Natural Cough Remedies

Check with your OB and see if you can take the Hyland's cough syrup. It's a kids one, but I use it too. Otherwise, you can boil 5 radishes with 5 tsps of sugar until the color is out of the radishes completely (totally white)...usually about an hour's worth of time. Sip it warm and you can keep in fridge for about 2 weeks. My grandma used to make it for me when I was a kid and now when anyone in our house is sick I make a big batch.

Good Luck and feel better!

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Add some ginger root to your lemon and honey mixture. It is spicy but it is so healing for the throat. Just slice up or shred some into the boiling water and let it boil.

I hope you have some other good advice on here! Good luck and feel better soon.

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A wonderful cure for serious coughs in kids is rubbing a thick layer of vicks vapor rub on bottoms of feet and covering with socks. Assumed to safe in pregnancy as well. Good luck and congradulations

i heard that the ingredient camphor in vicks causes seizures in small children and babies. that was pretty freaky to me since i used to use it all the time.
im just like you in that i prefer natural remedies and never take otc meds when im pregnant and dont really when im not unless im desperate.
so as for coughs, get some dried eucalyptus leaves (probably from whole foods, sprouts, or mothers market if you dont have any in your yard) and simmer it in a sauce pan on your stove and let the aroma fill your home like the simmer potpourri, it should help loosen the mucous making it easier to breathe and stop coughing.
you can also try a simple tea made from hot water lemon and honey.

Just take a tblspoon of honey directly from the jar without diluting it. It will coat your throat and works instantly. The darker the honey, the better. Also, I have heard mixing it with cinnamin powder works well too. I haven't tried that yet, but have used just plain honey.

I'd go see a homeopath and get a consultation (i can refer you if you need) or go to whole foods and get "chestal" homeopathic syrup by Borion ...perfectly safe

Hi:

Have you considered going to an Oriental Medical Doctor. They are schooled in herbal medicine and maybe able to offer you alternative means of support. My doctor is Dr. David Karaba at East West Medical Group in Fullerton if you want a referral.

Best wishes to you.

M. Sexton

Hello S.. I just wanted to comment that when I was pregnant, I brought in a few bottles of herbs I wanted to continue taking, with me to my ob appointment. The doctor strongly advised me against taking them, stating that herbs and other natural remedies are not regulated by the FDA, therefore, the effects on a fetus is unknown. Just wanted to let you know that before you make any decisions.

Add some ginger to your lemon, honey and water! I give this to everyone in our family!-www.weelicious.com

Hot water with honey and lemon. It works for me.

Do you put the honey in the hot water? We just swallow it straight from the spoon and that coats the throat. If you cough is getting worse, go see the doctor! Coughs usually last 9 days but should be getting better. Hang in there!

there are homeopathic remedies for cough. homeopathic OTC may work, may not. Individually prescribed remedy will work, but you need to have that done by professional homeopath.
to find one close to you use this link:
http://www.homeopathy.org/directory.html
Good luck!
V.
P.S. before i used homeopathy, i used to boil figs in milk - that's when i was still consuming milk that is.

Hey S.,
I was going to say what your last sentence expressed hot-warm water with lemon juice and honey throughout the day ( not sure if you are working or at home, but when I had my cough/tickle throat drama i drank it like once or twice an hour which causes you to run like crazy to the restroom. It could be an allergy thing to or that nasty post-nasal drip that drives you crazy, but the source is sinus in that case and it is common, warm or cool midst humidifier may help. Unfortunately coughs are for the most part lingering but they will eventually go away provided there is no undelying issue.

Dear S.-

This is not "natural" but may help and may not be harmful to baby (confirm with your Dr.) - Whenever I have a cold I get a lingering cough that seems to last forever- my dr. prescribes me an asthma inhaler- there are a few different types; I think the one I use is the "as needed". Anyway, I only take it for a week or 2 and it clears up the cough. Since it's an inhaler it is "topical" as opposed to systemic so not as much gets into your system. Obviously you will want to check this out with your doctor; the last time I took this I was breastfeeding but not pregnant.

Good luck!

S.,

Something you might want to talk to your doctor about further, is the consumption of honey while pregnant (and nursing). Honey can be harmful to infants under one year of age. I still haven't had any honey, since I'm still nursing my one-year old. I haven't had any since before i got pregnant. I've missed it tremendously during colds since it is so soothing.

anyhow, just talkk to your doctor and get his/her thoughts. I've also attached a few links you might consider...

http://www.drgreene.com/21_1476.html

http://www.wisegeek.com/why-shouldnt-infants-eat-honey.htm

Try the Santa Monica Homeopathic Store in Santa Monica they are very helpful

congratulations & gargle with salt water.. works wonders!

use a steamer in your room at night when you sleep, that's what I do for my kids. Make sure you have no mold in your house, but it is probably summer allergies. are you using cough drops?

Keep drinking the hot water with lemon and honey. Eat REALLY WELL - fruits and veggies (high in Vit. C), drink plenty of water and rest.

I know that is all easier said than done.

Congrats on your pregnancy!
M.

Traditional Medicinals makes a tea called "Throat Coat" that works well and taste good too. See if you can find a vaporizer that takes in vaporizer Vicks because the added humidity will help.
There is also a tincture you can get at health food stores called "red root" that is also ok with pregnancy.

Your key is to stay hydrated, drink plenty of liquids and humidity is your friend. Good luck!

Try a cool mist humidifier. You'll need to get one anyway for when the baby is stuffy too. If the cough is in your chest, it loosens things up in there so you can cough stuff up in the morning. It's worth a shot.

Nothing is ever 100% safe, even our drinking water. However, I did manage to get a cold while I was preggo and I just drank a ton of hot water... about your body weight in ounces. YOU WILL PEE ALL THE TIME, but you are flushing the virus out as well. Don't exceed your body weight in ounces as you will then start to flush out electrolytes. I took Emergen-C. Vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin and if the body doesn't need it it will shed it. However, watch out for Vitamin C flush which just means you get diarrhea.

Hi Sara,

Whole Foods has the absolutely BEST cough syrup (in the medicine section). It is all made from herbs, has no harmful ingredients, and works 500% better than anything I have seen OTC. They have several options, depending on what your symptoms are. Ask one of their employees in that section of the market.

I use the children's Hyland it's natural homeopathic... not sure about any of the ingredients while you're preggo though so I'd ask your OB... also, stay away from any white sugars or anything made with sugar including breads... that will help feed the bacteria.