Tamara (NJ) on 06/10/2017

I tried my usual, using homeopathy, which often stops it in it's tracks, but this one was stubborn and strong, and I wasn't able to find much of any relief, so I started looking here on Earth Clinic.

Here is what I tried before taking the plunge into the cayenne pepper. Most of these things gave some relief, but not significant or lasting. I have listed these in order of relief, with the best remedies at the top, except the cayenne which I will speak about afterward:

-onion poultice all around front and sides of the neck (slice a big onion thinly, place it on a thin cloth, warm it up to approx body temp, then bend your body forward and lift the cloth with onions up to your neck, and wrap it around. Secure with pins, or what I did was to wrap an old cashmere scarf around several times, to keep everything nice and warm.

-licorice tea (sip as needed)

-sinus rinse (which often goes down back of throat, plus I was getting a sinus infection within 1 day of the sore throat)--including salt, 1 drop of strong colloidal silver, 1 drop of grapefruit seed extract, and 3 drops of povidone iodine

-salt water gargles

Just to be thorough, I was also drinking massive amounts of fluids. Each day I drank about 2 quarts of homemade chicken broth, 2 quarts of water, and 1 quart of oatstraw and nettle infusion. I was not really eating because I felt so sick, so I used the opportunity to basically fast and get all the toxins out.

I also took enough magnesium supplementation to cause my stools to run, again, just to get those toxins out. Other supplements I was taking were: 1000 iu vitamin D (I'm very sensitive to it), lots of B-vitamins, multi-minerals, fish oil, probiotics, and about 1.5 tsp of camu camu powder for vitamin C.

I also took off work and my husband took the kids so that I could really rest.

When nothing was really bringing any lasting relief, I finally tried the cayenne pepper. I made it with 1/4 tsp to 1/4 cup water ratio. I also threw in a drop of strong colloidal silver, a drop of grapefruit seed extract, 4 drops of povidone iodine, and a couple drops of clove oil for numbing.

I rubbed Lansinoh all over my lips (the natural equivalent of vaseline), and I took a gulp-sized amount and gargled for as long as I could, and spit it out. Oh. My. God. The incredible PAIN this caused. I did not read about this anywhere here, and I actually have a pretty good tolerance for pain. My eyes were watering, and I was basically debilitated from pain for a full 2 minutes or so. BUT THEN, my throat felt better!! I had about 2 hours of reprieve before I felt that I needed to do it again!

Another interesting thing was that, during the painful part, the heat from the cayenne radiated into my ears. I felt like that was a good thing, since the throat, eustachian tubes, and sinuses are all connected.

As for the pain just after gargling, it has been gradually getting better, but not as fast as I wish.

Now for the past 24 hours, I've been repeating this every 2 hours or so (except while asleep). My fever broke during the night (after about 4 doses). I've been keeping up with the onion poultice on my neck also (replacing it twice a day), because I found that my throat got worse when I discontinued it at one point. I also continued the sinus rinses because I developed a sinus infection, and I found that it gave a slight irritation which made me sneeze a lot afterward, and that seemed to help my sinuses. I also continued to explore homeopathic remedies, and found minor relief, but nothing significant.

I'm not sure yet if this cayenne will be my final cure, but it gives me enough relief that it's bearable in the meantime, and the improvement has been slow and steady.