lung problem

Question:

Hi, Last week I was quite sick, I was diagnosed with bronchitis, sinusitis and an ear infection. I have been on antibiotic, and feel much better except one thing, my lungs. There is junk in the bottom of my lungs which makes me want to cough all the time. I have been on codeine cough syrup so I can sleep, because it gets much worse when I lay down. Coughing has become useless because nothing gets moved in my lungs, its just a reflex of irritation. I have had coughs before but usually the cough moves the junk in my lungs… no such luck here. All that happens from coughing are sore abs and a bad pain in my head from the coughing. ANy advice on what may be good to take to clear this junk from my lungs? I have to take the codeine to sleep, but it does not work as a very good expectorant. I need it to be dried out or something. I am very well hydrated, and well nourished too, but any suggestions would be most appreciated. Thanks JMH

Response:

>Last week I was quite sick, I was diagnosed with bronchitis, sinusitis and an >ear infection. I have been on antibiotic, and feel much better except one >thing, my lungs. There is junk in the bottom of my lungs which makes me want >to cough all the time. >ANy advice on what may be good to take to clear this junk from my lungs?

You need three things:   An expectorant like guaifesin to thin out the mucus you are secreting (available in OTC cough syrups – just read the labels) and save the suppressant for nights.   Another possibility is camphor – crush a cube of it, shake it up in a bottle of water and use JUST the water in a vaporizer and inhale DEEPLY (you can add more water, shake and have another batch – it doesn’t dissolve much in water, and one cube can make several gallons of vaporizer fuel).  The stuff is like DRANO for lungs.   LOTS of water to make thinning possible   Echinacea to put the WBC that eat this crud to go into high gear and get rid of it faster. >I have to take the codeine to sleep, but it does not work as a very good >expectorant. I need it to be dried out or something. I am very well hydrated, >and well nourished too, but any suggestions would be most appreciated. Thanks

Tsu Dho Nimh — "Y’know, I can *say* I’m Ming The Merciless, Emporer of Planet Mongo, but unless I can produce a few legions of heavily-armed rocket ships, you’re not likely to take me seriously."  Morely Dotes, 2001

Response:

> but any suggestions would be most appreciated. Thanks > JMH

Clear this with your own doctor first, but this is how I treat my patients with similar complaints: — Hydration — Run a humidifier (keep it clean) — Take hot steamy showers — You may benefit from an expectorant/mucolytic to help break that stuff up — If you’re a smoker, it’s going to be even tougher to cough that crap out of your lungs because every time you puff, you "anesthetize" your mucociliary apparatus.  Stop smoking. — Chicken soup (I’m not kidding) Mark, MD

Response:

> >Last week I was quite sick, I was diagnosed with bronchitis, sinusitis and an >ear infection. I have been on antibiotic, and feel much better except one >thing, my lungs. There is junk in the bottom of my lungs which makes me want >to cough all the time. >ANy advice on what may be good to take to clear this junk from my lungs?

Something we do in both nursing & massage therapy (that can easily be done with help from a friend or family member to do it for you) is a techniques called "cupping" where the hands are formed into a cup-like shape & used to strike your back over the thoracic region (careful not to pound the kidneys inferior to the ribcage area).  It’s used for those with respiratory problems like CF, chronic bronchitis, & also for the leftover crap that accumulates in the lungs even after the main problem is resolved.  We even elevate the foot of the table/bed/crib (we used it on babies regularly with good results) to facilitate drainage of the stuff we loosened up in the ol’ lungs. It shouldn’t be so forceful that it hurts.  It’ll sound like a loud "clip-clop" type of noise, but that’s okay.  If you need to *see* how to do this, pick up almost any decent book on massage or the info should be available on the web. Michele

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