Whooping Cough/Pertussis: Diagnosis & Treatments

[CinCapri]

I am wondering what those who have experienced whooping cough have done to alleviate or bring relief to their children.  I think we've got some kiddos who have it and daddy. I have done garlic poultices and garlic tablets, acidophilus, regular vitamins and cough medicine which doesn't do much good, as you know.

We will be traveling in a week (we're moving) and I'd like to do as much as I can before we get in the car for 4 days :-0

Thanks for any help~ Cinnamon

[mishy]

Mullein leaf is supposed to be good to open up the airway. 

[amazonmama2five]

Go to this site and read about the different herbs and how they can help.  http://www.bulkherbstore.com/search?id=WvDewIdX 
Blessings!
Lisa
P.S. Type whooping cough in the search box.

[lewisquiverfull]

Oh, I know this subject all too well. 15 months ago, all 4 children got whooping cough. Ages 7, 6, 2, and 1 week.  Pray for God to help you through this. I was told there is not 'treatment' it just has to run its course. How long have your kiddos had it? The dr. prescribed Zithromax for everyone in our house, just to keep us from spreading it to anyone else. Even if you have been vaccinated, you CAN GET IT. MY husband and his father got it as well. It is very trying. Ours lasted  very seriously for 4 months, with the returning cough over a year. I bought every cough medicine know to Wal-Mart and none of them will touch the cough. Almost always they will throw up with the cough. If you have any questions, please send me a message.

[healthyinOhio]

Well, I hope your not moving to my town!!   Just kidding.  I know that it is hard to get rid of and you eventually get through it.  It just becomes a serious problem when a child under 1 gets it.  Do the mullein packs and consider doing a mustard pack, there are also onion packs.
You can give everyone an all natural expectorant syrup from the health food store.  If not, buy one at wal-mart containing guaifensin.  That is your key ingredient to relieving mucous build up.  Also try:  half ounce of dried thyme
             half ounce of dried red clover blossoms
             half ounce marshmallow root(I am assuming dried, too.)
Pour 1 quart boiling water over it and let it steep for one hour.  Strain and sweeten with honey. 
After the main symptoms are gone, try using something that will fight bacteria.  That is the part that lingers and infects everyone later on again.  But at least you now have a better immunity for this thing!!  When everyone in your knew state gets it and you guys don't, you will be running around helping everyone!!  
Good luck!  Will be praying for your family today!

[CinCapri]

Thanks for your reply. I'm not sure we have it as our kiddos do not throw up after any coughs, they just gag extremely and turn red while gagging.  My 2yo, 5yo, 10yo and hubby possibly have it.  My 5yo, once in the middle of the night, had the "whooping" sound and almost threw up.  But no one else has had the "whooping" part or throwing up.

I am just curious if any thing you did for your kiddos brought some relief. It seems as though they get worse coughing fits if they are around dust (gee we're moving and they are :-). Did you notice any conditions that made it worse? We will have a colder winter than we're use to where we're moving, does the cold make it worse?

Thanks for your help~ Cinnamon

[dara]

I found a natural cough syrup containing mullein, eclampane, and wild cherry bark to be invaluable, other than that, it was garlic and onions!  Best Wishes.

[CinCapri]

**I found a natural cough syrup containing mullein, eclampane, and wild cherry bark to be invaluable, other than that, it was garlic and onions!  Best Wishes.**

Do you happen to recall the name of it?    thanks, Cinnamon

[healthyinOhio]

I found a natural cough syrup containing mullein, eclampane, and wild cherry bark to be invaluable, other than that, it was garlic and onions! Best Wishes.

I have this same syrup and although I have not had kids with whooping cough, it has worked for a severe bronchitis type cold.  It is called:  Children's Expec by Naturade. 

Well, it is very similar to the one dara mentioned.  Ingredients:  150 mg guaifenesin, black cherry syrup, cocillana bark extract, horehound, menthol, rose hips, wild cherry bark.

Yeah, I did a quote correctly.!!!  

[Helen]

you are aware that whooping cough is extremly contagious, and it is very important not to come in contact with anyone!  I am sure you are, but when my son had it at 7 mo old, we were living in a motel at the time, i would open the door to the bathroom and run the hot water untill there was lots and lots of water in the air, I also ran a humidifier, put those cool patches on his chest you can get at walmart with cough meds on them, those are awsome, i forget what they are called, allso i did garlic enemas, used the nasal sprays to keep his nose open, rubbed thief oil on his chest, fed him chamomile tea, took him off of milk, (mucous forming)  I also did whiskey, with a medicine dropper I dropped a very small amount in his throat,  I also held him, rocked him, loved on him, sang to him, I think it is important to realize that they feel miserable and rotton, and cater to them a bit.  but if it makes you feel any better, there is a family close to here, i was friends with their son, they had 9 children and the whole entire family had it at one time, mom , Dad and ALL.................   from ages 24 to 2.   isant that awful! anyway I hope you all feel better soon.

[lewisquiverfull]

The cough meds might work for some, but it was a waste of money for us. The first few weeks, it is more like a cold that won't go away. It gets very serious after that. Things that made it worse: meal time, and bed time, getting food down them was very hard, my 2 yr old lost about 10 lbs she would get sick between 15-30 times a day. I am not exagerating. Bed time was bad too,  about 5 min. after they would lay down, someone would get sick. Sometimes they would get sick in the middle of the night and not even know it. A friend of mine had a nebulizer, and we used it for about 3 weeks, daily.
I don't mean to sound horrible, but this is very serious, the health dept called my house to make sure we were not around other children to make an 'outbreak' in the community, there were 50 reported cases in the state at that time, we were 6 of them. I didn't realize how serious it was until I watched my newborn baby stop breathing many times, turning blue. My husband and father in law described the pain and fear you feel when you cough and you just can't get your next breath of air. Everything closes off, you can not breathe. That is why you hear the 'whoop' your lungs and airways are closing down, and it is only letting that tiny bit of air in. This is serious, pray to God for their healing. I am sure stress and physical activity make it worse. We laid around the house all day and would sit out on the porch on pretty days to get fresh air, but no activity whatsoever. Sometimes just laughing would bring on a spell of coughing and sickness.

[CinCapri]

HealthyinOhio- thank you for the name of the cough medicine. I will go look for it today.

Helen- yes I've been very aware of whooping cough for a long time.  I'm not sure we have it. We've never had it as bad as some of you have described, thank the Lord.  This cough has lingered with us for about a month and is working it's way through our home.  There is an outbreak in our county, started about 5 months ago by a nurse who had been vaccinated previously.

Lewisquiverfull - thank you for your thoughts and description of how whoopping cough went through your family.   We have never had a child stop breathing, how scary is that! We have had croup where my baby's chest caved in and out struggling to breath.  I hop on croup like a dog on a bone if it even peeks it's ugly head  in our home.

I really appreciate everyone's thoughts and helpful words. There's nothing like advice from those who have walked a mile these shoes.

Much thanks, Cinnamon

[healthybratt]

Is there a test that can be done to determine what it is?  Is this bacterial or viral?  Are symptoms the only thing which determines diagnosis?

[lewisquiverfull]

The test we had done was from a nurse in dr's office, they stuck a large q-tip way up his nose and sent it off for results. The results were not supposed to be back for 2 weeks. 2 days later, the Health Office called our house with the results and some 'friendly advice' on vaccinations and keeping our kids at home. Usually the sound is what determines people to actually think of whooping cough. I never actually thought my kids had it, since the two oldest had been vaccinated. Then, I went to a website that had the actual recorded sound of a child coughing, and I knew instantly we had it. Check out google for whooping cough and maybe you'll find it. Sorry, I don't have it.

[1ofeach]

A dear friend of mine had a young son who had whooping cough. They endured 4 months of sleepless nights, hearing him cough all night and all day. She took him to an open-minded natural-thinking doctor who started him on a few things, including Vitamin C and cod liver oil. Within 2 days the child, and the other members of the house, slept through the night! I don't recall how long he was on the supplements, but they were so grateful for peaceful sleep. Now whenever one of her children has any cough, she starts them on cod liver oil right away.

HTH!

[dara]

Just in case you still wondered about the cough syrup name, there are a couple I like. One is from Trilight Herbs and is called Lungs Plus, and the other is called Old Indian Wild Cherry Bark Syrup by Planetary Herbals. I got the latter from Vitacost.com, but noticed later that the health food store carried it too.

[healthybratt]

Now whenever one of her children has any cough, she starts them on cod liver oil right away.

HTH!

I am currently in the middle of some research and your comment caught my eye.  I found some evidence that pertussis toxins can inflame or worsen autoimmunity.  What this means is that once sick with whooping cough the immune system gets so over zealous, it starts attacking tissues along with the virus.  Fish oil and other omega 3s provide more power to other immune cells that will in effect fight off the cells that are attacking the body.  It's a bit more complex than this, but what it boils down to is that the whooping cough may last sooo long because the body might be helping the virus instead of hindering it.  This may explain why taking the cod liver oil helped them heal.  Makes sense to me anyway.  Cod liver oil is good for other things as well, like healing and protecting the GI tract.  I think it sure couldn't hurt.

[CinCapri]

What encouraging responses. Thank you ! Cod liver oil, Vit C and cough syrup!! I'll get right on all those. I did find after the garlic poultice all the kids seemed to do a little better. We already have some of them on fish oil daily. Thanks for the descriptive answer on how cod liver helps.

~Cinnamon

[Joyfulmomto9]

I just found out today that a family from our church just came down with whooping cough!  Our church meeting has been canceled.  My children play with all of their children every Sunday and one of their girls was holding my 5 month old last Sunday!!!!!!!

We have so many little kids 5mos, 18mos, 3yrs, 4yrs, 5yrs, 7yrs, 8yrs, 10yrs and 12yrs.  I am mostly worried about my little kids especially our baby!!  No we don't vaccinate.

I have researched and read everything in my house and some on the internet and also another thread here on WellTellMe.  But what I would like to know is should I have my baby put on erthromyacin(antibiotic) to lessen the symptoms?  And what can I do to prevent them from getting it?  I read about the garlic poultice on the chest but is that going to help him from getting it? 

I think I am going to start with Garlic, probiotic, goldenseal?, echinacea- (but isn't echinacea just antiviral?).  What would you do?  We have no insurance but I would be willing to take him in anyway if it would stop it from getting severe. 

I have wondered too about them forcing me to hospitalize him or checking up on me all the time, or even the health department visiting.  Those thoughts make me want to steer clear of the doctors office.  Maybe my mind is over-imaginative?  I do hope so!

His symptoms right now are sneezing (just heard 1 this afternoon)
watery eyes (just for a brief period of time this afternoon-he was tired)
Runny and somewhat green nose (which all of my little kids have had for a while)
He is acting fine otherwise.

One of their children was diagnosed on Thursday but he had been sick for a while.  None of my kids play with him, but their two girls did play with two of my girls on Sunday-hugging good-bye and putting their arms around each others shoulders!!!

I am very worried that my girls are going to get it and give it to my little kids.  Would antibiotic stop the little kids from getting it?

Thanks for any of your insights-I'm trying not to break down here but I'm not doing very well at the moment.

Stacy
Okay I'm going to go read my How to Herb book.

[mishy]

I would give all my kids garlic, apply GOOT, give Roship vit C and Bee Immune.  Also maybe the Immune booster tea.  What do you have on hand for your sick days?  The GOOT is esp good for the little ones who don't want to or can't consume vitamins.  I would apply it to my baby's feet and chest and rub it on his butt (I have been doing that for my baby's fungus on his butt.  Then all the oily spots are covered with socks, diaper and shirt.  I do the GOOT on the bottom at every diaper change and you can do it just as frequently on the feet and chest too. 
I would avoid the antibiodics.  Just be (and stay) VERY aggressive with the herbs.  I also read that elderberry is excellent (there is a thread on that).   I would like to add that to my immune cupboard since a lot of people really like it. 
Whoever will eat the garlic raw, give it to them!  Try mixing it with honey.  My 4& 6 yr olds will take it raw and take a big gulp of water every time they swallow a little piece (I chop it up). 
For the littler ones, do garlic toast.  You can also spread goot on the toast for them to consume. 

[Joyfulmomto9]

Thanks for your advice I really appreciate your response but what is GOOT???

Is it garlic on something?

[Pennie]

Thanks for your advice I really appreciate your response but what is GOOT???

Is it garlic on something?

goot is garlic, olive oil and coconut oil.  If you type it in the search it will give you a link to the recipe.

[his.silly.wife]

We were exposed to Whooping cough a few years ago, but didn't get.  I ordered the children to drink garlic tea, every day until the incubation period was over.  And I also quaranteed them from other children that had been exposed.  If you can, get your hands on the book by Dr. Robert Mendelsohn, "How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor."  It is really helpful.

I don't know if it was the garlic that worked, or the quaranteen.  It was a brief encounter with an infected person, but I do remember her having a cough the day we saw her.  If they start coughing, you could try chopping an onion, place it in a bowl, then drizzle some honey over it.  Then place the bowl as close to the head of the bed (or under the crib) during sleep times and let them breath the beautiful onion aroma.  We've done this sinus colds and nagging coughs.  So, I'm guessing onion fumes kill bacteria, and the honey helps draw out the onion juice so that it doesn't dry out..

[clarice415]

I do not know what to say as to whether you should get the antibiotics or not.  We had friends that lived and played very close to another family (both large families, very similar circumstances to you it sounds). One family diagnosed with it and quarantined and the other family-I am pretty sure they were made to get the antibiotics...same situation, no vaccines for either family.  The family that did get anti. did not get the pertussis at that time..but I really think they ended up getting it later, or at least very similar symptoms, but not as severe.  Our family, I am sure also was exposed to it and some of my children got it and others did not. Apart from ordering some natural remedies online (which didn't seem to do anything)and giving them garlic, I just let it run its course, as there seemed to be nothing else to do.
   I have just read a book called Dorie..about a woman that lived in N. Carolina Mts. and she had a natural onion poultice that she used on her children...now she did not say it was to treat whooping cough, but I wonder if that is what it is.  I will write out her instructions..this is a true story and if my children were to have anything again that encountered their lungs, this is definitely what I would try.  Excerpt from Dorie- Woman of the Mountains...by Florence Cope Bush  page 30-31..Ma was enraged concerning the Dr. advice.  Quinine and a cold cloth on his head wouldn't be any help curing the disease ravaging his lungs.  She went to the kitchen and slice a dozen onions in to a greasy pan.  When the onions were wilted and greasy, she covered Luther's chest with them and wrapped him with quilts.  In a little while he started coughing and in the night his fever broke.  Ma didn't have much good to say about doctors and their medicine.  Mountain know-how would beat lowland medicine anytime.  The Good Book says there are herbs on earth to cure the diseases of humanity. Without quinine and iodine, the "educated" doctor couldn't practice his trade.  End of quote.
There are a few more instances in the book where this poultice is used to help with a problem of the lungs and every time it is curative.  All in all I will say...PRAY PRAY PRAY that you do not get this.  Please everyone pray, as with so many young ones, fighting this can be so overwhelming. The coughing after so long gets so you cannot bear to hear the sound of it.  Also, my little grandson was exposed at the same time that my little boys got it, and he did not.  I think there may be immunities...none of them immunized.  And a friend of mine who is a school teacher had five children in her class get it (grade school) and they had all been immunized...so what does that tell you.  Blessing to you and I will be praying for you and the other family.  Keep us posted on this, as when it starts going around it is good to know if anything is working.  By the way I recommend this book for some fun reading and good old time remedies.   Sorry so long

[clarice415]

I can't believe I am going to write more here..just that I went through it last winter and have great sympathy.  Also, sorry that my suggestion was as if you already had it.  The other thing I was going to say is that...what are the risks/benefits of having your little one take the antibiotics.  As much as I dislike using them, they do have their purposes and this may be a time to use them.  I am just not sure if the truly help in this situation.  Can anyone answer this?

[Helen]

my son had whooping cough when he was 6 mon old, they did not force me anywhere and I put my foot down about the antibiotics,  I did garlic, a homemade coughsyrup especially made for whooping cough, amish women swear by it,  and I also would run the shower really hot and would sit in the room holding him, helps him breath easier, I also got those patches to put on infants chests that help them not get stuffed up, He is 22 mo now and a strong healthy little bugger..................  God bless!!!  Lots of prayers!!

[Joyfulmomto9]

Your response was reassuring.  Where did you get the Amish cough syrup or where did you get the recipe?  And also what are the patches you talked about and where would I get those?

Also Josiah is having a dry cough just a little no whooping or gasping right now and it doesn't last long at all.  How did your sons cough start?  How long until he was gasping or whooping? 
And how long did it last?  Was he up all night?  Was he very irritable?

Thanks for your reply and sorry about all the questions but it sounds like your son was about the same age as mine and I'd like to hear more about his illness.

Stacy

[ALittleMore]

My aunt (who is also a joyful mom to nine or no wait...to TEN! I lost count haha...) Anyways, several of her very little ones came down w/ whooping cough a few weeks ago. My cousin called me and asked for herbs which would be good for whooping cough. I was able to look in my herbals and give her several herbs and specific preparations. I will call her tomorrow and ask her which things helped the most with their recovery, and I will let you know what she says.

[Maria/NHM]

My children had a terrible cough last year. They would cough so hard they couldn't breath. The coughing would cause them to throw up sometimes 12 times a day. At night I would sit for hours in the bathroom with the shower on so they could breath. This went on for three months really bad and for my youngest it lasted almost six months. I don't know if it was whooping cough or not. My Dr wouldn't test since they didn't have any other cold symptoms. Whatever it they had was really bad. My youngest just couldn't seem to get better. It wasn't until I read about garlic that he really improved. I started giving him 3-4 cloves a day and rubbing garlic oil on him all day long. He smelled awful but within a week was recovered and started gaining weight again. Since then I have read a couple of stories where kids didn't have any cold symptoms but still tested positive for whooping cough. I'll never know for sure but am so thankful we found out about garlic!!

[ALittleMore]

My children had a terrible cough last year. They would cough so hard they couldn't breath. The coughing would cause them to throw up sometimes 12 times a day. At night I would sit for hours in the bathroom with the shower on so they could breath. This went on for three months really bad and for my youngest it lasted almost six months. I don't know if it was whooping cough or not. My Dr wouldn't test since they didn't have any other cold symptoms. Whatever it they had was really bad. My youngest just couldn't seem to get better. It wasn't until I read about garlic that he really improved. I started giving him 3-4 cloves a day and rubbing garlic oil on him all day long. He smelled awful but within a week was recovered and started gaining weight again. Since then I have read a couple of stories where kids didn't have any cold symptoms but still tested positive for whooping cough. I'll never know for sure but am so thankful we found out about garlic!!
Maria

Since this was merged, Idk if someone has already suggested this, but if not, my cousin said they used Olive Leaf glycerine to treat the Whooping Cough. They would have the kids swallow that, along with taking echinacea and getting lots of sleep. Idk where you would get olive leaf glycerine, but I imagine your health food store in town would either have it or be able to order it for you.

I hope your little ones along w/ everyone in your church are feeling/get to feeling much better.