I am sick and it feels like there Trail_7: Is a bunch of phlegm or mucus in my throat. I do drink lemon juice but it doesn't seem to clear it. It is less noticeable at some times versus other times. About a week ago I got an earache and then caught a cold and cough and it has been there since that time. My cough and cold are better now though. I am open to buying any medicine or natural products to try to clear this. Also I can swallow fine for the most part -with it there.  solittle: All you really need is Vitamin C. Buy a bottle of Vitamin C tablets. Either 500 mg. or 1,000 mg. If you place the tablets in some water in a glass, they will dissolve in a couple hours, and all you have to do then is drink it, you can add it to any juice or anything else you like to drink. Except not milk, Vitamin C will curdle the milk, and in any case you shouldn't be drinking milk if you're having mucus problems, milk only makes that worse. The sicker you are, the more Vitamin C you need. It's a "water-soluble" vitamin, which means it flushes out of your system in about 6 hours or so on average. So you need to take it at least twice a day. When you're sick, maybe every four hours. When you are as sick as you describe being right now, you may need 30-40 gms of Vitamin C a day (30 x 1,000 mg. tablets, or 60 x 500 mg.). If you take as much as your body needs, you should get over being sick in 2-3 days. If you aren't getting better, then you're not taking enough. Lemon juice is the right idea, the only problem is you'd need to drink gallons of lemon juice, or orange juice, to get as much Vitamin C as you will get from the tablets. When you are sick, you do need the much larger doses. Medications really don't do anything other than make you feel more "comfortable" while you remain sick. That's why they usually make you drowsy. They're mosty just some varieties of alcohol and such. The only "medication" that seems to really help anyone actually get over colds and flu is called "Airborne", and when you read the ingredients on the Airborne package, you will find that its main ingredient is Vitamin C. All the other ingredients are just various fillers and flavoring and whatever. So do yourself a favor and just purchase the straight Vitamin C (also known as Ascorbic Acid). And take as much as you need to make you stop being sick. If you're still feeling sick, you haven't taken enough. Don't fuss with taking itsy bitsy doses, as most people will recommend. That's like taking water from an eye dropper when you're dying of thirst. Take as much as you really need. And if you do follow this advice, you will soon learn how to never be sick more than a day. (Edited by solittle) solittle: Vitamin C is the fuel that your immune system runs on. Every form of stress, both physical and emotional, increases your body's need for Vitamin C. The phlegm is merely one of the many symptoms that tell you your body's demand for Vitamin C is greater than normal. Other symptoms include: sneezing, coughing, running nose, headaches, sore throat, dizziness, stiff neck, and many more signs that something is "off". These symptoms will start appearing when your body's demand for Vitamin C exceeds the supply. If you increase the supply, your body will be able to cope with these various symptoms and they will cease as long as you are getting as much Vitamin C as your body needs to handle everything it is having to deal with. If you learn to start taking increased amounts of Vitamin C when any of these warning signs appear, you will probably never be sick for more than two days at a time. Among the many things that create physical stress and deplete your body's Vitamin C are things like smoke, alcohol, caffeine, fatigue, cortisols, exposure to extremes of temperature. That's why people get sick at the changing of the seasons, especially in the fall, and the spring. You will also notice that most cold medicines include things like alcohol and antihistamines (cortisols), both of which create extra demands for Vitamin C in your body. So taking those medications without increasing your Vitamin C intake can actually contribute to your getting sicker, rather than making you better. Two simple facts about Vitamin C explain why it is so important to keep taking it. 1. the human body cannot manufacture Vitamin C, and 2. the human body cannot store Vitamin C (it is water-soluble). Fat-soluble vitamins can be stored in the cells of your body. Water-soluble vitamins cannot be stored. When you are in normal health, you might get enough of this vitamin from a varied diet. When you are sick or under extra stress, you will usually need to take supplements to get enough for your immune system to deal with the added stresses. If you regularly take supplements of this vitamin even when you are healthy, your body's defenses will be boosted, which will often prevent you from becoming sick in the first place from most causes. (Edited by solittle) solittle: Yes, sneezing, coughing, phlegm are all methods the body uses to expell invasive micro-organisms. That's why they are very clear signs that your immune system is fighting off invaders. As long as these symptoms continue, it's apparent that your body has not yet won the fight. When your immune system has gotten rid of the invaders, the phlegm and mucus will dry up, because they are no longer needed, and of course the sneezing and coughing will stop too. solittle: Cortisols are "stress hormones". That's why antihistamines and other stress hormones (adrenaline is the major stress hormone) increase your need for Vitamin C. Adrenaline happens when you are made anxious, afraid, or overly excited. These things compromise your immune system, and lead to you getting sick. When this happens, you need an increase in your Vitamin C intake. The cortisols in medications are there to reduce the symptoms of the illness: reducing sneezing, coughing, mucus. But, as stated in the brief video above, these stress hormones shut down your immune system, or create a greater drain on the supply of Vitamin C available in you, and this in turn makes your body less able to fight off the parasites that are constantly present in your system. So it becomes paradoxical to take medications that include cortisols. You may feel more "comfortable" in the immediate present, until they wear off, but they aren't helping your body to rid itself of the threat posed by the parasites. They are just stopping the sneezing, coughing, phlegm which are tools of the immune system, by shutting down the immune system. So people keep taking these "medications" for weeks or months, while their immune systems are incapacitated, and they remain sick. (Edited by solittle)  tina_time7: I didn't read everything you wrote yet, but I am looking underneath my Vitamin C bottle and it looks like it says 2022 and something before that including E but not the full expire word so I am not sure - do you know how to read that? tina_time7: I was going to add something to your research but I forgot what at the moment. (Edited by tina_time7) tina_time7: Might have been that too much Vitamin C I read can cause diarrhea amongst other side effects and so since I was also eating fruits that contain Vitamin C I decided I need to be careful. tina_time7: I opened the capsule and put it into a cup with water but the powder just floats to the top of the cup - even amidst me mixing it with a fork. But I still drank it. (Edited by tina_time7)  CookieCatt: There's a Robitussin medicine in the US specific to break down phlegm. I'm not sure if it's sold in Canada. I had some strong symptoms of what I thought was just a bad cold, and when I lost my taste of ginger took a home covid test - it was positive. Id take a home test if you can. Hopefully you're feeling better by now tina_time7: I had phlegm in my nasal (nose) area but then I started blowing only white and not yellow when I was blowing it. However, I gargled my mouth and throat with salt water that I made and then I coughed up some phlegm still. tina_time7: I took a home test with the covid rapid test kit and it came out Negative. I just took it yesterday. CookieCatt: Okay , that's good at least that it's negative. I'm checking online for something. I know Robitussin is effective, and doctors prescribed something of a higher dosage last time I had similar issues. tina_time7: You know what? I also took a cough syrup and it was either Buckleys or Robitussin if my memory serves me and it also helped me - my cough I think it were specifically. This was years ago though. Another thing I noticed is that manukka honey helped me when I drank it with tea back in 2022 for a mild cough but this time it doesn't seem to help or at least not noticeably. I tried researching more into why this is the case but the only thing I found was someone saying they needed to take it multiples times to help. (Edited by tina_time7) CookieCatt: From an AI answer: Here are a few suggestions for medicine to help treat phlegm: - Expectorants - These help loosen mucus and phlegm to make it easier to cough up. Examples include guaifenesin (Mucinex) and acetylcysteine (Mucomyst). These are available over-the-counter. - Cough suppressants - These reduce your urge to cough, which can provide relief but also allow phlegm to accumulate. Examples include dextromethorphan and benzonatate, available over-the-counter. Use cautiously if you need to cough up phlegm. - Decongestants - These constrict blood vessels to reduce swelling/inflammation in the sinuses and nasal passages. Examples include pseudoephedrine and phenylephrine (Sudafed), available over-the-counter. Can help reduce post-nasal drip. - Antihistamines - These dry up excess mucus by blocking histamines. Examples include diphenhydramine (Benadryl) and loratadine (Claritin), over-the-counter. Most effective for allergy-related phlegm. - Expectorant/cough suppressant combinations - Contain both ingredients to loosen phlegm and suppress coughs. Examples include Robitussin and Mucinex DM. - Prescription meds - For severe cases, your doctor may prescribe mucus-thinners, antibiotics, or inhalers to reduce inflammation. Other tips: Stay hydrated, use a humidifier, get plenty of rest, and avoid irritants like smoke. See your doctor if symptoms persist beyond a week or two. CookieCatt: Yeah I don't like taking medicine, but I do recall Mucinex working well. With Robitussin they have 5 different types.. need to get the specific one for each symptom.. this article also suggests multiple types in some cases.. combinations.. just be careful CookieCatt: Humidifier I've used before in winter time whhe the air is very dry and when sick it helps with a sore throat CookieCatt: They have Vicks vapor treatments that can be added to a humidifier to help with a cough and sore throat, but I've only used this once for my son when he was 5 years old and quite sick one winter. He's 19 now lol | Health Chat Room 1 Person Chatting Similar Conversations |