I wrote this at least a year ago and lost track of where I’d saved it. It’s still good info about Horehound so I thought I’d share it.
This past week I had a cold. I spent the first night on the couch with pillows so I could sleep more sitting up so i could breathe better. The next day I planned to run in to town to get something for the symptoms and in the mean time I was taking Airborne chewables and drinking orange juice like there was no tomorrow.
When the next day rolled around, I got side tracked, symptoms are better when you’re up and around, and I ended up not going in to town, but had a discussion with my brother about a plant he had growing all over his property called Horehound, and he said he heard it was supposed to help with your sinus problems from a cold.
We walked around and gathered a handful of stalks about the size of a small bouquet. He had heard about the benefits of Horehound from a lady at work and she had told him to boil water and let the plant steep in it like tea, then drink it, and you could add a little honey, but don’t expect it to taste good.
By the time I boiled a small pot of water and put the bouquet in and let it steep, I was having an itchy runny nose, watery eyes, and I was sneezing and coughing. After filling a small tea cup and adding about two teaspoons of honey, I drank. This stuff was NASTY, NASTY, NASTY! But since I had never made it to town, I had nothing else to help with my symptoms. I was still taking Airborne and drinking lots of orange juice, but that was more to give my body ammo to fight, and was useless in curbing the runny nose with nasal congestion et al, so I forced myself to drink the whole cup.
I didn’t notice anything. In fact I felt quite tired and just wanted to go to bed, so I did, at about 8:30pm. I didn’t notice any difference in my symptoms before going to bed. Again I slept at an incline so I could breathe better. It wasn’t until I got up to use the bathroom that I realized my nose was clear. When I awoke the next morning, my nose was still clear, and I decided to heat up some more of the nasty concoction. I could only manage to get about half the cup down this time, but I thought something was better than nothing.
That day I went in to town to get a tea ball thingy, where you can use loose leaf tea and steep it. I realized that I had probably used too much of the plant, and maybe a tea portioned amount might taste less bad. I also picked up a store brand version of Dayquill. just in case.
It rained all day so I never collected more horehound to take, but I also never felt like I needed to get rid of anymore symptoms. I also never used the Dayquill knock off. That was last night. This morning as I sit here, breathing through my nose, I’m trying to assess just what happened. The only other thing I did was drink a bottle of kombucha, so everything I did was give my body ammo to fight a cold. Airborne, orange juice, horehound and kombucha.
I’ve used Airborne, orange juice and kombucha in the past to fight a cold, but never was able to stop the nasal/head congestions symptoms. Using the horehound made a difference. And the difference was like jumping from the start of a cold to the end and not having to go through the really miserable part.
If you’re like me, a cold starts off where everything is runny, your nose, your eyes and no cough to speak of even though you have head congestion. Your body seems to be trying to eliminate the bug by flushing it out. This can go on for 2-3 days or so. Then, it’s like things start to solidify and you know you’re on the downhill side when you start coughing up stuff and blowing your nose actually seems to start clearing things out.
All I can say is 36 hours ago I felt like I was winding up for some misery with my runny nose, watery eyes and head congestion, and now I feel like I’m almost done. My lungs feel clear, I coughed maybe 5 times yesterday and sneezed twice. I don’t think my body generated all the mucusy stuff it usually does during a cold. So there is very little for me to still blow or cough out.
Bottom line, I will be collecting some of this plant to dry and have with me if I need it and I’m not here at my brothers house. I would also recommend it’s use by anyone who wants to avoid the worst of a cold. Keep in mind it is considered a bitter herb, and yes, it does taste nasty, but it actually works.
Best,
Sherrie
P.S. If you want to get your own Horehound but can’t find any growing around you, you can add this organic Horehound to your next Amazon order. I also found this organic White Horehound Tea
