[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."

[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."

[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."

[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."

[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."

[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."

[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."

[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."

[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."

[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."