold, or anything bacterial. I tried Robetussin at his suggestion but that did not help a bit. I alternate between mucousy coughs, and dry spasm-like coughs and feel like it is moving into my lungs...
For the last 2 days I have taken 2T raw organic ACV w/ 1T honey and a wedge of lemon in 8oz hot water, 2 doses during the day, with very little temporary relief.
The Vick's on my feet remedy DID, however, work to provide me with a blissful 8 hour break from coughing - enough relief to get a good night's rest finally. Still searching for a cure though. I have a sensitivity to Aspergillus Niger mold and suspect that might be the cause, it is prime mold season here in Portland, OR. Working up the courage to try inhaling hydrogen peroxide... Any advice is welcomed. Thanks, emily
Saline Nasal Rinse
Posted by Granny Laura (Waco, Tx, Usa) on 03/30/2011
★★★★★
The cough response is usually from sinus dripping down your throat and you need to clear your breathing passage.
One teaspoon of salt for canning and baking or pure sea salt in a quart of distilled water is the recipe for relief! You can sniff it up your nose over the sink, use a neti pot, or an eye dropper to get it to the targeted area, sinuses.
This usually stops a bad cough in its tracks, and can actually cure a sinus infection faster and better than antibiotics, without the nasty side effects of antibiotics.
This would be the number one remedy for coughs and colds in the world if it was fun to do! But, it has zero side effects and the only thing that could possibly go wrong is if you accidentally drowned yourself! Lol For you and the baby, give this a try.
When I tell a doctor that is what I use for my sinus and cough problems, they always get a smile on their faces and tell me how good it is for the problem, my lung specialist for my asthma was genuinely enthusiastic! They are always surprised at patients that don't want a quick fix antibiotic for the sniffles and hangnails, or worse yet (if possible), steroids. They don't take that stuff themselves but they didn't know they had a patient somewhere that was as smart as they are about safe cures for common problems!
Ginger
Posted by Tena (Champaign, Illinois) on 03/15/2010
★★★★★
This is what worked for my family:
Cough remedy: 1/2 cup of warm milk, 1/2 Tbsp Honey, 1 tsp Ginger. Works great, especially if you drink it before bedtime, helps to sleep without coughing. Hope this helps.
Almonds
Posted by Kay (In The Valley, Ca) on 01/31/2010
Adamo, do you have any idea why it works? Did you read about it somewhere, or did you just fall upon it by accident? I'm curious to know. Thanks for sharing!
