Mama To Many (Tn) on 12/23/2017

In early November a cough began in my family. Within a couple of weeks 9 out of 10 in my household were coughing. By Thanksgiving the cough was actually noticeably worse instead of better. A few days after Thanksgiving I realized that I and my 6 year old were whooping after we had a coughing fit. I was 99% sure we had whooping cough by this point. I did go in to get a test for it, which was positive. This positive test was useful for a few reasons, one of which was that my son in college was able to get a prescription for antibiotics from his doctor, based on my diagnosis, so wouldn't have to worry about being contagious at school. Interestingly, the antibiotic did not seem to help his symptoms. (My understanding is that, taken in the first two weeks it can reduce symptoms, but of course, it is hard to diagnose whooping cough in the first two weeks.)

I had helped a friend make liposomal vitamin C for whooping cough a few years ago so I had the stuff to make it and did so. I still make a batch every day to use for my family. At first I was using sodium ascorbate which was labor intensive for treating 9 people. I was constantly evaluating symptoms, trying to notice if it was causing bowel intolerance and giving it every 1/5 - 2 hours. The liposomal was easier to dose - I gave it to most people 3 times a day and it seemed to work as well if not better.

Liposomal C is supposed to be given on an empty stomach but I couldn't always dose it that way. I did always give some juice as a chaser. It tastes pretty terrible.

I also bought some lypospheric vitamin C online but it was a dollar a dose. I did give that to my son to take when away from home during the day.

We avoided dairy and sugar quite strictly during the worst of it and ate a lot of bone broth based soups.

Flax seed tea was useful though not enjoyed by many. Otherwise I gave out a lot of hot tea (any kind just to help with hydration.) I sweetened it with honey. Staying well hydrated is critical to keep mucous thin and easier to get up.

Not everyone in my family had the characteristic "whoop." My 15 year old never seemed very sick though one day missed all of her vitamin C doses and they next day did feel poorly. Even my 6 year old who coughed and vomited from coughing didn't seem very sick between coughing fits. Several in my house did have many lethargic days. There was occasional fever in one of my children.

Vitamin C therapy won't get rid of whooping cough but greatly helps with symptoms.

My 21 year old son who lives at home (though works a lot and isn't home much) did not get whooping cough, at least yet. I gave him turmeric (4 capsules twice daily) for weeks in hopes that it would work as a natural antibiotic. After 2-3 weeks I ran out of that and gave him 2 oregano oil capsules twice daily which I am still doing. He did seem to have very mild cold symptoms for a while but doesn't now.

No, my children were not vaccinated against pertussis/whooping cough. My oldest had 2 DPT shots 24 years ago. After the second one he had a very bad reaction and we felt the risk of the disease was not as great as the risk from the vaccine for our family.

My husband and I had been vaccinated as children (though surely haven't had boosters in many years.) One son did get a Tdap shot before college in August and still got it.

It has been a long six weeks but people are feeling much better. I will probably keep up the vitamin C for a few more weeks.

I did read the Suzanne Humphries Protocol through several times and it was helpful.

I hope you never have to deal with whooping cough, but if you do, diy liposomal Vitamin C helps a lot! It isn't a cure but has been great blessing to us.

~Mama to Many~