chest cold

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

I've been fighting a chest cold for four weeks now.  It is ridiculous, really.   I don't feel bad except for the perma-cough that never seems to end.  I've been sipping on hot quince tea with cider vinegar, onion tea, drinking OJ and eating chicken soup.  Nothing seems to help and it is just getting worse.  So, I'm going to break down and drag myself into the walkin clinic today.  The only effect all my home remedies seem to have is that I now have that pickled garlic smell oozing out of my pores.     Mom was telling me yesterday that some guy she works with told her his mom used to put sliced onions all over his chest and it helped him get over chest colds faster when he was a kid.  Anyone ever heard of that?  My husband says I can try it as long as I shower it off before he gets home, lol.  I hate going to the doctor.

[Redoverfarm]

HT my BIL has had it for at least 6 months. Antibiotics of various kinds and he still has it.  Deep seated I guess.  Good Luck. 

[MountainDon]

Onions on the chest? Maybe as a preventative thing. Nobody would want to get close enough to you to give you a cold or the flu.      Not sure about once you have it though.   


Hope you get better soon.

[Windpower]

I and my wife had the same thing (maybe) --sounds similar

Oil of Oregano "Oreganol" from a health food store

and Vitamin D3 finally knocked it back

good luck

[gandalfthegrey]

There are several herbs you can use to make your life easier.

Yarrow in a tea   clears phlem from the lungs.

Purple cone flower   Brew the leaves in a tea...ADD Honey....  Taste bad otherwise.

Mince garlic and just cover with honey let stand 1 day and then take a tablespoon of the honey twice a day.  Add more honey as you use it up. 

Gypsie cold care tea (traditional medicinals) Health food store.

[muldoon]

sorry to hear your down homegrown.

There sure is some nastiness going around.  My son was ill about 3 weeks ago, he had swine flu and strep throat at his school before coming up sick one night with 104 fever and horrendous cough.  After the frantic doctors office we had him on tamiflu, that was one of the longest and worst weeks of my life.  We all loaded up on vit C, and vitamin D as well - trying to stay well.  My daughter started showing symptoms and in my quest for research I ended up getting a few more supplements that others were reporting success with. 

NAC, an antioxidant, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acetylcysteine

Reservatrol, a natural antibacterial - good at preventing secondary infections, especially respiratory http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resveratrol

You can safely load on on vitC, I was taking 2000mg a day, but from what I read you should also supplement with zinc to help absorption as if you dont you just "flush" it away. 

Aside from those, honey is a great natural antibacterial/antibiotic and helps build your immune system targeted to local allergens.  Honey has been used for thousands of years in this way.  Personally, I like to make wine with local honey every year.  And if were under the weather mix the wine with some hot tea.  good on the throat, good for the white blood cells and immune system. 

Never heard of onions, but my wife swears by garlics healing powers.  She puts garlic in just about everything.  I like garlic so I dont mind. 

Ginger as well, she swears by it for health, we have some ginger drops - which are a sugary ~candy~ish heavily spiced with ginger.  I got them from penzies spices back when she was preggo because she craved them, (which meant it was my duty to find them) but she keeps using them now so I keep re-ordering them. 

Last but not least, dont discount what I grew up with.  vicks vaporrub on your chest at night, perhaps augmented with a vaporizor or humidifer.  Helps you breath at night which lets your body rest and heal yourself.  Just gives your body some help. 

Again, hope your feeling better soon.  Those are what we do at my house, take anything that sounds interesting to you. 

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Don, that's what I thought about the garlic and onion cures, too!  I bet it works as a preventative. 
Got back from the doctor a little while ago... I have pneumonia.   Came home with five different prescriptions.  He took chest x-rays and I heard him in the other room when the nurse handed them to him.... with a heavy accent, I'm pretty sure there were a few expletives in there.  He came back in the room and chewed me out for not coming in sooner.  He made all of his nursing staff come and listen to my lungs, and then he even had the receptionist to come back and listen to them.  I even got a turn with the stethoscope.  It sounded like a room full of kindergartners with a bunch of cellophane in there.  Not good.  I knew it was bad when I couldn't breath last night, but didn't realize it was THAT bad.

[glenn kangiser]

I hope you get better soon, Homey.  That's no fun.

[MountainDon]

With a little luck and the right meds you should be on the way to being mended soon. Been there done that. 24 to 36 hours and I notice a big change for the better.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

he he, Don, he put me on prednisone (sp?) for five days, too, for the inflammation, and consequently, the only major change I've noticed so far is that my stomach is gnawing a hole through my backbone and here I am at two o'clock in the morning wide awake because I can't take anything for the cough until 24 hours after starting the antibiotics, and I feel like I'm starving when I know good and well I ate a good dinner.

[MountainDon]

Well, I'm glad the prednisone is only for 5 days. It can be nasty stuff long term. The insomnia is a side effect. So are cold night sweats. It can also whack your immune system, but it does give a big boost to healing inflammation. You should be fine in a few days. I was on it for months and while it did help greatly it also was the cause of my sepsis and near demise a few years back.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Yep, it is some really nasty stuff.  I had to take it once before, for poison ivy when I was covered head to toe.  Never had to take it long, but it is bad while it lasts.  Doc told me to start hydrocodone today (technically now yesterday) for the cough, after the antibiotics had gotten a chance to start working.  I thought I might get some sleep.  I slept from 8PM until midnight and have been awake ever since (it's almost 4AM now.)  I finally got up about an hour ago because  I can't see just lying there in bed staring at the ceiling all night.  Of course, those four hours of sleep are more than I'd had in the previous three nights combined.  I am tired, but wide awake at the same time.

[Sassy]

You're taking the prednisone in the morning, aren't you?  Hope you get to feeling better soon.  I kinda figured you probably had pneumonia for as long as it was lasting - was gonna tell you to go to the doc, glad you finally did.  The hydrocodone will help surpress the cough (like codeine does).

[gandalfthegrey]

I see that he prescribed Anti-Biotics.  When your done with them it would be good to take a course of Pro-Biotics  (Yogurt) to rebuild your intestinal flora needed for proper immune system.

Good luck.

[kenhill]

Follow Dr's instructions on the Prednisone.  I took it once for allergies, lost the pill bottle, and just topped taking it.  I had severe flue like symptoms that I found out later were the result of stopping cold turkey.  I was suppose to reduce the amount over a period of time to get off of it.  Evidently, I placed myself in a precarious situation.  But I was on it for awhile

[rwanders]

   A few months back, I had a similar persistent cough----turned out to be a side effect from a blood pressure medicine---changing that prescription eliminated the cough after about three weeks. Your's sounds different though. I must admit I was getting a little worried about the cough until I broke down and saw the Doc.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Still coughing some, but a little better.  Two days of antibiotics left.  Already stocked the fridge with probiotics, though they won't do any good until I finish the meds... taking antibiotics gives me heartburn something fierce.  I am supposed to go back to the doc on Friday.  Hope that I'll quit wheezing before then.  At first I sounded like a harmonica when I was breathing, but now it is more like a cat purring, but not all the time, just off and on.  Finished the prednisone this morning, thank goodness!!  Can't tell that the hydrocodone does any good for the cough, so am thinking of not taking it and just letting the antibiotics do their stuff.  So far, I've only taken the hydrocodone once a day, and just right before bed.  The first night, I woke up in a cold sweat and really shaky, but not sure if that was from it or one of the other meds.  He also has me using an inhaler.  I don't like it, and can't tell it does anything but make me cough more.

[glenn kangiser]

Well, get better soon, Homey

[peternap]

Still coughing some, but a little better.  Two days of antibiotics left.  Already stocked the fridge with probiotics, though they won't do any good until I finish the meds... taking antibiotics gives me heartburn something fierce.  I am supposed to go back to the doc on Friday.  Hope that I'll quit wheezing before then.  At first I sounded like a harmonica when I was breathing, but now it is more like a cat purring, but not all the time, just off and on.  Finished the prednisone this morning, thank goodness!!  Can't tell that the hydrocodone does any good for the cough, so am thinking of not taking it and just letting the antibiotics do their stuff.  So far, I've only taken the hydrocodone once a day, and just right before bed.  The first night, I woke up in a cold sweat and really shaky, but not sure if that was from it or one of the other meds.  He also has me using an inhaler.  I don't like it, and can't tell it does anything but make me cough more.

I'm rooting for you!
You'll be better soon.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Still sick, darn it.     Been sick since September!!!

[Sassy]

Awww, that's no fun, HG    Maybe it's the damp weather...  hope you get feeling stronger soon!