TMI--snot question

[JaRylan]

Jenny - how are you doing? Hoping that you feel better.

I think I'm going to take all the great suggestions/remedies from this thread and from my coughing thread and compile them onto a sheet that I will tape to the inside of my medicine cupboard.

 

[Wineaux]

Just to point out that recent studies have proven that echinacea does NOTHING to prevent or lessen the duration of colds. If just doesn't work.

I'd also point out that just because something is "natural" doesn't mean that it's always safe. Especially while pregnant or nursing. "Natural" remedies often have similiar ingredients and side effects as prescribed medications. Ephedra is "natural", but it can still cause heart problems and kill you.

Herbs and Pregnancy

I hope you are feeling better. Just be safe when self medicating.

 

[chaoticoctopus]

Not to be oppositional, wineaux, but do you have a link for the echinacea studies?

There are also a bunch of studies from the mid-90's that unequivocally stated that sugar does NOT cause hyperactive behavior in children. :shrug:

I'd rather see links to the studies (not just an article on the results-- those are usually put out with their own "spin"). Then I can make my own extrapolations on the methods used, the control parameters, the statistical pool drawn from, etc.

It's impossible to categorically prove that echinacea can or cannot shorten the duration of a given illness. There is no way to know with any certainty how long the illness would have lasted in a given subject, without the use of echinacea. For myself and my family, I choose to look at it subjectively-- I don't force my children to use the herbal remedies I myself feel are effective, so when they come down with a virus (as they did this past week), and each of the children seems to remain ill for a predictable amount of time (3-4 days in this case), yet *I* use the echinacea remedy and my illness only lasts for *2* days... I can justifiably assume that the echinacea made a difference. If I have repeated this scenario enough times throughout the course of many years' parenting to see the same results, I feel that is proof enough of its effectiveness.

Even if echinacea has NO redeemable properties whatsoever, there is of course the placebo effect. If I *think* it's helping, it *is* helping.

I agree completely that much care should be taken when self-medicating with herbs and other natural remedies during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

 

[kangato2roos]

I would love to third or fourth the Mucinex, but I just can't bring myself to do it after that last paragraph in your first post. Mucinex works. It really does. BUT... well... it can leave some people with nasty side effects.

You said medications like Claritin leave you jittery, well Mucinex might do the same. You can try it if you want, it might give you no side effects, but make sure to try it on a day you don't have to do anything at all. I can't take Mucinex at all, regardless of how well it works, because it gives me horrible vertigo. I got tired of smashing into stuff because I had no balance or sense of my center of gravity at all. It's like spending 24/7 with the feeling you get when you watch a wave wash back into the ocean over your feet at the beach.

I also can't take Claritin. It, of all things, gives me an allergic reaction. I break out in hives and a rash. Yes, my immune system is just that whacked.