[YEA]  04/12/2006: Heidi from Cheshire, UK: "Have had a really sore throat all week, its something i suffer with a lot along with it always goes a horrid chesty cough, Could not sleep at all last night as chest was full of mucus and throat was so sore for constant coughing all night. Finally my poor partner gave up and went to sleep in the spare room, was so fed up and had tried all the throat tablets going so decided to google sore throat remedies, was AMAZED to see cayenne pepper as a cure, after pluckingup the courage to give it a go i mixed 2 tps in half a jug of warm water........ tasted foul, burnt my tongue and lips but after several attempts to return to the kitchen to give it another try, my throat does actually feel a little better, could be the tingling lips and numbness but hoping it's a sign that my throat is healing!"

[YEA]  04/10/2006: Nicole from Worcester, MA: "I have to honest when I first read this I was not this biggest believer, however I was in extreme pain. I had a sore throat for 3 days and I tried everything, but this actually worked and allowed me to finally get a good night's sleep. THANK YOU!!"

[YEA]  03/31/2006: Lawrence from Bartlesville, OK: "I am a singer and a sore throat can kill a career. When I get one, one of the best remedies is to boil a little water, add beef bouillon granules and shake in cayenne pepper. Drink it as hot as you can take it. It will soothe your throat and open up your nasal passages and let you go on with the show."

[YEA]  03/24/2006: Tom from Cleveland, OH: "THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I have had a cold for 3 days now. Yesterday morning I developed a sore throat. The soreness didn't really bother me until later on in the day. I bought some throat lozenges. They didn't work at all as far as helping the soreness. I think they made it worse. My throat got so sore that I didn't even want to swallow. I "yahooed" natural cures and found this site. I tried the cayenne pepper after reading reviews from other people. I gave it a try. I had some cayenne pepper powder in my kitchen pantry. I popped the shaker top off and poured some into some warm water. I gargled with it for about 10 minutes. I even dipped a cotton swab in the solution and swabbed my tonsils, palette and the little "punching bag" in the back of my throat with the solution. I WAS AMAZED!!! I COULD NOT BELIEVE HOW BETTER MY THROAT FELT!!! I'm going back to the kitchen in about 15 minutes to gargle again with this solution. I honestly believe there is no need for toxic medications prescribed by doctors. I believe that the cures for most diseases come from the earth. In my opinion man made drugs are nothing but poison. The side effects of these drugs cause more harm than good. I rather eat raw garlic than take an antibiotic. I rather take hawthorn berries for high blood pressure than take a pill. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS SITE! TG--CLEVELAND"

[YEA]  03/24/2006: Sheri from Savannah, GA: "Hello, I am a registered nurse in Georgia, and I woke up 5 days ago with a sore throat. I blamed it on the ever present seasonal allergies, since all things outside is yellow with pine pollen. Unfortunately, the 103 degree fever led my nursing instinct to get out the flashlight and take a look inside. Yep, there was those white patches and red spots. I visited my primary care Dr, got the recommended antibiotic, and my throat is still as sore and red as it was when I started taking the medication, and my fever has not went down any. I stumbled on this site this evening hoping to help myself since "medication" is failing me, and low and behold if the cayenne pepper gargle worked perfect as described. I did not have any in the house other than a popular brand brown bag chili mix, so I ripped open the bag and stole the pepper out. I mixed up the rinse and it worked immediately. I felt my nose open at once. I am pleasantly impressed. I have felt horrible for 5 days, and have laid in the bed all day today, but now I feel good enough to send this e-mail so others will maybe find these success stories. Thank You so much."

[NAY]  03/21/2006: Jane from Ireland: "I really wanted this remedy to work because I love cayenne pepper.... unfortunately it only exacerbated my symptoms to the point where I now can't clear my throat, and find it painful to talk."

[YEA]  03/08/2006: Matty from Edmonton, Alberta Canada: "Wow... i thought that this was possibly one of the most far fetched ideas ever... But it actually works... Only discomfort is a slight burn when u spit it out... other then that it's gold."

[YEA]  03/07/2006: Marilyn from Hanford, CA: "I have had a nagging cough after I got rid of the strep throat with ACV. But I kept coughing (some times I would have to vomit from coughing so much) and I couldn't get any sleep. I got on line today and read Penny's remedy and tried it and it burned I guess my throat was raw from the coughing. IT WORKED IMMEDIATELY NOT EVEN TWO MINUTES I MEAN RIGHT AWAY THE COUGHING STOPPED. Every now and then I have had a cough but nothing like before. My ribs are so sore from all the coughing. Thank you guys for all the sharing of these natural remedies. God Bless"

[YEA]  03/03/2006: Kendall from Atlantic, IA: "This worked great, i could feel the difference within ten minutes of my first time gargling."

[YEA]  02/11/2006: Aaron from New Port Richey, FL.: "Well, where to begin. I got up Sunday with a tickle in my throat. I was suppose to sing at church and by the time I arrive could not. By half time of Superbowl the sore throat an congestion had set in. Worked Mon, Tues and Wed thinking I could get through it, but after not sleeping Tues and Wed, I was simply put exhausted and tired of being sick. Called in sick Thurs, figuring I really needed to rest to beat this, since I had not been this sick in 5 years. Missed work again Fri. By Fri evening I decided to look online for natural remedies. My symptoms, sore (strep throat), hard packed congestion, coughing up the vilest green/yellow crap I have ever seen. Having diagnosed myself with strep throat, I search Dogpile with ("strep throat" "natural cures"). This is how I found the Earthclinic website, of which I consider myself blessed to have found. Under the "sore throat" section I read the "Penny's cayenne pepper remedy". I thought to myself, you have got to be kidding me. However, I was so miserable I figured what do I have to loose. So I sprinkled some cayenne in a glass, mixed in some warm water and gargled about 5 times (swallowing only a very small amount each time). By the time I was done I could tell there was something good happening. I waited 15 minutes and repeated the same procedure. When I finished I just couldn't believe it. My swollen sore glands were all but gone and the thick green/yellow was breaking up. I said "praise God", took a Melatonin (for sleeping) and crashed. I woke up about 3 hours later, hauked a few loogies (no where near as bad as before), gargled again and went back to sleep. When I got up in the morning I simply could not believe how good my throat felt, so I gargled again thinking if what I did makes me feel this good, doing it again will make me feel even better. However, my sinuses were still pretty packed and discharge still fairly green/yellow. By now Doris, my wife had arose around 6:00 a.m. (she had the same thing prior to my getting it and still had not fully recovered now almost 2 weeks after it started). I told her the above, she then asked where did I get the info and what do they say about sinus infections. We both looked at the site this morning and saw the info about Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV). We looked at each other in amazement, looked at the ACV on the top of the stove and made a couple of ACV cocktails for breakfast. Within an hour I had no more green/yellow snott. It is now 10:30 a.m. and my nose still runs abit but clear discharge verses the vile stuff previously mentioned. I simply cannot put into words how much better my throat feels. 12 hours earlier I told my wife the best thing I could use for my throat would be a knife. :-) I am still coughing a little but nothing like the 4 days prior that make your head ache and pound. Even sitting here finishing this script, I keep saying outloud to myself, "I can't believe how good my throat feels! I can't believe how good my throat feels! ..." I am a skeptic who has been turned into an advocate. The only thing you have to lose is sleepless nights and a smaller pay check. Are you with me??"

[YEA]  Edwin from Brooklyn, NY: "I tried gargling 1 tbls of cayenne pepper with very warm water for about 10 min straight and it helped me so much with my sore throat and cough."

[YEA]  02/18/2007: Amy from New Haven, CT: "Love your site but wanted to let you know that the reason you are supposed to stop taking cayenne pepper before surgery has nothing whatsoever to do with inflammation (which in most cases it doesn't cause anyhow). The reason is that Cayenne Pepper is a very effective blood thinner and so, like aspirin, you don't take it prior to surgery, to ensure minimal blood loss."