Grannyguru (Oro Valley, Az, Usa) on 03/21/2010
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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.
Replied By Peter (Chicago, Il) on 04/22/2010
Replied By Grannyguru (Oro Valley, Az) on 09/01/2010
Replied By Janet (Phoenix, Az, Usa) on 01/08/2011
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