Chest Infections in Children

[Sarah]

My 10 year old daughter recently suffered a cold, which eventually went to her chest, with a wet cough. This went on for nearly 4 weeks. She takes Vit C supplements everyday. Has a good diet and plenty of sleep. Because it was going on so long I succumbed and went to the doctor. He listened to her chest and said that there was a 'rattle' and that she needed antibiotics or it would progress to pneumonia - is this correct? I loathe giving antibiotics, but didn't know what else to do. She then suffered a week of tummy upsets and diahorrea, but the cough did go. Is there anything else I could of done rather than give her antibiotics? :confused:

[Momtezuma Tuatara]

that is extremely hard to answer. At the start of the cough, I would have looked at adding a few things like zinc, NAC, increasing garlic hugely,... there is a whole raft of things that could have been tried, and if one didn't work, another one added.

right now, though, with the tummy upsets and diarrhoea, because her gut flora has been napalmed you need to resolve that one fairly quickly, because there is medical research that shows every course of antibiotics increases a person's chance of cancer in later life. I believe that's because good gut flora is trashed and nothing is done to resolve it.

So that's your first job.

Maybe next time we could give various ideas... magical is an encyclopedia of them, and perhaps she'll put some of them on this thread.

[TanyaL]

Something similar happened to my son, he was much younger so it's probably a different answer, but for him, the answer was high-dose vitamin A. He'd had 2.5 months of cold after cold after cold and just got worn down. After a few weeks of the cough, it became clear that it wasn't a normal cold and it wasn't resolving, and that's when our doc said it was bacterial and suggested (prescribed) amox. The SA had helped minimize the symptoms of those colds, but I think he started out low in A and all the illnesses just depleted him, and so that's why it worked for his cough. But I'm not sure that's as much of an issue for an older child.

Anyway, I figured I'd throw it out there as one possibility.

[magical1]

Well I have kids around that age who get BOMBARDED! with remedies as soon as there is a niggle of illness... As a result nothing in our house would ever get the opportunity to live for four weeks. If they get anything it is usually in and out in a matter of days.

Not knowing you or your daughter all I can do is tell you what I would have done.

First defence is always to gargle coloidal silver and then swallow and drop hydrogen peroxide in the ears. Then I put them on 500grams of vitamin C every hour. I cut out all their sugar, wheat, soy and increase their raw fruit and veg intake. I will also do fresh juices for them. I keep up their probiotics.

If things start to take hold I always use Malcolm Harkers Eutherol. I should take out shares in his company. We use the stuff for just about everything. Recently I had a herbalist/kitchen alchemist from Canada staying and he made something very similar which would be cheap and just as effective for chest issues.

This is what is in it.

Ginger (large piece peeled) put in the blender with equal parts wine. Blend for a couple of minutes and then strain through a cloth squeezing it all out. Add one drop of Thyme essential oil, one drop peppermint, one drop of eucalyptus. put this back in the blender and add about 1/4 of a jar of high activity Manuka honey. Blend until honey is liquid. Put in a wine bottle to store.

Have a tablespoon at a time.

[Momtezuma Tuatara]

Magical, would you make the H2O2 into a 3% concentration to swallow? What size is the jar of manuka? 250 grams?

[Sarah]

Thanks for all the info. She is taking acidophilus at the moment to try and rebalance her gut flora. She has also suffered twice this year with ear infections. I assume the hydrogen peroxide is a good one to use to control that? With the Vit C, is there such thing as too much vit c? I always thought (and the recommended dose on the bottle) says no more than 250mg per day for children. This I was told was because their bodies can't absorb more than that. This is obviously not the case. Can you give too much vit c? Can it cause diarrhoea? Both my girls are also now taking Malcolm Harkers Immunofort and a multi vit/mineral to try and keep these winter bugs at bay. So I am hoping I am on the right track - thanks again for all advice

[magical1]

OK so to reply to MT. I use 3% H2O2. If my kids were to ingest Hydrogen peroxide then it would be one drop in a glass of clean water. This will also be excellent for the swine flu! At the moment with the pandemic declared I use an interesting potion three times daily. Before school, after school and before bed.... in an espresso cup. A splash of Eutherol, one teaspoon of coloidal silver, one drop of lugols iodine and one drop hydrogen peroxide.

Kitchen Alchemy isn't an exact art so I am using a jar measure of Manuka honey at 500grams,that is what we used when Tony was here. Anything that is active manuka is good.

Good Sarah, you are using Malcolm Harkers products. Personally after using them all I don't think you can go past the Eutherol which will do among other things boost their immunity. One stop shop.

Food intake is such a huge part of overall wellbeing. You can be putting in all the right supplements but your kid is still ill. Get rid of all the processed food, eat clean fruit and veg, drink clean water and I promise your girl will never be sick again! easier said than done these days eh.

Also if you have thyme in your garden make her a tea. boil a good handful in clean water on the stove for about ten minutes. add some manuka honey. If you can have her have one of those before school everyday well you would be on a winning streak.... you could make that with pine if you like or manuka. Any way her chest will start to strengthen.

[Momtezuma Tuatara]

Thanks for all the info. She is taking acidophilus at the moment to try and rebalance her gut flora. Do you use yoghurt? If so, then make your own Easiyo using the probiotic mix which has more than just acidophilus. don't use any other brand, because all the others contain crap. Just read the back and see - aspartame and a whole raft of junk...


She has also suffered twice this year with ear infections. I assume the hydrogen peroxide is a good one to use to control that? I'm not sure with babies. I don't know how they handle the fizzing and tickling. Try it yourself first, four drops, so that you know what she will hear. If you get the flora right, and find out what's ticking her body off, you might be able to prevent the ear infections, but something's not happy in her...


With the Vit C, is there such thing as too much vit c? I always thought (and the recommended dose on the bottle) says no more than 250mg per day for children. This I was told was because their bodies can't absorb more than that. That's not true during an infection, because they are using it hand over foot, so suck up more. and also it depends what you're giving them. if you use lipospheric vitamin C mixed with a bit of manuka honey (only a tiny bit), Lipospheric goes to 20x higher than Sodium Ascorbate, because it's absorbed a different way.


This is obviously not the case. Can you give too much vit c? Can it cause diarrhoea? Yes, and yes, it just gives a dose of the squits.


Both my girls are also now taking Malcolm Harkers Immunofort and a multi vit/mineral to try and keep these winter bugs at bay. So I am hoping I am on the right track - thanks again for all advice

I'd like to see salads with garlic and other things in them. It is possible to make salads that kids like with these things in them. If your children eat mini wholemeal pita bread for instance, put a wee bit of butter, garlic and parsley inside, and heat in the oven.

[Sarah]

MT - I assume I can get Hydrogen peroxide from the Way of Life store in Pukekohe? I do not use the probiotic yoghurt as I am lactose (and wheat) intolerant, so I try and watch the amount of dairy products my girls (10 & 6) eat, we have used the capsules and powdered acidophilus for them. I am lucky as they are not picky eaters and they love fresh fruit and veggies. We use garlic in just about everything, but they are not fond of the chunks of ginger my husband likes to put in his stir frys :-)

[cartersmom]

Great info...my son is also struggling with repeated chest infections which may be rooted in allergies Im starting to think.

I want to check out malcolm harkers products...are they avaliable in the US??

[gilima]

are you using food grade hydrogen pyroxide or just the regular stuff from the regular store????
I have only used the regular stuff for my kids ears and for gargeling, I am a little hesitant though since I don't know how pure it really is. anyone know?

[gilima]

I forgot to add that I usually give my kids elderberry which is great for coughs/cold.

my baby had bronchiolitis at 4 months and did not get antibiotics even though he was coughing for a while.
he also tends to get congested very easily so I have been giving him vitamin c daily and he has not developed anything more.

[TanyaL]

Sarah, have you considered fermented veggies? We're gluten and dairy free, and I think kimchee has done really good things for my daughter's gut. I know it's not a very traditional recipe, at least in terms of method, but the kimchee recipe in Nourishing Traditions is really tasty and pretty easy.

[Momtezuma Tuatara]

MT - I assume I can get Hydrogen peroxide from the Way of Life store in Pukekohe? No, from the pharmacy. It's standard pharmacy over the counter...

I've made kimchee, and I think there's heaps of different variations you can try.

[gilima]

I make kimchee and me and my husband love it but the kids do not.....
and I do play around with it, dh tends to like things super spicey.
my kids do love fermented cucumbers or dill pickles or whatever they are called:)
they are also easy to make and most kids really like them.

I would also be interested to know if there are malcom harker products in the u.s. they look really good.

I have used gaia's herbs for kids which carry a good remedy for coughs one for dry coughs and one for wet and they also have a great chest rub/balm with thyme in it too.

[Sarah]

Can't say I have ever heard of kimchee - will look it up - thanks.

[Momtezuma Tuatara]

Maybe we should do a recipe thread on it...

[gilima]

mmmmm... sounds yum:giggle:

[Momtezuma Tuatara]

Depending on whether you forget, half way, how much chilli you've put in, a more appropriate description would be "rocket fuel".