Homemade cough syrup, anyone?

[VictoriaL]

This site has a great recipe. DH was skeptical, but having had 3 consecutive nights of interrupted sleep, I insisted. It worked, and I feel so great this morning!

Containing ginger, honey, apple cider vinegar, and cayenne it is kind of... yucky-tasting, but we try to limit the amount of over-the-counter meds which we take, so this was a great find for us.

[Jazzmatazz49]

My dad always gave us honey and bourbon. It worked too!

[margalicious]

Is this for real? I haven't heard of a homemade cough syrup. Is this safe to use and won't upset my stomach? Well, I'm just curious.

[Kathy B]

If Vicci says it works, that is good enough for me!

Thanks, Vicci! I have saved it to my favorites for this winter.

[SusanMac]

My dad also gave us honey with bourbon as kids! We loved having coughs :-)

[VictoriaL]

margalicious, go to the website and look at what each individual ingredient appears to do. The recipe makes about 3 (3 teaspoon each) doses so I wouldn't think that the small amount of cayenne pepper or apple cider vinegar in each dose would be a problem.

It worked for a second night. Yay.

I heard of the honey & bourbon, too but we have no bourbon... would it work with rum?!?!

(Kathy, if I say it works? Yikes! Don't put that pressure on me!!!)

[Elisabeth13]

This looks great! Not great-tasting, mind you - but I love the concept. I'll be trying it this winter. Thanks, Vicci!

[TKay]

Vicci - I've never heard of such a thing either, but I am more than willing to try it. I will occasionally get allergy-related coughs in the night. I would love to take something natural for it. Thanks for the link. I'm off to check it out now. (Glad this helped you sleep.)

[adambrown81]

Hi
To prepare mamou tea, roots of the plant were carefully dug up and cleaned. Root pieces were placed in a stockpot and boiled. The liquid was strained and kept hot prior to consumption. Usually the sick person was given a cup or glass of mamou tea flavored with lots of sugar and lemon. Whether or not the drink was effective in alleviating flu symptoms is a matter of debate, but certainly the added vitamin C didn't hurt. And for some reason, the hot tea was actually helpful in the relief of headache with or without flu.

For those whose cold or flu symptoms included annoying coughs, the Cajun remedy was likely to be a mixture containing baking soda and honey. It was not unusual for a little whiskey to be added to the homemade cough medicine so the patient could get a good night's sleep (this was long before the days of Nyquil and other over-the-counter products laden with alcohol).

[JBrettM]

Originally Posted by VictoriaL

Containing ginger, honey, apple cider vinegar, and cayenne

I was given a similar recipe when I had a really sore throat, bordering on laryngitis.

Hot water (or peppermint tea? -- was a while ago), cayenne and a few other things along those lines. Sure cleared things up! Wish I could remember the whole bit but yes, not the greatest tasting but wasn't *bad* (plus I like spicy food anyway :> ).

Brett.

[Angelina]

On this blog, the guys create a homemade version of NyQuil that sounds pretty good. I can't stand the real stuff, and I rarely get sick, so maybe I will just try this for fun.

http://www.urbanhonking.com/hotknive...ic_nyquil.html

[VictoriaL]

Angelina, thanks so much for posting this link-- I'm sure that at some point during the upcoming winter I will have to opportunity to use it (alas!).

[eleakeaney]

This looks interesting.. Hmm.. let me try that..