Mr. Asthma

Question:

> Patrice, I too am trying to get over the flu.  I haven’t had the flu in 10 > years. Of course this is also the first year I haven’t taken the flu shot. I > developed flu and a virus symptoms on New Years Eve.  I was given Tamiflu which > helped, but I am still very weak.  I am coughing quite a bit and I too have a > large amount of phlegm. > How long did it take you to start feeling better? > Pamela

Hi Pamela,  I got the flu in the evening of Dec. 20th and I’m still not 100%.  Still tired and coughing, but I don’t have any of the other symptoms Don Elton mentioned that might indicate pneumonia.  My main complaint now is no energy, crummy cough and sort of depressed (which is pretty darn unusual for me). Of course this morning I woke up with a sore throat and sinus headache…I simply cannot be sick anymore!! Hope you feel better soon, Patrice

Response:

If the phlegm is green or yellow and thick you likely have pneumonia. Get to the doctor.  Antibiotics. Persistant fever likewise.

Response:

Cough is common for up to 4-8 weeks following influenza and it is frequently productive and usually does not indicate pneumonia. If there is fever, shortness of breath, chest pain, and so on then a CXR might well be indicated to look for pneumonia however. > If the phlegm is green or yellow and thick you likely have pneumonia. > Get to the doctor.  Antibiotics. Persistant fever likewise.

– Don Elton Columbia, SC http://www.midcarolina.org

Response:

>I got the flu a few days before Christmas.  Luckily I starting taking >Tamilfu the first day of symptoms so I wasn’t as deathly ill as I have been >before with the flu. >It’s been almost 3 weeks and I still have a cough that moves around a good >bit of phlegm (normally I don’t have a chronic cough).  I feel fine, albeit >a bit more tired than usual.  I wonder how long this is going to continue >and if I’m not feeling sick is it anything to be concerned about?  Has >anyone else experienced a "hanging on" cough with the flu?

Patrice, I too am trying to get over the flu.  I haven’t had the flu in 10 years. Of course this is also the first year I haven’t taken the flu shot.   I developed flu and a virus symptoms on New Years Eve.  I was given Tamiflu which helped, but I am still very weak.  I am coughing quite a bit and I too have a large amount of phlegm.   How long did it take you to start feeling better?   Pamela

Response:

>The Chinese use ginseng for this.  Actually, they use a lot of other things, >too, but it is very likely that most non-Chinese have at least heard of it. >Three or four times a day for three days works pretty well.  Ginseng is, among >other things, both a brochodilator and an immune system supporter.  My personal >experiences are that it also gives a nice glowing non intoxicating buzz, not >jittery like coffee, opens your lungs, and cranks your energy level up.  You >will cough up most junk within an hour, probably less.

What drugs does it use to produce these effects? BTW, I have never heard of ginseng being a bronchodilator. "Being responsible sometimes means pissing people off."    General Colin Powell

Response:

>Hello to the group, >I got the flu a few days before Christmas.  Luckily I starting taking >Tamilfu the first day of symptoms so I wasn’t as deathly ill as I have been >before with the flu. >It’s been almost 3 weeks and I still have a cough that moves around a good >bit of phlegm (normally I don’t have a chronic cough).  I feel fine, albeit >a bit more tired than usual.  I wonder how long this is going to continue >and if I’m not feeling sick is it anything to be concerned about?  Has >anyone else experienced a "hanging on" cough with the flu?

Took me two months to get my lungs fully back up the last time I had the flu. "Being responsible sometimes means pissing people off."    General Colin Powell

Response:

I do not know how many times flu became bronchitis for me. Call your doctor and see if you should go in also ask what type of cough syrup you should be using. Charles Muckle Breathing isn’t optional.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Hello to the group, > I got the flu a few days before Christmas.  Luckily I starting taking > Tamilfu the first day of symptoms so I wasn’t as deathly ill as I have been > before with the flu. > It’s been almost 3 weeks and I still have a cough that moves around a good > bit of phlegm (normally I don’t have a chronic cough).  I feel fine, albeit > a bit more tired than usual.  I wonder how long this is going to continue > and if I’m not feeling sick is it anything to be concerned about?  Has > anyone else experienced a "hanging on" cough with the flu? > Thanks and hope 2001 is good to everyone! > Patrice

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > Hello to the group, > I got the flu a few days before Christmas.  Luckily I starting taking > Tamilfu the first day of symptoms so I wasn’t as deathly ill as I have been > before with the flu. > It’s been almost 3 weeks and I still have a cough that moves around a good > bit of phlegm (normally I don’t have a chronic cough).  I feel fine, albeit > a bit more tired than usual.  I wonder how long this is going to continue > and if I’m not feeling sick is it anything to be concerned about?  Has > anyone else experienced a "hanging on" cough with the flu? > Thanks and hope 2001 is good to everyone! > Patrice

The children, 14.5 and almost 12 had the flu over Christmas with high temperatures.  Their coughs lasted forever.  The 12 year old is still coughing occasionally and neither one has asthma (thank the good Lord). Hope you feel better soon. — Lisa M. DeSavage Hinsbar Laboratories, Inc. www.hinsbarlabs.com

Response:

The Chinese use ginseng for this.  Actually, they use a lot of other things, too, but it is very likely that most non-Chinese have at least heard of it. Three or four times a day for three days works pretty well.  Ginseng is, among other things, both a brochodilator and an immune system supporter.  My personal experiences are that it also gives a nice glowing non intoxicating buzz, not jittery like coffee, opens your lungs, and cranks your energy level up.  You will cough up most junk within an hour, probably less. The trick is to make sure you get good quality ginseng.  Ginseng tea is almost worthless, ginseng in teabags is completely worthless, and those cute little bottles filled with honey liquid (renshenfengwengjiang) containing solutes of ginseng and royal jelly are not as good as they could be, although they are better than nothing.   You want the whole red root.  This is steamed with red dates into a rocklike hardness, preserving the shape of the root.  Fresh, the root resembles a white carrot, and is actually not as potent as the prepared red genseng.  This root can be obtained at almost any health food store that carries lose herbs.  You want either the *kirin* or the *shui cheu* grades as the others are both prohibitively expensive and rare.  Simply take a pair of heavy wire cutters or a bolt cutter, crack off a half inch length of the root, put it in your mouth and suck on it until it dissolves like candy.  It is both sweet and mildly bitter, with it’s own taste.  Many people like the taste, others hate it.  Same thing with coffee. There are other ways to prepare it, but lets not get complicated.   Two caveats:  1.  It will raise your blood pressure temporarily.  Unless you have a serious problem, this should be okay, but you should be aware of it. White American Ginseng supposedly does not raise blood pressure, but I have no direct experience here.  2.  You MUST wait until you are completely well except for cough to use it, otherwise you may get sick again.  The Chinese write something about ‘driving the pernicious wind deeper’ but I personally think that the ginseng may tonify the bugs as well as your lungs.  In any event, this problem has been written about for hundreds of years, and happened to me before I understood about it, so you may as well learn from my mistakes. Additionally, there is a Chinese preparation called ‘Pei Pa Koa’ that is specifically made for coughs.  Any size Chinese grocery store will have it, like any size western grocery will have Robitussin.  This works better and is very gentle.  It is basically a black colored syrup made of the loquat plant, which has both expectorant and anti inflammitory properties.  There are other herbs in it.  You can take it throughout a cold; it is quite sweet and tasty, kids love it, it is gentle, it works much better than the commercial western products and won’t make you drowsy or hyper.  If you try it, you will never go back to Western cough syrups.  I also use it for bad asthma days. Should be around five bucks for a big bottle, but maybe a few more depending on where you live.   One more thing.  There is an herbal preparation called *yin chao* that is taken at the first hint of a cold.  It comes in pill form, and is almost as common as the loquat syrup.  Taken at the first hint of a cold, it will often short circuit the cold entirely or greatly reduce time sick.  A bottle of a hundred pills (take five pills, three times a day, for three days, unless you feel confident the cold is gone.  It will very often work overnight.) costs less than five dollars. Would you pay five bucks not to have a cold? I have used these products for years.  I recommend them as harmless (except as noted for ginseng) and effective.  I believe that if you try them that you will be as impressed.  It is probable that more information is available on the web, but I have not looked for it. I do not sell them myself, and have no connection with anyone who does. Good luck.

Response:

Hello to the group, I got the flu a few days before Christmas.  Luckily I starting taking Tamilfu the first day of symptoms so I wasn’t as deathly ill as I have been before with the flu. It’s been almost 3 weeks and I still have a cough that moves around a good bit of phlegm (normally I don’t have a chronic cough).  I feel fine, albeit a bit more tired than usual.  I wonder how long this is going to continue and if I’m not feeling sick is it anything to be concerned about?  Has anyone else experienced a "hanging on" cough with the flu? Thanks and hope 2001 is good to everyone! Patrice

Response: