Hi, all,

What are your best OTC or “natural” remedies when you’re dealing with cough and cold symptoms?

I’ve tried the usual, nasal rinse, gargling with warm salt water, tea with honey and lemon, tea with honey and lemon and ginger, hot water with lemon, ginger tea, probiotics, humidifier, increased liquids (mostly decaffeinated tea and water, I don’t drink alcohol, I don’t drink sodas, I don’t drink coffee. I’m a little nervous to suck on those zinc lozenges. In addition to taking metoprolol, Pradaxa, flecainide, lisinopril, simvastatin, I’ve been supplementing with vitamin D & MK7, magnesium, and my body is ever so grateful for psyllium fiber.

I’m still miserable with no lessening of symptoms. Thank goodness I don’t have a fever too! Any suggestions of trying something are not likely to be contraindicated, or trigger or have a negative affect on my a fib? Thanks! Sue

I have used NyQuil and Neo-Citran with good effect for many years. They work for me after some trial and error the same way ibuprofen works so much better than either aspirin or acetaminophen. For cough, syrups containing the dextromethorphan ingredient work pretty well. They'll often have the large letters 'DM' on the box.

Essential oils: eucalyptus & ravintsara.
Better when used as soon as you feel the first symptoms.
There are several ways to take those EO.

Two drops of each on a sugar cube, to let dissolve as slowly as possible in the mouth while breathing deeply.

Three drops of each on a cloth face mask. Quietly breathing through this works wonders for me.

Warning : I don't know about possible interactions with some drugs.

I highly recommend this natural supplement. I had a surgery canceled 5 days beforehand because of bronchitis and instead I took this and my lungs were clear within 3 days so I had the surgery. It builds up one’s immune system and shortens illnesses.

Feel better

[www.amazon.com]

Thanks! …and thanks for the link, too!🐓

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions. I also was recently dealing with a cold and cough. The first day I started using zinc lozenges but that evening went into tachycardia. I've had two prior episodes of tachycardia, so maybe it was coincidental, or maybe my body reacting to a cold virus. But after that, I'm very hesitant to use zinc lozenges.
Since my main symptom was a cough, the thing that helped the most was Robitussin DM, and didn't affect my heart rate.

~ Linda

Had (still have but almost gone) a lung infection with heavy coughing and green slugs. Did sauna 1x day for several days @75 to 80 deg C for 20 minutes. It helped. One day i had a hot bath with Mg that took my temp up to 39.8 deg C - also helped.
I think what really helped to almost completely stop coughing was: 3ml distilled water with .5ml 12% pharma grade hydrogen peroxide in a nebulizer 1 x/day. Did that 3x



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/2023 06:31PM by Joe.

Quote
Joe
I think what really helped to almost completely stop coughing was: 3ml distilled water with .5ml 12% pharma grade hydrogen peroxide in a nebulizer 1 x/day. Did that 3x

Though controversial in standard of care and advised against, I have tried this in probably a 1% concentration. Yours would be .5/3 x 12% = 2%. I turn the distilled water into normal saline with 9 tsp NaCl/gallon. I've tried it with the onset of colds and it seems to work very well.

George, any info on why it is advised against? Lung damage? If so, I don't feel it and it definitely cut down massively on my cough and bringing up 'slugs'. Yesterday i didn't do it and today the cough and 'slugs' came back a little.
BTW, the hot saunas nor the vaporizing have ever put me into AF.

Quote
Joe
George, any info on why it is advised against? Lung damage?

Yes. This for example. Thomas Levy MD wrote a book, "Rapid Virus Recovery" and was censored by his state's medical board. Levy advocates that you can use 3% H2O2 from the pharmacy. I've read other docs who do use nebulized H2O2 (though recommend the pure stuff like you use) for respiratory viruses (and have for years - including member Liz's doc David Brownstein) and they advocate much lower concentrations of H2O2, like 0.5% (from memory). I've noticed that my lungs aren't happy if I use 3%, but are fine with 1%. Levy does recommend using normal saline (distilled water plus 9 tsp sea or table salt added per gallon) to dilute the H2O2. Brownstein has had great clinical success with this approach for respiratory viruses.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/30/2023 03:42PM by GeorgeN.

Thank you all for your extra suggestions and especially the amounts & your personal experiences!
Sue

Thank you George!
Looked up the first link and followed some others in those. Seems to me that dose is critical, as is with many medications (mine looks like bordering on the high end - will tone it down). The scare scenarios involved quite high concentrations.
Downloaded "Rapid Virus Recovery" and will read it later.

Used my solution last night again and my cough and phlegm (mine is green so bacterial if i recall right?)are very infrequent and no sleep disturbance at all. Still feel some congestion.
It may be the result of the H2O2 solution blunting the response to coughing? Or it could reduce the bacterial load to reduce coughing?
Wonder which or perhaps both?
.