Table of Contents
Cough Remedies
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DISCLAIMER
Our readers offer information and opinions on Earth Clinic, not as a substitute for professional medical prevention, diagnosis, or treatment. Please consult with your physician, pharmacist, or health care provider before taking any home remedies or supplements or following any treatment suggested by anyone on this site. Only your health care provider, personal physician, or pharmacist can provide you with advice on what is safe and effective for your unique needs or diagnose your particular medical history.
CAYENNE, GARLIC, ONION, GINGER
[YEA] 10/17/2007: Samantha from Portland, Oregon writes: "I found cayenne a great cure for pretty much everything some time ago. It wasnt long ago that I came down with a bad sinus infection, cough, and fatigue. I decided to boil water on the stove, and add cayenne(open 3 capsules and pour them in), crushed garlic(4 cloves),half an onion, and grated ginger. THIS COMBINATION IS AMAZING. It is SO powerful. The most vital ingredients are the cayenne and garlic, but the onion and ginger are also very helpful. Make sure and boil everything until the onion is mushy, and the garlic is too. Keep a lid on, but every so often inhale the steam from the boiling remedy.. very soothing! Pour it into a glass and drink the whole thing. It is very potent, so what I do is add honey to it and it really tastes like liquid food- like a soup base or something.
Another remedy that I use is cayenne tea- just put a tea bag of your favorite tea in boiling water, and add a capsule of cayenne & some honey. Since I have been using cayenne in tea, and orally, and drinking the onion ginger garlic tincture, I rarely get sick.. and when I do, I can kick it within 3 days maximum. Cayenne is also extremely helpful for menstrual cramps."
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1 YEA
[YEA] 04/10/2006: Anonymous writes: "Many researches pay attention on chocolate for curing coughs. An ingredient in chocolate could be used to stop persistent coughs and lead to more effective medicines. theobromine, found in cocoa, was nearly a third more effective in stopping persistent coughs than codeine, currently considered the best cough medicine. good try!"
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1 YEA
[YEA] 04/26/2007: gail writes: "My Home Made Cough Syrup for Sore Throats. I call it, "Molyvite". It combines:
o Black Strap Molasses
o Grade C Maple Syrup (only enough to break the taste)
o Apple Cider Vinegar
o Raw Unfiltered Honey o Cayenne Pepper
o Small amount of pure water to tolerable taste.
Take small sips during the day. For problems getting accustomed to taste, start sipping with a small tolerable amount at first working your way up. Soon you will even look forward to taking it. You may even miss taking it. I did.
Benefits:
o Minerals
o Help Balance PH
o Send germs packing
o Increase blood flow & circulation
o Healing
o Some vitamins
Did you ever hear of Cyclone Cider? Love that stuff too."
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1 YEA
[YEA] 09/08/2008: KTY from Virginia, USA writes: "Ailment: non-productive cough, especially disturbing when trying to sleep
Cure: Dark chocolate. Buy chocolate with the highest percentage of chocolate you can find. I got 85% from a local drug store. Eat about 1/3 of the standard, rectangular-shaped sizes they sell in Europe and USA. Works for me, works for my kids."
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DARK GROUND COFFEE AND HONEY FOR COUGH
[YEA] 03/15/2008: Danka from Boston, Ma writes: "This always get rid of my cough: 1 tsp of honey 1/2 tsp of ground coffee mix it and eat it, best would be espresso or some other dark fine ground coffee.I hope it helps."
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DECREASING SODIUM, INCREASING MAGNESIUM
[YEA] 03/03/2010: Selah from Ny, Ny, Us writes: "Cutting down on sodium and increasing magnesium, cured my cough. I cut down on the amount of salt I was using. I had also been taking sodium ascorbate (vitamin C)~175mgs 5 or 6 times daily. I switched to magnesium ascorbate. The magnesium seems to help relax the muscles. I had been having an unrelenting dry cough that was causing sore stomach muscles. Switching to magnesium ascorbate and cutting out the sodium helped to loosen the mucous but didn't produce a runny nose. I had to take calcium along with the magnesium to prevent muscle cramping. Just eating milk products like cheese seems to be good enough.
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."
03/10/2010: Selah from Ny, Ny, Us replies: "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."
03/20/2010: Selah from Ny, Ny, Us replies: "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."
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ELIMINATE ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS
[YEA] 04/20/2008: Jennie from Fort Wayne, IN writes: "I had a recurring dry cough for over fifteen years until I read that it may be a side effect of artificial sweeteners. I cut way back on Diet Coke (1-2 small glasses per week) and within a couple weeks it disappeared."
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1 YEA
[YEA] 07/10/2010: Jackie from Belfast, Northern Ireland writes: "My daughter gets occasional asthma and on some of these occasions the coughing is quite troublesome at night. It not only disrupts her sleep but mine too. However, I have found that mixing 2 or 3 drops of each of the following essential oils (frankincense, cypress and lavender) has soothed the cough, allowing everyone to get a good night's sleep. I have used this for years and I can truthfully say that in her case it has worked everytime.
I would "not" recommend using an oil burner with a candle for night time use. It is safer to use an electric oil burner. Or if you do not have one, just try putting the oils on the pyjamas/pillow/tissue etc. Or maybe even in a bowl of water or place on a damp cloth over a low heat radiator. Just so long as the oils are being inhaled."
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1 YEA
[YEA] 03/21/2010: Grannyguru from Oro Valley, Az, Usa writes: "Flaxseed tea cures those awful coughing spasms that won't stop until you gag. It stops them whether they are from a bad cold, or from other reasons, including the cough that comes from taking medicines for high blood pressure.
I got this from my doctor many years ago when I was pregnant and got a bad cold with a cough that wouldn't go away and would make me cough so hard my doctor was afraid I was going to lose the baby.
He was emphatic that I should only use whole flaxseed. Why, I have no idea. But he said it was something I could use as much as I wanted, because it had no bad side effects.
I gave this recipe to a friend who was coughing continuously from taking medicine for high blood pressure and then developed bronchitis where the cough just hung on and would not stop until she gagged, then would start again. Before she got the cold she complained about the constant hacking cough from the medicine to both her doctor and her pharmacist and both insisted there was NOTHING that could get rid of it, and she'd just have to learn to live with it.
She tried the flaxseed tea and the cough was almost immediately stopped, so she could get some sleep. She used it to stop the coughing for a day or two, and it COMPLETELY GOT RID OF THE COUGH. Even the cough that she had had from the high blood pressure medicine.
I've discovered that for the cough from the medicine you have to take it for a couple of days or so, and then the cough is gone...for months. If you keep taking the blood pressure medicine, then the cough will gradually come back (people describe an itch or tickle in their throat that starts it).. but once you again take the flax seed tea the cough goes away again... again for months.
With colds it works best with coughs after you have had the cold for a couple of days. That dry hacking cough that makes you cough and cough and cough until finally you gag.
Of course if you take vitamin c and other remedies when the cold starts, you may never need flaxseed tea.
But if you've ever had a cough like that, the tea is amazing.
You put about a tablespoon or so of whole dark brown flaxseeds (for some reason golden seeds do not work anywhere near as well) into 2 cups of water and boil it until it just begins to thicken. It will seem to take forever, then suddenly it thickens quickly, so the minute you notice it thickening, remove it from the heat.
Add lemon juice or vitamin c and sweetener, like grade b maple syrup, or even just sugar. Drink. I found I did not like it when it was thickened, but I could put it in a thermos and keep it by my bed, and it would break down into just a soothing liquid, but would work just as good as the thick syrup I didn't like.
And of course if you add honey and vitamin c it tastes like apple juice.
I put it out here because I realized a lot of people are being told there is NOTHING that can help the cough they get from taking high blood pressure medicine. Seems to me just the constant coughing is going to raise your blood pressure. In any case, it is not true that nothing can help that cough. Cough drops may seem to help but in the end they just make it worse and pretty soon you are always sucking on a cough drop, but coughing more and more. Flaxseed tea works immediately to stop the coughing, and then works to take the cough away...for months. Plus my doctor said back then that there was nothing that could hurt me ...or my unborn child.
So I thought I'd mention it here."
04/22/2010: Peter from Chicago, Il replies: "Do you drink the flaxseeds also ? or Just the liquid ?"
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FLOUR, DRY MUSTARD AND EGG WHITE
[YEA] 11/22/2007: C from Atlanta, Ga writes: "Cough and congested chest remedy. Three teaspoons of flour, one teaspoon of dry mustard and an egg white. My mom has a great remedy for a cough and chest cold. Three teaspoons of flour, one teaspoon of dry mustard and an egg white. Make a paste of theses ingredients. Then you should spread it on a white hankerchief or something very light weight and I assume dye free. YOu then should rub your chest with vaseline. (The paste is exothermic and can burn your chest.) After that you should place the hankerchier (with the paste foled inside) on your chest. Every so oftern chekc to see if you need to apply more vaseline (to prevent burning). Dress warmly when you rest and I promise when you wake up , you will be cough and chest-congestion free. My mother always did this for my nephew and I just did it for my 11 month old. He had congestion for a week, and the night I did this (after over the counter medicines) my son no longer had congestion or a cough. Try it. It really works."
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1 YEA
[YEA] 02/12/2007: Antonio from Miami, FL writes: "I suffer from severe acid reflux, and I was starting to cough much at night and at times during the day. I read on your very useful web site, about some one suffering from severe coughing [her name jill A. posted on 5/2/2006]. Well what I think got me almost rid of the coughing was this remedy i got from a book: fresh purple cabbage juice [10-13fl. oz [300-400ml] --sip it daily on an empty stomach [you can toss it in the blender with 10-13 oz. of water to get the juice out]. The book said to add also a hand full of fresh basil, marjoram, and/or oregano, which I did. I also used the jelly of aloe vera leaves, before every meal and before going to bed [chew on a small portion or blended as a shake and drink it."
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6 YEA
1 NAY
1 QUESTION
[QUESTION] 02/23/2009: Aeron from Middleburg, VA writes: "I have read about raw garlic helping with cough and sore throat.... has anyone tried pickled garlic? I'm hoping it would work, as it is much more palatable than raw. Thanks."
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[NAY] 10/09/2008: Leslie from Jamestown, NC writes: "I used garlic oil as a cough remedy, and it did not work. I soaked garlic in olive oil for 30 minutes, and then brushed the oil on my feet. I put socks on and went to bed. It did not help my cough at all, and it made me extremely thirsty the whole next day."
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[YEA] 03/31/2007: Judy from Seattle, Washington writes: "My Dr. suggested adding 1 minced garlic clove to 1 tablespoon UNpetroleum jelly...apply to bottome of feet, wrap in plastic bag then put on socks...over night. This helped the bronchitis problems we were having. 1 night and I am much better"
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[YEA] 10/26/2006: Nancy from Kingston, NY writes: "For the past month or so I have had a horrendous cough with watery eyes, sinus drip and tickling in my lungs. The coughs were sounding real bad - like honking almost. I did a search on the net and figured I would try the garlic before going to the doctor (fearing of course TB or cancer etc...) Well - after only 48 hours of chewing a piece of elephant garlic as soon as the tickling began -- the cough has greatly reduced!! This morning the tickling moved from one lung to the other -- and I'm still chasing it with the garlic. I have had Lymes twice and whatever this infection is - reminds me of Lymes in the way it seems to move around inside the body. Whatever this is can't escape the wonderful garlic fumes. I even dropped a few slices in my wine last night. IT WORKS!!! Thank you so much."
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[YEA] 03/12/2006: James from New Orleans writes: "I didn't boil the garlic . I've read over and over that heat destroys the allicin. Anyway , I simply use a garlic press . It's a lot easier than chopping. I take it straight and chase it with lots of water . You can ball the pressed garlic up into a wad and take it like a pill. I was able to sleep last night without waking due to coughing. I took two medium sized cloves"
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[YEA] Anonymous from Alabama writes: "I had a nagging cough for a long, long time. I drank the Garlic Tea and within two days I had stopped coughing almost altogether. I have given this remedy to a lot of my friends. Thank you so much. It really works!!"
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[YEA] Yakal from Philippines writes: "The tea was great. It helped me from my misery. It helped me solve my problems. It also helped my friends:Charmelle and Zandro. Also try putting SUGAR. Thank you very much!"
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Earth Clinic writes: "Marco, a well known soux chef in Santa Monica, California, gave us this simple soup recipe for nagging coughs. This is an old Mexican recipe from Marco's mother that aided him and his siblings' flu/cold recovery process.
Recipe:
Cut a garlic cube into quarters and add to two 2 quarts of H2O. Boil on low flame for at least one hour. Strain and sip slowly. Believe or not, this warm garlic soup has a very pleasant taste!
Caveats: The good news is that garlic kills off bacteria in the body. The bad news is that it also kills off the friendly bacteria. Thus - women especially - make sure you take acidophilus after consuming garlic soup, otherwise a yeast infection (aka candida) may ensue.
Click here to see all books on the healing properties of garlic."
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[YEA] "By accident I was told that raw garlic was good for slimming so I went and bought some garlic, at the time I had a chronic cough, and it silence my cough all night, but I didn't not like the taste, So I will make garlic tea, or Soup sounds like a more tasty idea, thanks for the advice."
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1 YEA
[YEA] 12/07/2007: T.S.Rajah from Wimbledon, UK writes: "Take 250ml water, one medium crushed galic bulb and 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder. Boil this mixture and reduce it to half. Add some honey and drink while warm sip by sip. It is a useful remedy for chronic cough."
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1 YEA
[YEA] 12/22/2008: Marcela from ealge mountain, utah, usa writes: "My son 7 years old and he had a bad cough the kind that would not let anyone sleep..i heard about the garlic honey and lime..i blended 6 cloves of garlic 2 tablespoons of 100% bee honey and 2 big limes..this will last a few days..i gave my son 1 small tablespoon and right away calmed his coughing..he did not cough at all and when i heard him cough i gave hime another dosage..for three days i gave him this remedy and now he doesn't cough at all.."
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GARLIC, ONION, HONEY AND RED PEPPERS
[YEA] 10/18/2005: Curtis from Worcester, Ma writes: "Here is a cold and flu remedy that will help with your cough and flu symptoms. Take one clove of garlic crushed and chopped fine. 2 slices of onion also chopped fine. One to two tablespoons of honey (to taste) and one-quarter teaspoon of crushed red pepper. Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl and eat.
Garlic-natural antibiotic
Onion- helps with nasal passage
Honey- throat soother
Red crushed pepper- The capsicum helps kill the cold or flu virus."
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1 YEA
[YEA] 06/05/2008: Abah from Lubbock, Texas, USA writes: "Ginger root -- remedy for cough caused by cold. Clean and wash the root, chew a couple and swallow the juice. Although it burns, but works very effectively."
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1 WORKED TEMPORARILY
[WORKED TEMPORARILY] 01/03/2010: Michelle from Minnetonka, Mn writes: "Goldenseal is killing the fungus that was causing my son to cough. My son (age 13) is on day 9 of a cough that was so bad that he would gag sometimes. We tried so many remedies I found on Earth Clinic to get rid of it and nothing worked. Finally took him to a doctor and she gave him an inhaler. The only thing that did was give him thrush. Then I took him to a Kinesiologist. She told me it was fungal and to make him tea using Goldenseal Root Powder. I gave him his 1st dose yesterday (day 8) and he slept all night which he hasn't been able to do since the cough started. I am giving him 1/4 tsp three times a day. I have to bribe him to take it though because it is pretty bitter. I mix it with tea he likes and raw honey. He drinks without complaining too much knowing it is the only thing that has worked for him."
01/04/2010: Michelle from Minnetonka, Mn replies: "Ahhhhhh!!!!!! The cough is back and worse. Help. I am so frustrated and he is exhausted!"
01/05/2010: Pam from The Wildlands, Wyoming replies: "have you tried a steam vaporizer? You can add a bit of peppermint or eucalyptis oil to the water to quiet the cough. Also try google for directions for mustard plaster. my mom used them on us and they seemed to work well. If I recall correctly a plaster can also be made out of nettle and applied to the chest."
01/05/2010: Diane from Oliver, Pa replies: "I've had bronchitis frequently for the past several years. The last time was from September through October. The antibiotic the doctor prescribed did help some, but then I seemed to get worse again.
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!)"
01/05/2010: Jamie from Santa Monica, California replies: "Hi Michelle,A few years ago I had a cough with tons of mucous that lasted for weeks on end. I felt terrible and fatigued all the time. I picked up an old herbal remedy book (sorry, can't remember the name) and read about Lobelia as a fast expectorant for coughs. I think I took 1-2 doses of lobelia (whatever was recommended on the bottle), enough to make me start gagging. That's when the fun began. I then threw up a ton of mucous from deep down in my lungs, mucous that was not coming up from my coughing. Well, my coughing stopped within a day of that (not fun) cure. Lobelia is an intense herb for a desperate situation.
Last spring I got a dry cough that did not quit. Since it was a dry, irritated cough I went another route: I took elderberry extract 2 times a day and also made a strong batch of garlic tea (entire garlic cube boiled in water for 15 minutes) that I drank a small amount of throughout the day. I also went to bed every night sucking on a natural cough lozenge. It took a few days of these remedies but my cough went away about 2 days later. Hope something in here helps your son. Let us know how he is doing."
01/05/2010: Tamara from Fort Collins, Colorado replies: "Do you have a carbon monoxide detector? Is it working? About a month ago a friend of mine had a 3 week cough that was getting worse and started sounding like it could've been pneumonia. Then, one day her landlord came over to check the furnace and found it was breaking down. They measured the carbon monoxide levels and found they were nearly fatal. After replacing the furnace with a new one and installing a CO2 level detector she was immediately better! No coughing and her roommate felt better after suffering from persistant cold and flu-like symptoms. Please check your CO2 and radon levels, since radon causes lung disorders as well."
EC: Great point, Tamara. About five years ago my next door neighbor in Los Angeles got carbon monoxide poisoning from an old furnace in her unit that had not been checked in years. She starting feeling deathly ill and coughing up some nasty black soot before realizing it might be carbon monoxide poisoning. The landlord ignored her calls, but the gas company came immediately and discovered a bad leak. A few more nights of that and she would have died.
Deirdre
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