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Treating the flu and Pneumonia with Herbs

© Andrea Ellis

About a month ago I got the flu. That nasty sore throat, runny, stuffy, drippy nose and general yuck. Thankfully I didn't get overly run down and wasn't too grumpy. After about a week of these symptoms started a dry cough developed that just wouldn't quit. I coughed and coughed all night long with no relief.

Like any good herbalist my mind automatically thought Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara) for a cough. I began taking it along with Sage (Salvia officinalis) for my throat, Elecampane (Inula helenium) for my lungs and a blend of Echinacea (Echinacea ausgustafolia), Astragalus (astragalus membranaceus), and Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis) for my immune system.

For a few days I thought that this was beginning to work, all the symptoms, except for the cough went away. Tightness remained in my chest and I would continue to cough at night. I coughed as if my body was try to get mucus out of my lungs but there was no mucus. The cough was non-productive and my abdomen and chest hurt.

Then I lost my voice. Laryngitis: acute inflammation of the vocal cords. Treatment: Stop talking for two days.

For four days whenever I tried to speak I would squeak or grumble. I began to understood what it was like to be invisible and ignored. The less I tried to talk the more I suddenly had to say. I wanted to be heard, I wanted to find my voice, but the only way to do that was sit quietly, drink sage tea and wait for the inflammation to die down. Eventually it did, what a relief, however the cough remained. Herbs were not looking like they were going to be the answer for this persistent nagging cough so I looked to a different aspect of coughing.

One week later I talked with some classmates of mine, particularly one who have a lot of experience with TCM and energy meridians about this cough. In traditional medicine, including TCM and Shamanism, the throat area is governed by the throat Charkra. This energy center works with the energy of communication, self-expression and creativity.

Was it possible, I was asked, that there was some nagging thought that I needed to express? Was I holding back and therefore getting 'something' stuck in my throat?

Would expressing this thought, or taking action to open up communication heal this cough?

Yes, was my answer to all of these questions. The problem now was what nagging thing have I left undone? My mind jumped immediately to three possibilities. Two involved saying things to people that would probably not be taken very well. I'd known for a while they needed to be said, but I hate confrontation and didn't want to start anything.