Ideas for getting rid of persistent cough?

[Rawdemption]

Hey all - I've had a horrible cough left from the cold I caught (my whole family had it). It's particularly bad at night - last night I coughed well past 2 am... I've been taking a spoonful of raw honey before bed & have been drinking lots of water. I've been doing lots of fresh squeezed OJ, too. Any supplements? ideas? I really want to get rid of this thing... it's been close to 3 weeks now & I'm really tired of coughing.

Thanks,

[SuziS]

Apple Cider Vinegar worked for me. I just recently had a cough and sore throat and it cleared it up. I did 2 cups of water, 3 tbsp acv, and a spoonfull of raw honey.

[lafsalot]

Apple Cider Vinegar worked for me. I just recently had a cough and sore throat and it cleared it up. I did 2 cups of water, 3 tbsp acv, and a spoonfull of raw honey.

Good one, SuziS! In addition, especially since it seems to be happening more often at night, you might get some relief by elevating the head and allowing your sinuses to drain better and not creating that tickle in your throat.

If your cough is productive and/or due to mucus plugs, prepare something with a little hot chilli peppers - they will loosen it up. Juice of aloe vera and honey in equal parts is also suppose to be good for that.

For something that works as both a decongestant and expectorant, try adding oil of eucalyptus to a vaporizer or pot of boiled water.

Feel better soon ~ Cathy

[veganman]

I have found green smoothies with fresh ginger to be helpful.

I hope you feel better. Drink lots of water and get lots of rest.:)

[EZ rider]

Your body may be trying its best to get some crud out so you may want to consider cooperating with it. Put a liner into a trash can and keep it close to spit out the hack up. Or you can symptom suppress and push the crud back into your body. Your choice.

[luckitri]

Alot of people here I am sure are really tired of me saying this but I love slippery elm powder made as a tea for cleaning mucous out of the lungs. It also cleanses the colon very gently without accidents.

If you are giving it to a SAD person just put 1 teasp in a cup of hot water with some honey(or agave) and cinnamon.

Raw people should be able to handle the taste plain.

I use a tablespoon per cup for me and it is like pudding sometimes.

Most people have the strongest reaction the first time they use it. Some people get a huge ball of mucous coming up their first time and it scares them from using the slippery elm again whereas really they should be scared of all that mucous in their lungs.

Many people think that colds and flus can thrive in a body that is poisoned in the stomach somehow with rotting food so the cleansing action of the slippery elm helps that problem as well.

[portiz]

thought i'd bump this up...I've had a persistent cough the last few days and thought i'd look up suggestions.

good ol' RFT!!! i'm going to try the ACV and honey tonight!

:D

[Stina]

If it's a dry hoarse cough, eat pears, according to Chinese medicine.

[luckitri]

I have been having some congestion lately and have been reading on the watercure2.com and in the Dr Batman books about histamines. Interesting things is that OJ can cause congestion because it is high in potassium without any salt to regulate. Where drinking salt with it (seasalt with the minerals - never table salt) would balance the potassium so there would be no congestion. The book points out that many cultures have salt on their sweet fruit which balances the nutrients. Also the book makes the point that the traditional allopathic doctors once again try to stifle the body's healing reaction of producing histamines with anti-histamines rather than addressing the cause.

So lately I have been adding 1/8 teasp sea salt to 16 oz of water and when the congestion shows up I drink and the congestion goes!

I have noticed for years that if I was feeling fluey I would eat something with alot of salt and suddenly feel better.

[Gittel]

OJ can cause congestion, eh? That is soooo interesting. I drink quite a bit of OJ and seem to be perpetually slightly congested. (Clear/white mucous) I never bothered to clear it--the children's stuff always seems to come before my stuff. I'll try laying off the OJ and see what happens. Thanks!
Gittel

[portiz]

well i tried the ACV, water, and honey last night. After a while I was able to finally sleep, but it still didn't sooth my throat. If anything, it felt more scratchy, like the congestion was coming up. But I figure that's what I want, to get rid of it and let it come out.

I am miserable here at work though, keep coughing. I'll try the sea salt tonight for the congestion.

[luckitri]

Gittel, you don't need to lay off the OJ. Just add salt to it. Or put salt on your tongue after drinking some. Make sure it is good quality seasalt. I am amazed lately when my "allergies" pop up. I do seasalt and it clears up in a minute!

[EZ rider]

Interesting things is that OJ can cause congestion because it is high in potassium without any salt to regulate. Where drinking salt with it would balance the potassium so there would be no congestion.Celery is very high in natural sodium so it sounds like an Orange & Celery smoothie would be a natural congestion buster. Leaving some of the white part of the orange peel on helps the vitamin C in the orange to be absorbed.
Some Cranberries would be good in there too. :)

[EZ rider]

Orange & Celery smoothieI just got back from the store and I got a few oranges while I was there and I just made an orange/celery smoothie and I like it. Very tasty :D

[MangoMyst]

I've heard that if you make a match of the master Cleanse, that will help get rid of your cough...Drink it at room temperature, though, as sometimes cold beverages can make you cough more:

Fresh squeezed lemon
Grade B maple Syrup - I don't think that's raw & I don't know what you can
substitute for it
Cayenne Pepper - a dash to put just a little kick to it

Water

I don't know the measurements, either, but I know that it does help.

You might be having a chronic allergic reaction to something & mistaking it for a cold...

[Gittel]

Thank you, Luckitri. It's definitely worth trying. But I'm not quite sure that I understand why salt combined with OJ helps. Would salt, added to other fruit juices, also work? Curious.

Gittel

[luckitri]

OJ is high in potassium. Potassium and salt need to balance each other out is the way I read it in the book. So some people drink OJ thinking they are helping their cold symptoms when they are actually aggravating them. It seems to work for me. I drink the salt water (according to formula on watercure site) when I have allergies kick in and they go away in seconds to mere minutes. Froggy throat, runny nose, sore throat - all goes.

I imagine it would work with other juices as well depending on the potassium content. But it seems that salt also balances sugar as well. The author had pointed out how in many cultures people put salt on their fruit. There are some dishes that have sweet and salt together quite liberally in the same recipe.

However I am learning that the salt water may not be the cure to everything - like my thyroid.

[maui_butterfly]

this site is amazing. has a wealth of information on herbal cures and natural remedies that are effective.

http://www.earthclinic.com/CURES/sore_throat.html

my grandma used to make us gargle with 2T of ACV in a glass of water for sore throats/coughs. a remedy i use to this day with fantastic results!

[lodestar]

2 drops of Young Living Thieves Oil on the tongue...no more cough. and i'm not kidding. ;)