Mullein Recipes for Croup, Cough, Congestion

[mommie]

so I'm trying to figure out how mullein works. My kids have cough, primarily wet/loose but its just lingering longer than I'd like. I'd doing silver, oregano, elderberry, vit c, galic oil on chest and feet, tried some onions a few times on their chest. I just bought a mullein tincture. Does is heal the lungs? Does it cause the cough to come up? Does it suppress the cough? I obviously want whatever junk that needs to come up to come up, don't want to do the OTC thing and suppress it and make it worse in the long run, but I'd really like to rid this cough for good. any thoughts on what the mullein actually does??? They aren't couging all day and night so again its not like I NEED it so they can sleep. I just want the cough to be gone so we can go out into public w/o people being scared of us! : ) any thoughts ladies?

[orcuttranch]

My understanding of mullein is that it is a natural expectorant.  It helps loosen things in the lungs so that the lungs can expel the mucus.  If the mucus continues to sit in the lungs, it can lead to infection, which leads to the body trying to fight the infection, which leads to more mucus, and on and on it goes.  Sorry - I don't have my books here right now, or I would look up and quote stuff for you.   They always seem to be able to explain things much better than I can. 

My sister's son has what we are pretty sure is croup right now.  I have a nebulizer, so made a really strong mullein tea for her to use in the nebulizer for him.  She started it on him on Tuesday night and has been doing it 2-3 times a day for about 20 min.  She said that he was so much better yesterday morning.  Today she told me that he is better still.  He coughs more whenever she uses it, but she said it does seem to be clearing out his lungs.  He does not sound wheezy any more either.  Each morning he has woken up less congested than before. 

If you don't have a nebulizer, you can make the strong tea in a pot.  Then, while it is still steaming, have them lean over it with a towel over their head to keep the steam in.  Breathe the steam in deeply.  I imagine you could have them breathe in over a vaporizer if you put the herb in the medicine cup like I mention down below.

I have used mullein as a tea with my kids whenever they are congested.  It has always seemed to work great for clearing the lungs out.  I usually use it in conjunction with camomile and orange peel.  It is actually a great tasting tea with all three in there!  If you sweeten it with some raw honey, that can help coat the throat too if it is irritated.  I just let them drink that tea all day and usually we do not have too much of a battle getting over congestion this way.  I also use elderberry syrup - but notice that you've used that also.

The other thing I've done with mullein is to wet the herb and put some in cheesecloth in the medicine cup of the vaporizer and let the vaporizer run all night. That seems to help.

Mullein is a great herb for kids, too.  Lobelia is supposed to be a great herb for lung health, but it can be toxic if taken in large amounts.  So I try to stick to mullein with my kids. 

[mommie]

thank you that was actually rather helpful. I'm so used to the internet I forget about my books. i could just look it up in one of my herb books LOL  so I gave it to my kids tonight w/ some elderberry syrup and some "onion honey" (honey that was soaked in raw onion for several days in the fridge)...added a little grape juice as well. they drank it alright but not too long after had some horrible coughing fits...I'm trying to decide if it was good or not LOL...guess we'll see in the am!!!
THANK YOU!!!

[orcuttranch]

No problem.  I hope they were better this morning.  My sister said the same thing - why is he coughing so much?  I do think if you keep it up, though, you should see good results.

Have you ruled out seasonal allergies?  I don't know where you are located, but we live in CA and just had a lot of rain about 2-3 weeks ago.  My kids allergies are flaring up right now.  So the mullein helps alleviate some of the congestion, but it doesn't completely go away until the allergies aren't bothering them any more.  I guess the same would be true, though for a virus or whatever.  The mullein helps alleviate the symptoms and gets all of that junk out of the lungs so the body can heal itself faster.  But then we give them other stuff to help with the healing process. 

One more side note - my sister first took her son into the ER because their doctor told them that he needed to get in right away for breathing treatments or his lungs could close up (I have a different opinion now on that sort of comment, but . . .).  So they spent $200 on their deductible for the ER to give him steroid breathing treatments.  He did seem to be better for a couple of days she said, but was still congested.  Then he started the wheezing again and that is when I gave her the mullein and nebulizer to use.  I called her this morning to see how he was and she said last night was the first night in a long time that she didn't hear him cough at all in the middle of the night.  They've been doing the nebulizer 3 times a day with him.  She said he did cough twice this morning, but that is nothing compared to what he was doing.  So it seems to be working really well for her right now.  Her son is 18 months and she is pregnant with #2, so she needs her sleep at night!   She is also giving him elderberry syrup (has echinacea, yarrow, rose hips, cinnamon, cloves, and honey in it).

[mommie]

I need to look into getting a nebulizer. I actually was looking into that recently with all this talk on here of using them. I don't really know what one is though. Is it basically a glorified steam pot?? anything to watch for with buying one??? Well, I was scared to do it another day so I chickened out. They do seem to be getting better though Praise God!!! I think seasonal allergies are playing a part but def not the whole problem!! I think breathing it in might be better??

[orcuttranch]

I guess a glorified steam pot would be the way to describe it, except that it isn't hot like steam.  It is just forced air, maybe that causes the liquid to turn into a vapor?   All I know is I put the liquid in this cylinder that has a tube attached from the bottom of the cylinder to the machine.  I attach the mask at the top and turn the machine on.    Isn't that great?   I don't know how to go about getting one either.  Ours was actually prescribed to us by the doctor and insurance paid for it.  We have had ours now for about 7 years and never had an issue with it at all.  I didn't have a choice in what we got, though either, so I haven't researched them at all.  Might be a good idea to start a thread and ask if others have certain brands they like or don't - maybe someone's researched it all out already!  I always love that!

[all4him]

Magnificent Mullien Recipe
for colds coughs asthma, ect

2 1/2 parts Mullien
2 parts Marshmallow
1 part Angelica
1 part Calendula
1 part Orange Peel
1 part Elderberries

https://www.limitededitionherbs.com/public/detail.php?id=351

question--do you mix these together as dry herbs, then make a tea, or do you make a tincture like with glyceran or something? I'm asking becuz my 5 month old has this nasty cough-- you can hear its lots of phlem-- just a loose mucasy cough-- also a runny nose that turns into crust when he's asleep, so he wakes up with crusty eyes, and crusty nose that equals a miserable baby!

[herbs girl]

YOu can make them into a tea, glycerite or alcohol tincture. Although, I think a tea OR alcohol tincture would be more effective.

[all4him]

thanx-- wonder if he'd drink it? i made him peppermint tea the other day and he wudnt drink it! he'd gulp it right down if i cud somehow have tea in them nurser things-- 

[all4him]

ok-- update-- I got some mullien drops- alchol free- at our HF store. I gave baby 1/2 dropper full mixed with breast milk-- only a short time later he puked up this mucus-- like a hocker it was soooo huge I couldnt believe it-- did the same thing this morning! very affective stuff!

[VickyO664]

Magnificent Mullien Recipe
for colds coughs asthma, ect

2 1/2 parts Mullien
2 parts Marshmallow
1 part Angelica
1 part Calendula
1 part Orange Peel
1 part Elderberries

https://www.limitededitionherbs.com/public/detail.php?id=351

question--do you mix these together as dry herbs, then make a tea, or do you make a tincture like with glyceran or something? I'm asking becuz my 5 month old has this nasty cough-- you can hear its lots of phlem-- just a loose mucasy cough-- also a runny nose that turns into crust when he's asleep, so he wakes up with crusty eyes, and crusty nose that equals a miserable baby!

I am also curious about this recipe.  I just stopped in to see what I could find on seasonal allergies, OTC allergy meds and nebulizer treatments.  I would love to use this recipe for my son (almost 2.5) this spring/fall.  Kentucky allergens really hit him hard, and we lost a lot of sleep last year, he was so miserable.  I am due with #3 in April, and I would like to have a plan of attack figured out before I am in a baby-induced fog.   I don't know how to make a tea or tincture, so I will need very detailed instructions!  We have a nebulizer, thanks to insurance, but don't want to give him the inhaled steroids.  It has a very small cup on the top and then a mouthpiece to breath in the steam.

TIA!

[DHW]

Vicky, you might want to look at the thread on Rabbit Tobacco.  Here's one:
http://www.welltellme.com/discuss/index.php/topic,19973.msg243728.html#msg243728

You can find others by typing rabbit tobacco in the search bar.

[angeljoy]

Do you always use dried mullein? My sweet hubby is in the throes of something and has a horrible cough. I am desperate to help him. I've been using essential oils on his feet and chest, but wonder if he needs something internal.

Many thanks...

[Sewbusy]

Dried Mullein is what I always use. I make a tincture with it, both alcohol and glycerite and keep them on hand. If it's a bad cough I give a table spoon of the alcohol tincture 3 to 4 times a day (for an adult). This has always cleared the cough almost entirely in 2 days, then I cut back to a teaspoon 3x a day for about another week, longer if the cough is still lingering. I give the little people a teaspoon to tablespoon (depending on their size) of the glycerite one several times a day. If you don't have tincture or can't get it then make an infusion of 1 part herbs 4 parts boiling water and let steep 8-24 hours and then drink it. Try to get down a pint to quart of the infusion each day.(Its pretty nasty and you have to drink more this way but it is much faster then waiting on a tincture to brew) Also, try and get some HEAVY probiotics in him (but not dairy). Beeyoutiful and Now both have a 50  billion one that works great. In my recent experimenting I have found probiotics to be as necessary as any thing else in treating an illness.   

[angeljoy]

Thanks sewbusy.
Because I didnt have dried Mullen on hand, --it was still on the plant-- I brewed some cough syrup using honey, onion, lemon, and rosemary.
He went from his "deathbed" to nearly 100% in less than 24hrs!
Drying mullein now so that I will be prepared.