Whooping Cough/Pertussis: Diagnosis & Treatments

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Re: Whooping Cough/Pertussis: Diagnosis & Treatments
« Reply #60 on: October 01, 2007, 12:49:52 AM » by kerimae

Here is a good link with several recipes to try.

http://www.herballegacy.org/Whooping_Cough.html

I think my children have a mild case of it. We are using SuperKids and cod liver oil as usual. In addition we are using 1000mg Vit C wafers twice a day, and a tea I made with coltsfoot, elecampane, thyme, marshmallow root, slippery elm and licorice root. We are laying off the dairy and cutting down on meat; eating lots of soups and fruits and vegetables. The diet thing is not perfect, however, mainly because it took me about 3 weeks to figure out that this was more than a gagging, nagging cough. I keep forgetting to do the wet sock treatment: warm, wet socks topped with dry ones before bed. They are sleeping (mostly) well, so I am especially grateful for that. Tomorrow I am going to try the onion syrup from the above link, and we're going to be taking our garlic again. This bug is so tenacious; it is tempting to just give up! I am so thankful it is not as bad as some of the stories I've read.

Hanging in there,
Keri

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Re: Whooping Cough/Pertussis: Diagnosis & Treatments
« Reply #61 on: October 01, 2007, 12:35:56 PM » by Ruby

I would be so nervous if I thought my kids actually had it. Were you kids vaccinated and got it anyway? I was reading that the better nourished the kids are the less likely they are to have a bad case of it. Also that if it's caught early, the worse might be able to be avoided by using herbs & vit. c. I'm afraid I may always worry though that the simple cold is just the beginning of pertussis. I don't want to think that way. With a new baby I'm a little bit anxious. I don't know how much of the herbs & such I could use on a baby if she was to get it. Are you trying the garlic on the feet? Let us know if it helps.

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Re: Whooping Cough/Pertussis: Diagnosis & Treatments
« Reply #62 on: October 01, 2007, 04:27:14 PM » by Sparkys9

When we got it last year we took colloidal silver. Allopathic (medical) treatment is antibiotics and breathing treatments.Anyone who may be exposed to it should take the silver for 7 days. You are no longer contagious after 4 days of treatment.I believe we took 2 oz/4x per day for adults and less according to weight for children.
I would note that the ones who got it worst in our family were those who had previously vaccinated and the youngest(2yo).
Feel free to pm me if you want more info.
PS-you can use the silver for breathing treatments in a nebulizer.

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Re: Whooping Cough/Pertussis: Diagnosis & Treatments
« Reply #63 on: October 01, 2007, 10:06:21 PM » by kerimae

One thing I know: although it is always good to be prepared, living in our imaginations over what "might" happen is never a good deal. Anxiety seems to always make things worse; believe me, it is hard to reassure my baby while she is hucking (or trying to) into the garbage can, but keeping her calm is definitely helpful. Even if you knew ahead of time that this cold bug was really the beginning of pertussis, the treatments would be the same: diet, supplementation, rest, PRAYER (and not necessarily in that order). I can't say that the reason my children don't have it so bad is due to anything I've been doing; maybe they have some other "lookalike" bug. It is a mercy when my children heal from anything, and I am grateful. I think anything we can do to strengthen our babies' immune systems over the course of "normal" life buys them a health bank that will (hopefully) serve them well if an illness hits. There is a lot of helpful information online with regards to strengthening immune systems; do what you can do and pray for the Great Physician to do His work.

Hanging in there (sometimes by a thread but still holding on!)
Keri

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Re: Whooping Cough/Pertussis: Diagnosis & Treatments
« Reply #64 on: November 26, 2007, 10:24:28 PM » by KristenA

I have some questions:

1. Is Pertussis Viral or Bacterial?
2. For the moms whose BABIES got Pertussis... Where they 100% breastfed?
---How were the health of these children? Did they have other issues already?
---How was the health of the breastfeeding mother?
3. How many of the BABIES (less than 1 yr) were vaccinated with the DTaP?

4. For the moms who had it.... Would you have traded the risk of vaccination for the disease? (not saying that vaccination would have completely protected the child... But statistics I have read show that children who were vaccinated had less of chance of getting Pertussis. There are still more vaccinated children getting pertussis....but that is because there are more vaccinated kids than unvaccinated kids).

Facts I have read about Pertussis/DTaP/DT
- According to a medical/pro-vaccine information: The Pertussis component of the DTaP is not generally given to children over 7yrs because the risk of of the vaccine is greater than the disease---so they get the DT (diptheria/tetanus) The risk of the Pertussis vaccine is less than pertussis for children younger than 7.
- The DTaP is different than the DTP. The DTP used to be given but parents saw lots of harmful side-effect in their children.
-The newer vaccine is now the DTaP.
DTaP is acceullar Pertussis (not sure what that means). It seems to be less harmful, but also less effective. Maybe that is why we are seeing a rise in Pertussis???

Anymore info?

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Re: Whooping Cough/Pertussis: Diagnosis & Treatments
« Reply #65 on: November 26, 2007, 11:36:45 PM » by KADETMmom

Just a very brief two cents since I'm supposed to be shutting this thing off!
We had pertussis 11 years ago with 3 children 3yo, almost 2, and newborn. Newborn was completely breast-fed at that point. 3yo got it first, on down to baby last. Shocked

It was very scary. But so was reading DTP: A shot in the dark before the 3yo was born. So when the first two had any immunizations (we did that from 6mo up to a year with them, then quit before MMR; none with 3rd who was also our first homebirth).

The Lord was (is) good and gracious. I feared for their lives, but determined that I had no claims on their lives. That was God's business - His to give or take.

I would not/have not give them the vaccinations. (DTaP or otherwise) The best we had at that point was Eldermint. It helped get the crud out. We followed docs Rx for expensive antibiotic (bioxin?) for baby. (I didn't fill the Rx he gave for the rest of us Wink

) I think he threw up every time we gave it to him. Grin

My doc said there were plenty of adults diagnosed with bronchitis who really had pertussis. (so much for effective vaccines)

Pertussis is viral. They give antibiotics to avoid complications of bacterial infections (as I recall).

At the same time, my friend's kids got it -- who had been immunized.

Our health. During that pregnancy we switched to herbal liquid vitamins. And also dabbled with the Hallelujah Diet -- without giving up all meat or dairy. We had raw milk available and 'homegrown' dairy beef. Lots of carrot juice and garden produce. Some effort at whole grains I think. As a rule, we've never been big on drinking pop. Lots of clean water and good vitamins (better than health insurance premiums). Not perfect by any means, but working on it Wink

enough?

g'night!

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Re: Whooping Cough/Pertussis: Diagnosis & Treatments
« Reply #66 on: December 04, 2007, 07:59:11 AM » by Mamato6

do they always whoop at the end of the coughing fit. My little 3 week old is having alot of breathing problems, very congested, had pneumonia when he was born and I heard that whooping cough is back and just worried that he has it. He has a very stuffy nose. no fever though.

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Re: Whooping Cough/Pertussis: Diagnosis & Treatments
« Reply #67 on: December 04, 2007, 09:54:08 AM » by Sparkys9

No, they don't have to get the whoop. A lot of people have pertussis and all they ever get is the sore throat and slightly runny nose. I have also found that most dr's don't want to diagnose it, as no one supposed to get it anymore b/c of vaccinations.

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Re: Whooping Cough/Pertussis: Diagnosis & Treatments
« Reply #68 on: December 04, 2007, 10:01:01 AM » by his.silly.wife

Thought this would be of interest:

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59029

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Re: Whooping Cough/Pertussis: Diagnosis & Treatments
« Reply #69 on: February 09, 2008, 09:26:26 AM » by healthybratt

Quote from: stebs7 on February 08, 2008, 08:26:16 PM

Have you thought of whooping cough? Children that have been vaccinated for whooping cough may not get the traditional whooping cough "whoop" or the normal vomiting from coughing so hard (especially at night) but they do have it for a long time. In China, whooping cough is called the 100 day cough. That's about how long it lasted for our children (though unvaccinated - they are now immune for life where as children who are vaccinated may get it several times).

Also, my daughter had a cough for weeks that we couldn't get to the bottom of a few years ago and we read about coltsfoot - made some tea for her - and the next day the cough was gone. Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara) is a plant in the family Asteraceae.

It has been used medicinally as a cough suppressant. The name "tussilago" itself means "cough suppressant." The plant has been used since at least historical times to treat lung ailments such as asthma as well as various coughs by way of smoking. Crushed flowers supposedly cured skin conditions, and the plant has been consumed as a food item.

Coltsfoot is know as the cough herb.

Blessings, Nancy

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Re: Whooping Cough/Pertussis: Diagnosis & Treatments
« Reply #70 on: February 09, 2008, 09:38:59 AM » by Kitty

My friend just treated it w/ LOTS of Vitamin C--until the diarrhea came...then the cough left.

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Re: Whooping Cough/Pertussis: Diagnosis & Treatments
« Reply #71 on: February 09, 2008, 10:13:19 AM » by 1ofeach

I'm being lazy this week and not reading all the posts, even though I want to! Maybe someone mentioned this, but my friend's son coughed for so many nights w/ this (weeks?) w/ this and when she took him to their naturally-minded doc. He treated him w/ cod liver oil and vitamin C (I did see Vitamin C mentioned! I'm not a total slacker!) and they ALL slept through the night for the first time in a long time b/c he was not coughing and waking them up. (She was not just concerned about their sleep, mind you!)

Now she uses CLO for any cough. I forget what else her doc suggested, but she credited the CLO and Vit C. HTH.

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Re: Whooping Cough/Pertussis: Diagnosis & Treatments
« Reply #72 on: February 11, 2008, 06:05:25 AM » by mishy

I don't know if we have whooping cough or not- I don't think so, but I have been using a lobelia tincture (from another thread) made with vodka and of course lobelia. That takes the cough AWAY so we can sleep (aaahhhh). I mix it with Berry well because the flavor of the lobelia is soooooo nasty.

I am also treating it with GOOT, haven't done C consistently, but I will now that I read above post. Also am putting peroxide in their ears every day. Read that on mercola - he's gotten many testimonies that that works wonderfully with colds.

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Re: Whooping Cough/Pertussis: Diagnosis & Treatments
« Reply #73 on: March 30, 2008, 12:33:46 PM » by lamad8

Reading through the posts has been helpful. The research on Vitamin C were very interesting. Six of my eight children are infected and my husband also, ages ranging from 50 to 2; some vaccinated some not, no boosters however.
Pro-medical sites claim antibiotics for five days stops the contagion yet they still prescribe them for 14 days. The info about colloidol silver was encouraging would much rather go that route. How can this time frame be verified?
Also am wondering why the first stage is considered the most contagious?
Is it because of greater strength or amounts of the bacteria or perhaps because people are unaware of what they have at that stage and are less careful?

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Re: Whooping Cough/Pertussis: Diagnosis & Treatments
« Reply #74 on: July 15, 2008, 03:47:09 PM » by hollyolly123

My daughter has whooping cough and I tried to do a garlic poultice on her feet, as I read that putting a garlic poultice on all night helps. Well, after an hour it started hurting her and she started to cry. Anyone else do this effectively?

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Re: Whooping Cough/Pertussis: Diagnosis & Treatments
« Reply #75 on: August 18, 2008, 01:22:15 PM » by healthybratt

Quote from: hollyolly123 on July 15, 2008, 03:47:09 PM

Garlic poultice should not be applied for more than 90 seconds in one spot as it will burn the skin.

Garlic Poultice: Recipes, Tips & Tricks
Natural Healing for Garlic Burns

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Re: Whooping Cough/Pertussis: Diagnosis & Treatments
« Reply #76 on: September 09, 2008, 02:50:11 PM » by Leah IL

Ok...we have this. I'm pretty sure. We got a bad bad cold starting 2 weeks ago, and we found out today my husband's boss has been diagnosed with pertussis.

Nobody has a horrible cough so far, and the cold is gone. We cough a little bit from time to time, nothing uncontrollable. Yet.

So far I have been giving crushed Kyolic tabs to the little ones, fresh garlic to the older kids. Sambucol to the little ones. Lots of vitamin C to everyone. How much C should I give? They have been drinking the EmergenC packets 3x a day, but I want to switch to something else. Can someone suggest something affordable to me? I usually pass on the chewables because of the sugar but maybe I should go that way. The older kids can swallow pills fine. I am going to buy the Cod Liver Oil later today.

This stinks!!!!!!! How long before the cough shows up? I thought we were through this and now I am finding out it may have just begun Undecided

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Re: Whooping Cough/Pertussis: Diagnosis & Treatments
« Reply #77 on: September 09, 2008, 03:22:58 PM » by Leah IL

Thought I'd add this link here, this is all homemade cough syrups, vapor rubs, etc- they look great:

http://www.geocities.com/meicko4life/medicine.html

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Leah
Married to Ken 14 years, mom to Kenny (13), Kyle and Kaitlyn (11), Kevin (5) and Megan and Melissa (1 1/2)

My Intro: http://www.welltellme.com/discuss/index.php/topic,1573.msg838.html#msg838

Re: Whooping Cough/Pertussis: Diagnosis & Treatments
« Reply #78 on: September 09, 2008, 09:38:52 PM » by 4myhoonie

Quote from: Leah IL on September 09, 2008, 02:50:11 PM

i hope and pray that your family's immune system is fighting it off!

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Re: Whooping Cough/Pertussis: Diagnosis & Treatments
« Reply #79 on: September 10, 2008, 07:59:21 PM » by carolinachic

Quote from: Leah IL on September 09, 2008, 02:50:11 PM

I had something similar recently and my natural doctor had me taking 2000 mg of Vitamin C. I could tell a huge difference!

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Re: Whooping Cough/Pertussis: Diagnosis & Treatments
« Reply #80 on: September 12, 2008, 06:09:17 AM » by all4him

Quote from: Leah IL on September 09, 2008, 02:50:11 PM

God bless you! 2 of our children had it a few yrs ago-- they had what seemed like a common cold for about 3 weeks, and then the coughing stated... it got bad at times-- I gave alot of golden seal echanichia-- also a few other things that have totally slipped my mind! I also discovered that the coughing was worse when they consumed alot of dairy esp. milk and icecream! my ds had also had asthma problems b4 that, and I just prayed he wouldn't get that on top yet-- thank God he didnt! There were a few weeks of intense coughing at times-- mostly at nite-- they slept by my bedside for a few nites for that reason...sounds like you are doing the right things with the garlic and all-- i also gave lots of that! hope you'll all be feeling better soon!

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Re: Whooping Cough/Pertussis: Diagnosis & Treatments
« Reply #81 on: October 19, 2008, 10:01:49 AM » by Melie

We are going through this right now and it is so miserable. My 2 youngest have been in the whooping stage since Monday. The older of the 2 doesn't whoop but he is just as bad. Waking up several x's a night coughing and struggling to breath and gagging. This causes him panic. 2 nights ago he starting screaming and freaking out during attacks which prolonged them and made them way worse. I am thinking about getting some Bach's Rescue remedy or Calm's Forte for him (and ME!) to get him through the bad ones. I've never used these, does anyone know which is better or if they would even suit this purpose. After talking to several friends who've dealt with this, this reaction is common for his age. They panic and make it worse. I panic too every time it starts at night. I keep a calm exterior but it really feels as if they are going to die, even though, logically, I know that's not true.
I'm not sure how to handle this because I have it too and my oldest is coming down with it. My daughter is so far the only one who seems perfectly healthy. When one starts, the other is woken up and starts too so it's really hard to hold them both upright and care for them at the same time.
I've read the whole thread and I thought I'd just list what I'm doing and maybe I'm missing something because it doesn't seem to be improving at all. It seems to be getting progressively worse at night. It has only been a week though and I understand that this can go for months.

-High doses of Vit C
-Cod Liver oil - 1/2 tsp a day (not sure if that's enough but I don't want to over-do it?)
-Garlic and honey on a spoon throughout the day
-Supertonic 1-3xs a day (garlic, onions, hot peppers, horseradish and ginger in ACV) Tongue

-Homeopathic remedy - with it I can't use peppermint or eucalyptis so I've had to stop the Double E Immune booster with my 2 confirmed sickies, the rest of us are drinking the tea all day though
-Cayenne/honey/lemon juice on a spoon
-The naturade cough syrup mentioned earlier in this thread, it's an expectorant - 4xs a day
-Elderberry syrup
-We are out of Dr. Schultze superfood but should have more by Friday and we'll start that up again then.
-Herbs - Cherry bark, valerian, lobelia, astragulus + an herbal remedy made up for WC by the natrapath which contains ech, grindella, horehound, fennel seed & pine syrup - they take this every 2 hours during the day
-We are avoiding all dairy and sugar and citrus juice (mucous forming)
-We ate chicken noodle soup with homemade herbal bone broth for dinner every night this week. To that I add some supertonic.
-Most nights I do the warming sock hydrotherapy treatment on the boys

I've heard that moist air is NOT what do do with WC. It's great for croup but makes WC worse. So warm bathrooms and steams are not good, so I've heard anyways. Dry air is much better. Which doesn't do us much good in the cold, wet pacific NW.

I'm 22 wks pregnant and have lost 7 lbs this week and I know that's not good. I just was looking for any ideas that I might be missing, or just extra prayer at this point. I dread the thought of this dragging on for months like most information says will happen. I am very discouraged and tired already.

any additional suggestions would be appreciated. Sorry this is so long. I'm just loosing it~ Shocked

« Last Edit: October 19, 2008, 10:10:28 AM by Melie »
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Re: Whooping Cough/Pertussis: Diagnosis & Treatments
« Reply #82 on: October 19, 2008, 11:21:53 AM » by prairiechild

While I do not have personal experience with whooping cough, I do remember reading that cod liver oil is helpful. I personally take a tablespoon a day, and would give my son that much too if he was sick. Let me see if I can find a link about it.

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Re: Whooping Cough/Pertussis: Diagnosis & Treatments
« Reply #83 on: October 19, 2008, 11:30:56 AM » by prairiechild

Couldn't find the cod liver oil info... but are you sure your kids are getting enough vitamin C? Check this thread...

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=353318&highlight=Calcium+ascorbate

also do searches on mothering.com re: pertussis, there is a ton of info...

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Re: Whooping Cough/Pertussis: Diagnosis & Treatments
« Reply #84 on: October 19, 2008, 11:33:03 AM » by Melie

Quote from: prairiechild on October 19, 2008, 11:21:53 AM

Thank you. I've also read that CLO is very helpful but then I've read that it can be dangerous to over-do it. My bottle says 1 tsp is the serving size so I've been 1/2ing it for the kids (my youngest is 18 mos) but maybe it's okay in larger doses for the short term?
I'll go and read up on the vitamin C link.

Thanks again!

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Re: Whooping Cough/Pertussis: Diagnosis & Treatments
« Reply #85 on: October 19, 2008, 12:11:02 PM » by prairiechild

the "danger" of overdoing CLO is supposed to be that A+D can build up in your system over time. I see no problems with upping the dose short-term. Even long-term, I'm not sure that there is a problem. It is really hard to find anything completely conclusive, but from what I've found, the problems arise from using synthetic A+D instead of naturally occuring A+D in CLO. My bottle also says one tsp, but the book I've read by Dr Barry Sears did recommend a tablespoon, though that may have been just for adults.

Vitamin D is a big immune-booster and I would think that high-doses at least short-term would be very helpful.

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Re: Whooping Cough/Pertussis: Diagnosis & Treatments
« Reply #86 on: October 19, 2008, 12:13:24 PM » by prairiechild

Oh, and BTW, I am 25 weeks pg and taking that dose. Earlier I would alternate with plain fish oil, but now just take the CLO.

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Re: Whooping Cough/Pertussis: Diagnosis & Treatments
« Reply #87 on: October 19, 2008, 02:55:59 PM » by Leah IL

Thought I would update on how we've been doing. Yes, it's been almost 2 months and we are still going round and round with this BUT no whooping and no vomiting. It seems to just be a recurring cold and cough which I treat with high dosage C and CLO and elderberry for the little ones.

We have gone through 4-5 rounds of this now Sad

I am very thankful, however, that we seem to be escaping the "whoop" part of it because that sounds terrible and scary.

What I have done is this:

-At first sign of illness, I begin administering vitamin C hourly. I give the girls (almost 2 yrs) 1 tsp 300 mg liquid C from Twinlab. When/if diarrhea begins, I drop back to 1 tsp every 2 hours.

-Sambucol (elderberry extract) 1 tsp 4X daily per dosage instructions on bottle.

-1/2 tsp Cod Liver Oil in their bottle once daily.

-I made a big batch of mullein tea with raw honey which I refrigerated and gave to them in sippy cups. Don't know if this helped or not but they loved it

Symptoms seem to subside in a few days. Like I said, no whooping, no vomiting...some gagging here and there. I think we got really really lucky because we knew what we were dealing with at the get go. People at my husband's work had been tested and diagnosed with pertussis, so as soon as we got sick we knew what to do. We had the opportunity to knock out at least a little of the punch this illness packs. Most people who get pertussis don't know what they've got until the bad whooping cough starts.

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Married to Ken 14 years, mom to Kenny (13), Kyle and Kaitlyn (11), Kevin (5) and Megan and Melissa (1 1/2)

My Intro: http://www.welltellme.com/discuss/index.php/topic,1573.msg838.html#msg838

Re: Whooping Cough/Pertussis: Diagnosis & Treatments
« Reply #88 on: October 19, 2008, 03:17:43 PM » by Melie

Leah, How long did you actually have the 'whooping' part? Did it scare your kids? If so, how did you deal with that? The hardest part for me is to see and feel their fear and just have to wait it out with them. They seem to make it worse and prolonged because of the fear. Kind of reminds me of labor and i'm thinking of it that way when I try to deal with them but how do you teach deep relaxation to a 3 yr old? Undecided

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Re: Whooping Cough/Pertussis: Diagnosis & Treatments
« Reply #89 on: October 19, 2008, 06:06:34 PM » by mykidsmom

Quote from: Melie on October 19, 2008, 03:17:43 PM

M - when our son had whooping cough we would bundle him up and take him outside in the cold. It really does help to calm the cough. I believe (someone correct me if I'm wrong) that the cold opens the airways and helps the coughing subside. I wonder, since you're out a ways, if you guys could make a game of it (if that's possible when they're so sick) by having your husband make a small fire in the open air and sit in front of it with them poking sticks at it and letting them breathe in the cold night air? Just a thought.

praying for you.

patti

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