As
my family has battled colds in the past, we have had the opportunity to try
out the herbal remedy of fresh ginger juice, per Stephen Buhner's book Herbal Antivirals.
The first victim in one go-round a few years back, my husband, categorically refused to
try any herbal treatment, so I didn't make any for him. We all watched
him be completely miserable on Christmas and unable to enjoy spending
time with extended family since it is just not nice to spread this kind
of joy any further.
The
second victim, my son KOTPE who once foolishly referred to himself as a
"strapping young man" who was not going to be affected by the influenza
that was afflicting his sister at the time and got totally slammed,
downed two cups of the fresh ginger juice concoction mentioned above,
but refused any more and decided he'd rather be sick.
The
third victim, Blueberry Girl, who is very open to learning and
experimenting with herbal medicine, took one cup of said ginger juice
and vomited. Another daughter, QOTPE, became the fourth victim and
decided to learn from her siblings and refuse the ginger juice.
Sometimes
herbal medicine can be a hard sell. It doesn't help to have a spouse
that isn't necessarily on board. And it doesn't help when the patients
have experience with using over-the-counter pills that often seemingly
provide rapid relief. For my family, it didn't matter that the ginger
juice would shorten the duration and severity of the illness. What they
wanted was relief from symptoms, immediately if possible, and so what if
the cold lasted longer.
The
topic of managing respiratory infections and symptoms was addressed in
my off-grid medicine classes and is covered in the books Armageddon Medicine and The Survival Medicine Handbook. If I could have only one of these books, at least as far as respiratory infections go, Armageddon Medicine would
be the winner, no contest. It's worth every penny, and far more than
that. It's got over twenty pages of differentiating between cold and
influenza; determining whether an infection is bacterial or viral
(without laboratory work); whether to use antibiotics, which ones, and
why; over-the-counter drugs to stockpile and when to use them; how to
proceed when your patient has an already compromised immune system; and
much more.
So what are the over-the-counter drugs you want to have on hand? What do doctors suggest?
Pseudoephedrine
("real" Sudafed). It's over-the-counter, but behind-the-counter, in
most US states. You have to show identification, sign for it, get
entered into a database, and are limited in how much you can purchase
per month. Yes, it's creepy. You have the meth addicts to thank for
that. But it works really well. This is only available in blister packs,
which of course, cost more and take more space for storage.
Diphenhydramine
(Benadryl), cetirizine (Zyrtec), chlorpheniramine (ChlorTrimeton).
These are all anti-histamines to dry up secretions.
Guaifenesin
(Mucinex). Expectorant which thins the mucus, so it tickles the throat
less. If an anti-histamine isn't working to alleviate a cough caused by
drainage, guaifenesin may help. It's very inexpensive, about four cents
per pill when purchased in bulk bottles at Costco or Sam's or on
Amazon.
Oxymetazoline
hydrochloride (Afrin, Nasalcrom). Nasal spray for clearing stuffy noses
and especially for making it easier to sleep at night.
Vicks
VapoRub (or generic equivalent). Apply to chest to calm coughing. Some
also note that it can be rubbed on the soles of the feet (and then put
on socks) for additional relief.
Codeine.
As this is a controlled substance, you're not likely to be able to
stock up on it. If nothing else is working, and you have some available
AND a doctor to prescribe it for you, a small dose of codeine may help.
Usually, one-fourth tablet of Tylenol-3 or Vicodin will do the job.
Acetaminophen
(Tylenol). If a cough is accompanied by fever, reducing the fever may
help. This is because a fever increases the metabolism, which increases
the respiratory rate. Lowering the body temperature should lower the
respiration rate, and may thus decrease the irritation that causes some
coughing.
Caffeine.
However you get it, through coffee, tea, soda, or pills, caffeine is a
bronchodilator that helps open the airway and diminish coughing.
As
with all medications, you want tablets or capsules for longest-term
storage purposes. Obviously, that's not an option with a nasal spray,
but everything else is available in a dry form.
Links to related posts:
10 november 2019
5 feb 2019
our family practice doctor a few years ago told me that a shot of any kind of hard liquor works better than codeine to suppress the urge to cough--it really works, and is much easier to come by than a controlled medication with codeine.
ReplyDeleteanother item to have in the cabinet for the flu season is dry drink mix - citrus is best overall - to hydrate and help with the medicine mix ....
ReplyDeleteMucinex works great for clearing up breathing and can make breathing MUCH easier!
ReplyDeleteBe careful with nose spray, decongestant sprays have a firm 3 day rule before rebound congestion.
Tessalon pearls are prescription only, but work really well for some people to pause dry coughs.