[Mike in Pa]

I'm looking for help from people that have tried natural medications or cures such as echineacha, garlic, etc., etc. My son has asthma problems and is always catching colds. I want to get away from all the antibiotic and steroid CRAP. I need to build his immune system AND help the respiratory problems (not necessarily asthma).
I know some will say, vitamin C, echinachia, etc., etc. but I'd like to talk to people that have had results (good or bad) with these things and others.

Thanks a lot,
Mike

 

[Swampdweller]

Most disease of the body is caused by poor nutrition. Natural medicine is in natural foods. Most vitamins, supplements, minerals (not all, most) are not able too be utilized by the body because they are unrecognizeable to it as a food. Most folks are somewhat nutrition conscious. They buy "quality" foods, and prepare "square" meals for their families. I say most, I mean that I would hope most in this forum, anyway. BUT, food purchased from the supermarket already has everything going against it. Raised with chemical nutrient, picked prematurely, shipped or stored for too long. (Plant based foods are best eaten within one half hour of harvest. Again, I say BEST, not only.)
Why do I write all this to one who has asked about natural medicines ?
Because healing starts with natural foods. What you can raise in organic, chemical-free soil or what you can find in unspoiled timber, this is what we should all be eating. That said, garlic is a gift with many benefits, as is vinegar, honey, fermented fruit juices, the weeds in your garden, etc.
This is too broad a subject to address exhaustively in one writing. Suffice it to say, we do raise or forage 95% of our food. We are healthy. We have had five children at home, buried one, and still carry on in pursuit of independance.
There is the matter of faith and commitment in what we choose to do, but that is another story. There is no "try". It is do, or do not do.

Swampdweller

 

[Tom McLaughlin]

I'm looking for help from people that have tried natural medications or cures such as echineacha, garlic, etc., etc. My son has asthma problems and is always catching colds. I want to get away from all the antibiotic and steroid CRAP. I need to build his immune system AND help the respiratory problems (not necessarily asthma).
I know some will say, vitamin C, echinachia, etc., etc. but I'd like to talk to people that have had results (good or bad) with these things and others.

Thanks a lot,
Mike

Is your son drinking plenty of water? I have asthma and find that drinking the recommended 8 glasses a day helps a whole bunch with the respiratoy system. If he's not drinking alot of water(at least 8 glasses a day) give it a try. Just my experience ..Tom

 

[Mike in Pa]

Well we firmly believe in making him (all of us really) drink a lot of water but it's hard to make a 2.5yo drink more than he wants.

We REALLY try to eat as good and natural as possible ... expand the garden every year. He is a very healthy eater ... healthier than any other his age I've seen .... that's one thing he has going for him.

 

[Dawndra]

Swampdweller knows what he's talking about. I've never seen a healthier family in my life! I've learned so many things from him & his wife.

He told me to take honey for my allergies. 1 tsp. of raw honey a day & I have no allergies at all!

We take garlic like pills when we're starting to get sick. We cook with tons of garlic all the time. It really helps.

Whenever I have a question about the nutritional value of a plant, or what to take for an ailment.... I call swampdweller....

 

[MTNwomanAR]

I myself use Echinacea, and have for years, and yes, it helps me not to get as sick as others that I know. I'm not the healthiest of eaters either[am working on that!!]. I take black cohosh for my menopause stuff, and again, it works. I have taken ginseng in the past, and it is another good herb.

 

[breezynosacek]

I grew up with severe asthma was sick all the time and found that although my grandmother was pouring vitamins down my throat all of the time I didn't really get better until I moved to FL.

I lived in an area with a lot of pollution from mining and manufacturing. We had a dirt basement which flooded all of the time (mold). My parents smoked and my stepfather wore old spice. My mother used perfumes and used tons of hair spray. I was allergic.

My asthma slackened when I grew up and left home but it didn't go away.
Something about the salt air in FL and a lot of sunshine caused my asthma to change. I was able to run without wheezing for the first time in my life.

Prior to that, every time I got sick my immune system did a nose dive. I ate good, my family gardens, my neighbors gardened constantly. But when you put a kid on antibiotics for bronchitis, pluerisy and pnuemonia all of the time their bodies never get a chance to fight germs.

Like I said my asthma changed when I lived on the beach in FL. As soon as I moved inland, it kicked in again and that is when I learned to build up my immune system. I started taking high doses of vitamin C every time I so much as felt lousy or sneezed. Now, after just a year or so of doing this I went almost totally all year long without getting sick!!!

I keep it up. Not only does my body fight germs, it now also fights viruses. Most of the people at work kept getting these stupid viruses and getting sick for months at a time, now I might get the sniffels but I don't really get sick, hence I don't end up with a respiratory infection and they don't put me on antibiotics.

I haven't had to go to the doctor in over 5 yrs. I haven't had to take any kind of prescription except perhaps an occasional hit on the inhaler when I get too much mold or get around old spice or hair spray or some overpowering perfume.

Also, a piece of genseng root about 1/2 inch long chopped into pieces and boiled for tea in about a quart of water makes a great tea. I had pnuemonia that the doctor couldn't get rid of when I was in high school. Had it for 5 months. The genseng kept me up and walking and able to go to school when the doctor couldn't.

 

[Soni]

Basic bronchial dilator: mullein. Use the leaves/flowers in tea (strain out the 'fuzzies' for children or those with sensitive stomachs). A cup or two a day will help. It will count for his water content, too. This is a preventative maintenance herb, not a rescue breathing herb.

You can also put the leaves/flowers in an inhaler/humidifier that heats up water and puts it into the air. Or just pour boiling water over the leaves, let steep until the steam calms down a bit in temp and put him under a towel with it to breathe for a bit (don't know if moist air hurts asthmatics or not)

 

[kathy H]

couple of things I found help, vitamin c and e, also sage tea and reading my herbale health book they sugest algae, kyo- green works great to buld up the immune system and it has algae and barley, ect and mixed in juice dosnt taste to bad.

 

[johnkl]

Immune system booster---colloidal silver in appropriate dosage. Its a mild, broad spectrum antibiotic that can be taken dailty and helps

 

[HilltopDaisy]

I have asthma, too. I've also worked much of my adult life in natural foods stores, AKA "healthfood stores". I've done a lot of research on asthma, for myself and others. I would seriously consider cutting out dairy, especially milk, for a couple of months, and see if it helps. Dairy increases and thickens mucous secretions, making it much more difficult to breath. Believe me, no one likes milk more than I do, so I know avoiding it is difficult. If I drink a glass of milk, I feel like my chest is in a vice, and I have terrible sinus drainage. Yuck.

Also, try a rotation of 4 days between foods--don't feed corn, or pasta, or peanut butter, etc., for 2 days in a row. Feed items every 4 days, because we can build up intolerences (allergies) to foods that we eat often.

It's admirable to want to avoid prescription medications, BUT you can die from an asthma attack. Always keep the inhaler nearby. Good news, though..........lots of kids grow out of asthma attacks. You are never actually cured.

 

[harmony]

Excellent advice above, especially the parts about lots and lots of water, eliminating dairy products, and nutrition. I can't add a thing except give it a little time to see if he straightens out on his own. He's only 2 1/2? His immune system is still developing, so the habits he learns now will last him a life time. I think it's wonderful that you are teaching him these things now.

Yes, Daisy, me too. And boy do I miss ice cream, and pizza!! I always said I didn't want to live in a world without ice cream, but I get so ill, it's not worth it any more.

 

[Mike in Pa]

Thank you all very much for the responses so far ... especially the ones with direct experience.

I've done extensive research on the net and have books ... of course talked to many doctors as well. I totally agree with and appreciate all of the above advice.

If this helps, these are our personal problems/symptoms... My son doesn't seem to have asthma to me. He was diagnosed with it, although mild. He gets cold fairly often then it turns into bronchitis or pneumonia. It doesn't seem to be a constant thing ... only when he gets sick.

 

[diane]

Raw honey from our own hives has done it for me. I never did all the testing but was pretty miserable a great deal of the time. A teaspoon twice a day. I also keep elderberry on hand, as it has been found to be a natural antiviral. I take some vitamin suppliments and the immunosystem boosters like echineaca if I am under stress and in the winter. My husband and I seldom have any ailments others than getting tired faster as we age.

Being extremely careful about food additives is also a must IMO. Natural, whole grains, unprocessed foods. In old days there were not nearly the allergy problems there are today and I believe it has to do will all the junk they are putting in our foods.

We pretty much grow everything we eat.

 

[charles]

The wife and kids collected a lot of wooly mullien seed this year. Plan to experiment with commercial production (we have a buyer) next year. If some want enough seed for their garden pm me.

 

[Rita]

We have found bovine colostrum to a wonderful immune system booster. Anyone that raises cattle, goats etc. knows how valuable that first milk is to the baby animal and in some cases they don't even survive without it.

We never get colds, flu and found we had increased energy when we started taking it. It comes in wonderful tasting lozenges or powder. I mix the powder with yohurt. We buy it from Immuno-Dynamics.

 

[Tempest]

Just another voice sharing positive experiences with alternative cures, herbs, etc. A quarter cup of tomatoe juice, 1/4 tsp black pepper and 1/8 tsp cayanne pepper were reccomended on this forum back when it was directly associated with Countryside mag for bronchitis. I babysat a one year old who always had green snot coming from his nose. His mother said the doctor diagnosed it as allergies. I put the above mixture in a bottle and let him drink at will. His nose cleared up within a few hours. He also brought pink eye into my house, one dose of colloidal silver in my 1yr old's eyes cleared her up within 24 hours, while his mom had stuff from the doctor and it took alot longer to clear up. We use either echinacea or garlic for flus, colds, viruses, bacteria infections, etc. We hardly ever get sick, though. I used to be prone to sinus infections so I would spray colloidal silver up my nose and it would clear up, don't get them anymore. The most effective thing I've done after drinking lots of water was attend to my spiritual needs: a balanced spirit creates a balanced body.
Peace and blessings,
Tempest

 

[stoneground]

Two very effective "remedies" are Elderberry and B complex. They both strengthen the immune system. If you search elderberry on the internet you should find some very impressive studies on the effectiveness of elderberry tincture, syrup, etc. on flu and colds. I do not recommend any specific product as I make my own elderberry syrup. This should be easy for a child to take because elderberries taste good especially as a syrup. B complex is a very important element in good health and it is very difficult to get enough in our diets. Even a healthy diet does not always supply enough B complex to maintain really good health. I take B 50's or B 100's, but I would not know how much to recommend for a child. The amount in most supplements is woefully inadequate. Possibly the best way to supplement a childs diet would be to add nutritional yeast. I stopped getting sick when I started adding B complex to my diet. I cannot say that it does or does not affect asthma, but I had asthma when I was a child and now I very rarely have a wheeze - however, I am "old" now. For me, the elderberry is more effective than echinacea or vit. c. I do not tolerate vit. c well and large doses make me ill.

Ginger tea is a good remedy for lung and breathing problems, too. Tastes good with honey. Thyme is also a very powerful healing herb for asthma and other lung problems and so is horehound. Horehound is very bitter and needs a lot of sugar or honey to make it palatable, but horehound candy is often liked by children. We always loved it and ate it just as a candy. Lungwort, Pulmonaria Officinalis, both names indicate theat this is a useful herb for the lungs. Coltsfoot is Tussilago Farfara, Tussilago indicates it is a lung herb and has traditionally been used for lung ailments including asthma. Many of these herbals are approved for treating coughs and lung ailments in Europe, specifically Germany. Mullein has already been mentioned.

I hope this is of some help. If I think of any others I will post them.

Peace and Love,
nancy in the Catskills

 

[Mike in Pa]

Funny you guys mention Elderberry now ... I literally just got back from buying 70.00 worth of herbal stuff and Elderberry extract was in the mix!

 

[Marilyn in CO]

Sometimes parasites could be the culprit. Also I have known people to have quite good results with acupuncture. Marilyn, the farmer's wife...also an herbalist and Certified Natural Health Prof.