On recommendation of a friend who also feeds her son with Fluimucil to expel phlegm, I bought a pack from the pharmacy to try it on Sherilyn. Initially I tried Pei Pa Koa but had to stop that when I realized that it caused her to have loose bowels several times in a day. The same thing happened to Cass who was also fed Pei Pa Koa to expel her phlegm. Alycia was the only one who did not consume Pei Pa Koa and she did not suffer from loose bowel, so I surmised that it must be the Pei Pa Koa that caused loose bowel in Sherilyn and Cass.
Next I tried store bought Ivy leaves cough syrup but that did not seem to reduce the phlegm. So I decided to give Fluimucil a try. Though it did help in reducing the phlegm and cough substantially, Sherilyn had tummy upset and purged 3-4 times in a day. She soiled her pants when she let out gas. Another time was a big scene but thank God it was at home on a Sunday. She dirtied the room floor with her loose faeces, which splattered onto the cupboard and drawers! I spent over an hour cleaning up the mess and disinfecting the room! I suspect that one of the side effects of Fluimucil on Sherilyn is that it had caused her tummy upset and loose bowel but this is not conclusive. I also surmised that cough syrups in general had caused Sherilyn loose bowel movement and tummy upset.
My drama queen took over half an hour to finish half a mug of Fluimucil effervescent with water. Actually the smell / taste ain’t that bad. If I can stomach it down, so can anyone, as I am one who can totally not swallow any syrupy meds.
After 3 weeks of flu and a productive cough (with thick greenish phlegm) WITHOUT feeding her with any medication, my 4YO baby girl is A-OK now! Good thing I did not listen to my hubs to bring her to the paed’s clinic. I am pro anti-antibiotics and anti-cough meds for my kids and for myself. In some countries, cough mixture for kids is banned. I know what sort of havoc antibiotics can wreck to one’s body. Yeast infection, diarrhea, tummy discomfort, nausea, resistance to antibiotics, the list goes. These are some of the side effects of antibiotics and I had experienced all these side-effects myself and absolutely HATED the side effects. I had seen how my girls suffered each time they were fed with antibiotics when they were younger. My 4YO baby girl has had antibiotics more than her body needed for the first 15 months of her raw life where she had no choice but to be put on daily oral prophylactic antibiotics with almost monthly powerful doses of antibiotics jabs and drips as a result of the monthly UTI attacks which resulted from her past Grade III Kidney Reflux and Duplex System of the urinary tract. Anyway, that’s past, thank you Lord! That is why I do not want to burden her kidneys, liver and body with any more oral meds if I can help it. I rather treat her body the natural way, albeit the recovery period will be longer than if she were given antibiotics and meds. And yes, do you know how I managed to get rid of all the irritating phlegm from Cass? That will be in my next post…
Almost everyone in the house is down with a very bad productive cough and runny nose. My mil and Cassandra are the hardest hit with Alycia and Sherilyn recovering slowly but steadily. Cassandra has been having a productive cough and runny nose for almost 2 weeks now. She had almost recovered from the flu but caught the bug again early this week. But thank God she does not have any fever. It must be the Esberitox working and preventing something more serious from flaring up. Though she has been having flu for 2 weeks already, I am not bringing her to the paed’s clinic just yet. I try to avoid feeding my kids with cold meds and antibiotics as best as I can. I try to treat them naturally with Esberitox, Manuka honey, lots of fresh fruits and veggie and daily gargling of sea salt water. I had expected Cassandra to catch all sorts of bugs when she first started attending kindergarten at the start of April this year. Alycia and Sherilyn were not sparred when they first attended kindy. Alycia was the hardest hit. She was sick every month on end till I pulled her out from school and had a 1/2 year hiatus. When she resumed attending kindy, she got bitten by those pesky flu bugs again, very easily. It took her body about 3 years to ‘recognize’ all the common viruses and bugs that attack kids before the body eventually became stronger and more resilient.
When I asked Cassandra if all her classmates were having cold and cough, she said yes. She said “Sasha coughed at me and I coughed back at her. Everyone coughed at each other!”I wasn’t horrified as I had seen those kids from Alycia’s class with long and stringy goo goo dribbling out from their noses and those kids wiped them off with their hands and then touched everything surrounding them. This is an inevitable part of growing up. Only time will strengthen their body’s immune system. Yesterday my throat felt very itchy and I could feel that a cough was about to erupt. I was sneezing too. After popping some Esberitox and going to be at 10pm, I think my body has managed to fend off those pesky bugs. I hope my body’s defense system is strong enough to continue fending off those bugs as I keep getting coughed at and sneezed at by Cassandra and not to mention getting lots of wet kisses from her too!
It was only a fluke and lasted only for a day that Baby didn’t want my boops. The next day, she was back to herself again, searching for my boops and getting addicted to them again, sigh… I notice that whenever my parents are here or whenever there are other people in the house, she would feel ashamed of showing her addiction to my boops. She would go near me, look at her comfort tools and say “shame shame” to me quietly. After my parents left, she was back to usual self again, climbing up my lap and conveniently latch on to her comfort tools. I’ve been telling her that she’s a big girl now and cannot drink mummy’s milk anymore. I’ve told her many times that mummy has no more milk for her but that is not deterring her a wee bit. She just wants to feel close to me. I wonder when she will ever be weaned off.
I mentioned in my earlier posts that everyone in the family has been down with chesty cough (with lots of phlegm) and mild runny nose, including myself. Only the hubs went to the doctor’s to get himself meds. For Sherilyn, I used Baby’s old Aero Chamber to administer the Ventolin on her several weeks ago to get rid of her phlegm. She’s getting better now. Thank God Alycia’s immune system has gotten stronger lately and I only gave her several Esberitox tabs (Echinacea) to treat her mild runny nose. Baby is the only one spared from being bitten by the virulent cough and cold bugs, thanks to mummy’s powerhouse milkie enriched with all the supplements that she’s been taking. Maybe I should also give credit to the E.Excel supplements that I’ve been diligently feeding her with.
To cure myself from my chesty and mild runny nose, I popped Echinacea tabs and garlic tabs 2-3 times a day as soon as I felt the slightest symptoms appearing, to ‘nip the bug in the bud’!
I also gargled my throat with salt water throughout the day and night (after I had woken up to change Baby’s diaper). Other immune system enhancers that I’ve been taking as usual include Bragg’s apple cider vinegar, Vitamin ACE and salmon fish oil (to enhance my failing memory after having 3 kids!). Have also been eating green veggie like a rabbit, drinking freshly squeezed lemon juice and apple cider vinegar, eating chopped raw garlic and munching more on fruits and tomatoes for the extra antioxidants and vitamins.
On top of that, I’ve been boiling luo han guo, barley water and chrysanthemum tea everyday for the entire family. These drinks are known by the Chinese to be good for the lungs, expel phlegm and treat cough, remove ‘heatiness’ from the body and boost the immune system. Barley water is boiled primarily for Baby as it is very good in cleansing the bladder and kidneys. My 2 older girls and the hubs drink it too. And I am surprised that Baby has no problem drinking luo han guo and chrysanthemum tea though they have a slightly bitter taste.
Today is around the 6th day and I am recovering well. Really glad that I’ve once again self-treated myself from cough, cold and phlegm without having to pop antibiotics or other meds.
Garlic consumption is very effective for strengthening the immune system and will even help prevent many colds. Garlic should be used as soon as the initial symptoms of a cold are felt. When symptoms first appear, take a garlic supplement, eat raw garlic or make your own garlic tea. I’ve read that garlic tea can soothe a sore throat and cough as well as boost the body’s disease-fighting strength.
On top of the above remedies, you must have enough sleep, drink enough plain water, exercise, keep stress at bay (I know, easier said than done) and eat healthily in order to have a strong immune system. Once your immune system is strong, your body heals easily and faster from illnesses.
Disclaimer: What I’m sharing with you here is based on my own experience experimenting on natural remedies. They work for me most of the time but may not work for you. So, you may want to use this list as a starting place to do more research on your own on any particular supplement/plant/herb/etc. before taking it. If you have any special medical conditions, or are taking any medications, it’s best that you check with a doctor first.
Everyone in the family is down with cough and phelgm. First Sherilyn got it (which was about a month ago and she still has it), then Alycia, next the hubs, then the maid, yesterday I got bitten and Baby is showing signs too. Baby has been throwing up her milk for the past few days each time I’m about to finish spoon-feeding her. It’s an extra struggle to spoon-feed her formula milk these few days. Just now she threw up her Pediasure again when I had just finished spoon-feeding her the last drop. Sigh…. all my time and effort of painfully spoon-feeding her went down the drain. My 3 girls always show signs of rejecting milk each time they are under the weather, especially with an irritable throat and phlegm.
Today I boiled a big pot of luo han guo for everyone. After Baby had puked her milk, I gave her a sip of luo han guo drink to try. To my surprise, she gave me a forefinger’s up sign (thumb’s up – which means she likes it!) and signaled for more. I quickly gave her 2.5 ounces which she happily drank.
I find that boiled luo han guo drink is quite effective in expelling phlegm, if drank on a very regular basis. However, if I have a chronic cough with yellowish-greenish phlegm, then it would take a longer time to see results. Double-boiling fresh olives with lean pork still works the best for me whenever I have a chronic cough. It’s a traditional natural remedy in China. I don’t normally pay a visit to the GP, even when I am down with fever, chronic cough and phlegm, coz I don’t believe in antibiotics. I prefer to let my body heal naturally.
Here’s my luo han guo drink:
I normally crack up 2 tennis ball-sized luo han guo and dump everything into a pot filled with water and boil it for an hour. I don’t add honey dates or rock sugar coz the luo han guo is naturally sweet. The drink tastes really refreshing when chilled.
Here’s a little information on luo han guo:
The dried fruit can be bought in Chinese Medicine Halls, mini marts and supermarkets. They are not very costly, costs about RM1-RM2 each, depending on the size of the dried fruit. The outer surface of the dried fruit is round and smooth, dusty yellow-brown or dusty green-brown. It is covered with fine, soft hair. The fruit is covered by a hard but thin shell. Inside is a partly dry, flexible substance containing the juice, as well as a large number of seeds. The skin, juicy part, and seeds all have a good sweet flavor. Its nature is cool and it has no poison. The fruit helps relieve sunstroke, moistens the lungs, eliminates phlegm, stops cough, and promotes bowel movements.
Sherilyn has been having cough for the past 3 weeks. Her cough during the initial 2 weeks was unproductive. If it’s unproductive cough, it is most likely non-contagious. A week ago, the cough turned into a chesty cough with phlegm. Several days later, Alycia got bitten by the cough virus, then the maid and then the hubs. Am praying hard that Baby and I will not get bitten too.
We brought Sherilyn to the paed’s office last week and she was given some cough syrup. That however did not help to bring a stop to the stubborn cough. She coughs mostly during and after her temper tantrums when she screams and cries or when she talks too much. Since the phlegm does not seem to be abating, I gave her Baby C’s Ventolin, administered through the Aero-Chamber. Baby had chesty cough about 1.5 months ago and had only used the Ventolin several times.
Initially, at the suggest of the Aero-Chamber and Ventolin, Sherilyn freaked out and shrieked! We had to hold her down in order for me to administer it on her. After 3 sessions, she overcame her phobia coz there was no pain and no smell, save for a slight bitter taste on the throat. On the second day, this fler has been reminding me to administer the Ventolin for her. She even knows how to fix the Ventolin spray to the Aero-Chamber and administer it herself, which freaked me out when I saw her spraying the Ventolin, with the Aero-Chamber on her face. After 3 days on Ventolin, her cough now does not sound that chesty and the phlegm has lessened.
See this rascal administering the Ventolin on herself right after her bath!
After being healed completely from a chronic cough twice this month, I now swear by fresh olives and their amazing healing properties for cough. It’s pretty simple to prepare this home remedy. All you need are fresh olives and some lean pork and a pot or a double boiler. BUT the problem is finding fresh olives. My mil got them from Hong Kong and I’m not sure where you can get fresh olives here in Malaysia. Also not sure if bottled preserved olives also have the same effect on healing a cough.
Here’s the fresh olives soup double boiled with lean pork in a double boiler ceramic pot.
The soup tastes a tad sour and sweet and has a rather pleasant taste too. Thank goodness Alycia and Sherilyn who were having cough drank the soup too.
…with cough and runny nose. With only 3 more days left before their trip to Hong Kong, I didn’t want to let them heal on their own, so I told hubby to bring them to the paed this morning. Flying with a runny nose can be really disastrous and torturous as the ears will most likely get blocked. My ears got blocked for several days one time when I had the sniffles and boarded a plane for a vacation. Moreover, Alycia has quite a bit of phlegm irritating her throat and has been coughing and throwing up since yesterday. She has no appetite and has not been eating much. Alycia has not been this sick for many months and she must have caught the virulent bug from either one of us in the house as almost everyone is having the sniffles and cough lately. The paed prescribed them with a cough syrup, a cold syrup, fever meds and a bottle of powder antibiotics (not reconstituted yet) to be on guard, just in case their condition worsens. Praying hard that Baby C will not get bitten by the virulent bug too!
Did you know that eating fresh olives can heal a chronic cough? This is a ‘heong har’ (hometown in China) home remedy. I didn’t believe it until I tried it recently. My mil had brought some fresh olives back from Hong Kong recently and she asked me to chew on the fresh olives. Though the fresh olives tasted a tad bitter and sour, nevertheless, you have a fantastic aftertaste in your mouth. You would feel sweetness in your mouth after eating the olives. My mil also double boiled some soup made of fresh olives with lean pork for me. I drank a few bowls and I must say, the result is miraculous. I have no more cough now! Well, I’m not sure if it works well for you but it did for me.
I am a WFHM with 3 beautiful girls - Alycia, Sherilyn and Cassandra. I quit the job that I love to stay home with my 3 angels as that's what I've always wanted to do. I am a health freak, fitness freak and a clean freak too. I love to eat and live the clean and healthy way; I want my kids and hubby to do the same too.
I always believe that your health is your wealth and if you have good health, that's the best gift you can ever ask for from God.
I have been writing product reviews, food reviews / restaurant reviews and product advertorials since 2007. Please email Shireen at shireenyong@gmail.com to inquire if you are interested to place an advertorial or review in this blog.
