Giving Coughin' Henry some competition.....

[poltr1]

The good news is that most of the flu symptoms are gone. The bad news is that I still have a sore throat and a sore chest. My throat is sore from all the coughing, the spitting (into the toilet or a tissue), and postnasal drip. My chest is sore from all the coughing and retching too. Sometimes the coughing fits are so violent I think I'm going to hurl.

I should probably gargle with salt water to soothe the throat, but I'm trying to watch my sodium intake.

Does anyone else have any suggestions for sore throats? I've heard of remedies like lavendar water, slippery elm bark, TIger Balm, Vicks Vapo-Rub, water with honey and lemon. Anything else?

Comments

[yourmommma.livejournal.com]

Here is my favorite remedy for a bad cough. It really works.

Boil water with some fresh ginger root in it. If you can't get ginger root, then use powdered ginger. Add honey, lemon and cayenne pepper to the mixture and sip it. It is throat soothing AND will help clear out your chest.

Also, taking hot showers in the steaming water can help loosen up phlegm and congestion--even having someone pound on your back in the shower can help, LOL.

I have tried slippery elm bark tea and I don't like it as much as the ginger-pepper tea, but if you have a delicate stomach, you might want to consider it.

Basically when I have a sore throat and cough I drink at least warm water almost continuously.

If you go for an OTC medicine, you need an expectorant. You want to change your cough from a violent dry cough to a productive cough. Slippery Elm Bark is supposed to help wtih that.

Good luck. If it doesn't go away in a few or you start to run a fever again, you need to go to the doctor because it might have moved into bronchitis or pneumonia.

[poltr1]

I've been taking hot showers to warm up, and for the steam. They help, especially if use the Dr. Bronner's eucalyptus or peppermint soaps. (I gotta be careful about using the peppermint soap around my naughty bits, though. ;-) )

My parents used to put a teakettle on the stove, took it off before it reached boiling, and used a newspaper "tent" to inhale the steam from the teakettle. Certainly not glamorous.

A friend of mine uses a Water Pik and warm salt water to irrigate his sinuses. If I tried it, I'd probably get water all over the place.

[yourmommma.livejournal.com]

Ummmmmm....Doctor Bronner's soaps. Lovely. I imagine the eucalyptus is wonderful when you have a cold. Now I have some MORE soaps to run and get. I am a soap and lotion ho to the max.

One thing I didn't mention before was that for coughs that last a long time but are obviously viral, some doctors (including mine) have been prescribing short-term use of an albuterol inhaler 2x per day. It really does help. I have mild "exercise induced" asthma and am using my inhaler now because of a "wind event." but it's helping with my lingering cough, too.

What I hate the most about the coughing stage of the flu or a cold is how you never feel like you get any rest, you know?

[filkergem.livejournal.com]

"I should probably gargle with salt water to soothe the throat, but I'm trying to watch my sodium intake."

How much food have you been keeping down? If you've been vomiting, it is not at all improbable that your electrolytes are low anyway, and besides, the amount of sodium that you'd be likely to absorb from just gargling with salt water shouldn't be that high, I would expect. Your comfort is worth something.

[filkergem.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I completely spaced on saying that I am glad that you are feeling better, and I hope that you continue to improve, but I hope that you knew that.

Also, I hope that you are at least sipping water or other liquid just about every chance that you get. You don't want to get so dehydrated that you have to get IV fluids.

[yourmommma.livejournal.com]

I spaced on the hope you feel better, too.

[sdorn.livejournal.com]

Glad you're feeling better. I'll echo filkergem here on watching electrolytes. (Did you know that supermarket low-sodium salt is mostly potassium? That's what folks tell me, though I need to look that up so I can make home-made sports drinks for myself.) Fisherman's Friend's ingredients include menthol (10 ml per lozenge), eucalyptus oil (obviously a small amount), and capsacin. You can dab eucalyptus oil under your nostrils and get a similar effect.

Three tricks for the postnasal (TMI):

1. Look in a supermarket or pharmacy for aerosol-type saline spray. Minimal salt, maximum decongestant, cleaning. (Tilt head sideways so any discharge comes out other nostril—I told you it was TMI!) My sister says it's also really good for allergens. The squeeze-type misters aren't nearly as good.
   
2. If you know what vocalises are and can start one with "hungngngngng..." and stay on the "ng" where your sinuses vibrate, go up and down pitches in your range until you find spots where your sinuses vibrate, tickle, and feel highly uncomfortable. Stay around those pitches. For me (YMMV), doing that shakes loose a lot of stuff in the sinuses. Temporarily messy. An hour later, feels great.
   
3. Wasabi (if your stomach's up for it).

Hope this goes away completely!

[poltr1]

Yes, many so-called salt substitutes are really another salt: potassium chloride. And they taste awful.

[sdorn.livejournal.com]

But you wouldn't use it to flavor food, just to get yourself some electrolyte balance. Sports drinks will do as well.

[dagonell.livejournal.com]

I don't care for the flavor of most sport drinks. I prefer to use Pedia-lyte which you can find in the aisle with children's cough syrup.
-- Dagonell

[poltr1]

I remember hearing that some members of the Sabres in the '99 NHL playoffs were sick with the flu, and drank PediaLyte instead of the usual sports drinks. Hey, if it's good enough for Michael Peca, it's good enough for me.

[filkergem.livejournal.com]

Yes, no-sodium salt is potassium chloride. You can get "light salt" which is about 50/50 sodium and potassium chlorides.

Here are a few recipes for homemade electrolyte-replacement or energy drinks I've collected:

From Forester's "Effective Cycling"
per 0.5 liter -
2 T sugar
1/8 t salt

The drink used by the pilot of the 74-mile pedal-powered Daedalus flight:
per 0.5 liter -
3.5 T glucose (50 g)
1/16 t salt (0.5 g)
used 1 liter/hr

Electrolyte fluid replacement:

1 tsp Lite Salt (mortons, comes in a small lite blue container)
10 tsp sugar
1/3 tsp baking soda
1 qt water

You can use sugar-free drink mixes to flavor any of these as you prefer. I haven't yet tried enough to know what I prefer. The ones that are heavier on sugar are more for sports type situations, while the lower-sugar ones are more for handling dehydration.

[poltr1]

How much have I been keeping down? All of it. Haven't vomited yet during this flu session. Usually the more violent coughing fits are in the morning. I gave myself the dry heaves a couple of times.

[sins-forgotten.livejournal.com]

Glad you are feeling better :)

But I always go for the good ol' peppermint tea... it is good for the throat and good for the tummy.

[athenawindsong.livejournal.com]

I second the peppermint tea. I also have Jim put in a shot of brandy and some honey. It soothes the throat AND knocks me out.

Your house is probably very dry. Put a pot of water on the stove to slowly simmer for several hours. This puts enough moisture in the air to combat the dryness without being TOO humid.

If you've got it, a heating pad will help ease the pain on the back of your lungs on either side of your spine.

I've found echinacea lozenges help ALOT more than Halls or other name brands. It has a numbing effect on my tongue and throat.

Also, Advil Cold and Sinus combined with Knock Out Tea (mentioned above) puts one is a nice, cozy coma for 6-8 hours.

Feel better soon! I miss my lunch partner!

[yourmommma.livejournal.com]

Where do you get Knock Out Tea and what does it have in it? A friend of mine's husband is driving her nuts because of his insomnia. He took Ambien until it didn't work anymore and then switched to Lunesta. He has an enlarge prostate and can't take anti=cholinergics like benedryl, elavil, etc. She's pretty desperate.

[athenawindsong.livejournal.com]

Knock Out Tea: Tea flavor of your choice, one shot of Brandy, lemon or honey to taste. Combine with favorite OTC or prescription medicine. Drink as hot as you can stand. Allow for 6-8 hours of sleep.

I struggle horribly with asthma and cannot sleep from lack of air, but whenever I take Knock Out Tea my body goes into autopilot and it enables me to sleep.

Warning - take Knock Out Tea only when prepared to stay in one place for 6-8 hours. If you try to get up, the room WILL spin.

[yourmommma.livejournal.com]

Sounds good to me. I don't have any brandy...does Southern Comfort work? :)

[athenawindsong.livejournal.com]

Don't know, honestly. Always used Brandy cuz it was already sweet. Might be fun to experiment. :o)

[yourmommma.livejournal.com]

SC has molasses in it, so it's sweet too. Might work! It's the only alcohol we have in the house except wine and beer, so....I'll try it next time I need it.

[poltr1]

Why not try it out and see? :-)

With all the meds I'm on, I gotta stay away from the sauce. :-(

FWIW, I had the same effect combining Actifed and beer several years ago. I might try it again the next time I'm on a plane for an extended period of time.

[poltr1]

It's dry (most forced-air-heated houses are) and dusty, especially where/when I'm going through or moving around stuff. A few weeks ago, I went to a medical supply place not far from me and bought some surgical masks. They're a lot more comfortable than the traditional dust masks. I just hope they work as well for dust as they do for pathogens.

I can use some of that Knock Out Tea right now. Who makes it -- Traditional Medicinals?

[athenawindsong.livejournal.com]

See description above for Knock Out Tea. It's a Jim Casey Original. :o)