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Thick, yellow,
ropy
In September, 2008 several
neighbours had a mild flu and a rattling cough. I caught the flu on
3rd Oct 2008 and could not shake it off for 6 weeks. My head, chest,
throat and ears were bunged up with thick ropy/stringy catarrh which was
difficult to cough up. There was also catarrh in the digestive tract,
giving indigestion, wind and a leakage of mucus coated stool on every visit
to the toilet. Although my legs ached and felt a bit weak, I did not
feel ill as such. But, I had a sore throat and gums and painful
cramps in the chest due to coughing, which felt better when I buckled and
applied pressure. The tongue had a yellow coating and the root of the
tongue and ears were painful.
My neighbour (a
medical doctor) suggested that i should go and
see my GP. Instead, I ploughed through my various books and tried a
variety of 'cures'. I then came across Homeopathic Kali Bich. 6x. Treacher (1996, p 24) has a
description which matched my symptoms. I did not find this remedy
under cough but under catarrh and sinusitis and then searched the web for
descriptions. When you search for a remedy include symptoms in your
key words. Otherwise, you will just get a load of adverts!
Kali Bichromicum - Bichromate of
Potash
Thick stringy
green/yellow mucus. Violent sneezing in the morning. Stuffed up
nose.
Elsewhere on the
web it was noted that it was also for thick yellow stringy catarrh which
was difficult to cough up.
Interestingly,
one site also noted that Kali Bich was good for
allergies. I must try it next summer.
On 10 Nov 2008,
I took 2 pillules on going to bed. In the
morning, I felt a bit dizzy and had an explosive evacuation in the
toilet. After this, I felt OK and my cough was a lot better. I
took another 2 capsules that night and my cough was almost gone the next
day. My digestive system was also back to normal with no mucus!
After the 3rd dose that night, I felt really energetic and well the
following day. But, I was getting a bit of dizziness on sudden
movement - so I knew my postural hypotension had kicked in and
that I had to restart my Vitamin E capsules.
My husband
caught the flu about 10 days after I did and he was still coughing hard.
So, he took a dose in the day time. He said that he had a bad night
and that he too had an explosive clear out on waking. So, he was not
too keen to take any more of the Kali Bich.
But, his cough was better, and I persuaded him to take another dose.
His cough improved the next day - there was no more rattling cough in the chest.
On 15 Nov 2008
morning, I rang some friends in their 80s to find out how they were since
we had not seen them for about 2 months. He answered the phone and
she was coughing incessantly in the background - the same rattling, hard
cough. The 'flu' had got around to them. I related our
experience and he was despatched to town to buy Kali Bich.
At around 5 pm, his wife rang and said that she had taken a dose when he
returned and was feeling much much better.
She was not coughing and her head had cleared. So, I warned her about
the morning toilet and told her that we had not followed the instructions
(to take 2 pills every 2 hours) but had only had one dose of 2 pills per
day, preferably on going to bed. She could take another dose on going
to bed.
Disclaimer
© Mahes Visvalingam 17 Jun 2008
Last updated on 07/12/2021
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Chest and Head Congestion
In July 2013, I
had another one of my severe allergic reactions to aerosol sprays used in
the plane before landing at Heathrow airport. I did not have access to the Traditional
Chinese Medicine I had used before. Also,
I had difficulty getting hold of the Homeopathic Kali Bich
for catarrh after flu - moreover, the phlegm on this occasion was not
thick, yellow and ropy. Instead it
was just thick and yellow and it was not caused by an infection.
I am allergic to
many over the counter medications, such as decongestants However, I can
tolerate some products like Olbas Oil and Vicks.
Allopathic Expectorants and Mucolytes make the
phlegm less sticky to ease expectoration.
But, they can cause gastric bleeding.
I usually take
the slow and steady approach and do not go for quick fixes. I hope that my approach gives the body an
opportunity to correct itself. Here
are the home cures I used to clear the chest and head. Although it was several weeks before I
could breathe freely without pain, I now feel fitter and more energetic
than I have felt for a long time.
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Internal Treatments
These helped to
soften and bring up the phlegm. The
coughing will cause chest pain, breathlessness and dizziness. But, the external treatments listed below
will ease the symptoms. I did not
take any anti-inflammatory pain killers, even Paracetamol,
since I did not want to compromise the body's ability to produce its own
pain killers.
·
The page on Ginger tea - gives a traditional Indian
recipe provided by my cousin's wife.
I used a simple recipe, which includes many natural and commonly
available expectorants. In a dry
pan, toast a tablespoon each of fennel and coriander seeds until aromatic
(not burnt) cool and crush. Put in a
pan with a thumb size piece of fresh ginger grated or chopped into small
pieces, a tablet of DGL liquorice
(optional from health food stores), a few black seeds of cardamom
crushed, and a couple of crushed seeds of black pepper. Add 15 oz of water and boil on a low heat
for half an hour. I sometimes add
chopped Sage or Thyme. Strain about
a third of the decoction into a cup and sweeten to taste with honey. Then sip this potion while it is still
warm. Re-heat the remainder when you
want the next dose. Since the
decoction is quite strong, you can add a little more water and
re-boil. You can add other spices
like turmeric. I make a batch of
fennel and coriander seeds to last me for about 3 brews and keep it in an
airtight bottle. Please note that
herbs and spices have contraindications and drug interactions. For example, see my notes on ginger and
liquorice. Also, you can take too much of a good thing - so don't overdose
yourself. I used the spices in my
cooking but only took the above amounts per day as ginger and spice tea.
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Linseed tea - I have tried linseed in the past. The linseed oil from health food shops
tended to be rancid and detrimental to my health. I tried crushed linseed with breakfast
cereals, and soaked them overnight in hot water to drink on an empty
stomach. However, I did not really
see any other noticeable effects.
When I was looking up information on linseed while I was ill, I came
across an interesting article at http://butterflywings.hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Make-Flax-Seed-Oil You boil the
linseed for 8 minutes and let it cool.
The result is a gloopy gum, which is like raw egg white.
I did not have the
recommended dose - in fact I only made 1 teaspoon of linseed in half a mug
of water at a time since linseed goes rancid quite quickly. On the first day, I had only one
tablespoon in all, i.e. 3 doses. The
next morning and through the day I coughed up a lot of phlegm, which was
also being expelled through the bowels.
The coughing becomes worse before it gets better. After that I only took just 1 teaspoon of
linseed per day on 2 days, alternating with the ginger tea. It could just be a coincidence but I am
now fully recovered.
On the 18th Jan 2014, I read in my old Harmsworths
Home Doctor (undated, p 2498) said that an infusion was good for catarrh of
the throat and bronchial tubes, for gastritis and acute inflammation of the
kidneys and bladder. For respiratory
complaints, it recommends the addition of licorice,
honey or rind and juice of lemon.
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Alkalising drink -
This is very similar to Andrews Salts as it was - the new
recipe seems to be different.
Bicarbonate of soda was widely used in cooking and as a medicine by
people until the advent of proprietary medicines. My undated leather-bound pre-WW1 copy of Harmworths Home Doctor Volume 1 advises its use in acid
conditions, including as an external treatment for insect bites and burns
and scalds. It also states (page
556) "A mixture of equal parts of hot milk and soda water with a pinch
of bicarbonate of soda will often prove very comforting to the air passages
and remove a troublesome cough".
Since my chest muscles were strained by coughing, I decided to do
the following for maximum benefit and it worked for me.
Put a tiny bit
of Epsom Salts (just a few grains) with 1/2 tsp
sugar in a mug. Add about 2 oz hot (not boiling) water to dissolve the salt and
sugar. Then add about half a
teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda and a slice of lemon to taste, squeezing
it. Add more water to make it up to
about a third of a cup. The drink
will fizz. Stir and drink it. I only took this drink about once a
week. .
Most bacteria
and fungi (like Candida Albicans) thrive in an
acidic environment. The body should
be slightly alkaline, but if you take these salts too often, you can become
infected by bacteria which thrive in an alkaline environment. The advice is confusing - you need to be
aware of side effects and drug interactions.
The above
internal treatments also eased stomach and digestive complaints which I
occasionally had after a bout of gastritis.. Please remember that some herbs and
spices have contraindications and drug interactions. I will find out what I can about linseed
and provide a summary with links. There is already
a lot of articles about baking soda on the internet. See side-effect and warnings at: http://drsircus.com/medicine/sodium-bicarbonate-baking-soda/side-effects-contraindications. Simoncini (http://www.curenaturalicancro.com/)
advocates fairly strong doses of bicarbonate for treating Candida strains,
and says that in his experience cancer tends to co-exist with candida, a
pre-disposing factor. Bicarbonate of
soda has also been used with molasses or maple syrup as a cure for cancer.
http://drsircus.com/medicine/sodium-bicarbonate-baking-soda/cancer-studies-ph-medicine. Also, research suggests that daily doses
of bicarbonate and help those with advanced kidney disease
http://www.kidneyresearchuk.org/news/kidney-research-news-articles.php?id=694.
Use the search engines. See my notes on bicarbonate
of soda for more uses.
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External Treatments
The following
treatments made the symptoms more bearable while the internal treatments
helped to disperse the congestion.
·
Olbas Oil on chest,
throat, around ears, forehead and on handkerchief. It is possible to use other warming oils
or rubs, like Vicks Vapor rub. These help to open up the nasal and
bronchial passages so that it is easier to breathe and cough up the
phlegm. It is possible to put a few
drops of Olbas oil in hot (but not boiling water)
and inhale the steam. I was too
exhausted to do this, but it is highly recommended.
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Warm linseed packs or hot water bottles. I filled some old
cotton socks with linseed which was past its
use-by date and tied a knot to hold them in. I microwaved the packs until they were
quite hot to warm the bed while cleaned my teeth and doused myself
with Olbas oil.
When I got into bed, I placed the warm packs initially on the
chest. To avoid burns, I kept moving
the pack over different areas of the chest.
When the pack had cooled a bit, I put it under my upper back to ease
the muscles just above the waist.
Although, the summer nights were quite warm and humid, I found the
packs very relaxing and comforting. I was able to sleep without pain. You will find all sorts of suggestions on
the internet. I found that rice
charred quite quickly in the microwave and grains can feel quite hard. The packs will make your sheets and bed
clothes smell. But, the smell does
wash out. I have continued to use
these packs every night, since they are helping me improve my posture by
relaxing muscles which had become habitually tensed by cold, hayfever and gastritis etc. Caution:
Not suitable for babies and elderly who are unable to move the packs to
avoid burns - Copy and paste the next line for an article, which has been archived and no longer online. It is written by a nurse and includes
warnings. http://web.archive.org/web/20080531122731/
http://www.diamondthreadworks.com/microwave_heating_bags.htm
·
Lymphatic drainage - I used the packs while following Heather Wibbels demos on lymph drainage. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QA-wi0d7-Ro She has a
series of demos working from the throat area, down to the legs. I was using the linseed packs to perform
the gentle massage she suggested to promote blood and lymph circulation and
drainage.
·
Rest and Elevate the legs during recuperation - when you are feeling breathless and
dizzy, you tend to spend a lot of time in bed or in a chair. To help lymphatic and blood circulation
back to the heart, do raise your feet.
I used 2 thick pillows - one across the bed, and another sloping up
to it from the knee towards the ankle.
The ankles and feet are suspended in the air to avoid pressure on
them. You can buy sloping leg rests
- but the two pillow arrangement is much more versatile.
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Deep breathing - this was very painful initially and triggered coughing
fits. I took it gently but the
gently forced breath did loosen the phlegm.
Initially, I could feel no breath in my lungs, which felt dead. Every day, with the above therapies, I
could feel the breath a bit more. A
long time ago, when I was mentally reciting the 23rd psalm (which is very
comforting), I found that the phrase Restoreth my
Soul, and in particular the word Soul, caused a sudden change in the
body. The shoulders and rib cage
dropped, the chest muscles relaxed and the back straightened. So, I used this while exhaling to get as
much stale air out as possible and then tried to take a deep a breath as
was comfortable but with the intention of filling my belly with
breath. I have recently come across
this page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soham_(Sanskrit). It looks like variants of So, such as Sa, have also been used in breathing
meditations. So, without having
consciously recollecting it, I had spent my waking hours during illness,
meditating on my breath to good effect - it, along with the therapies
above, helped me regain my energy.
I am now wondering if these
treatments will help me mitigate the severe allergic reactions I have
suffered all these years. This would
be wonderful since it would make my old age much more enjoyable. Being able to go out in the garden and
countryside in the hayfever season will be a real
treat.
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Disclaimer
© Mahes Visvalingam, 4 October 2013
Last updated on 07/12/2021
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